You’ve just touched on a pet topic of mine (I will restrain myself though).
Some people overlook the CGT aspect in Australia when buying property in NZ. A $100K capital gain without CGT means that the gain is worth $100K. However, if you make a $100K capital gain on property in Australia, then it’s only worth $75K because you loose approx $25K in CGT. Even if you decide to hold the property indefinitely, you still only have a $75K net gain because you will have to pay the CGT one day.
So, what does this really mean when comparing a NZ investment property to Australian investment property? Well, the short answer is that the long term capital growth rate on a property in Australia needs to be 33% higher than the long term capital growth rate for a well structured NZ property for the two net gains over time to be equal.
The maths are quite simple:
If the NZ long term CG is 9% and CGT free, then the long term CG in Australia must be 12% gross (less 25% CGT) = 9% net in Australia to be break even.
There are other factors to take into account when comparing investment opportunities in the two countries (exchange rates, interest rates, yields, vacancy rates, etc). Also, tax rules do change from time to time. However, as I see it, if you do your research and are mainly driven by the fundamentals, you would have to be crazy not to be looking at NZ right now.
It’s been some time since I posted on this website, but here I go.
Mini,
I’ve just sent them an email asking for more information about this deal. Will let you know what turns up.
Muppet,
I’ve just sent you a private message on the Propertytalk website. Not sure if you’ve received it yet. You may find the information in the email interesting though.
Dingo 21,
You are right about some of the CGT issues in your posting above. I have researched this issue on & off over the last couple of months and can tell you that this is an area where angels would fear to tread! I don’t want to say too much in a public forum, but investing through a NZ company won’t necessarily protect you from CGT in Australia. Income and capital gains made within a NZ company can still be attributed to Australians under the Australian Foreign Investment Fund rules. Also, investments through a NZ company can raise practical difficulties when you bring profits back to Australia. Eg. profits would normally be repatriated via dividends and attract a non-resident withholding tax. Finally, if 25% or more of the shareholders in the company were non-resident in NZ, the company would be required to prepare and file audited account with the Companies Office (ie. more costs to you).
There are structures available from a CGT planning point of view, but I won’t say much more in a public forum. Happy to take discussions off line though. My mobile number is XXXXXXXX (I will remove this number tomorrow).
I had done some quick searching on rental policies like this one in NZ without much luck. I’m also starting to think about a checklist of issues for selecting a property manager in NZ. The rules here may help in filtering some managers out…
It talks about the NZMBA mortgage broker of the year award and names the national and regional winners. Mike Pero is listed as a joint winner for the Auckland region.
I have been doing some research on NZ properties over the last couple of months and was wondering whether people might be interested in getting together in Melbourne in the near future to swap ideas and information? For my part, I may be able to pass on some useful information about:
CGT planning for Australian residents
useful property search engines and sources of information about NZ economics and demographics (most of which has been obtained from contributors to this site!)
tips I have received from mortgage brokers and buyers agents, etc.
The NZ market is quite large and we are not necessarily competing with each other, so why not pool our information? My plans are to visit NZ in October to pick up some IPs. Perhaps there is some scope for cooperation between like-minded investors…[?]
I have just logged on to see your reply and will email you directly. You are right – I didn’t get the reply, but I think the problem is at my end, as my ISP is doing something strange with my emails.
I recall sending you an email about your product (several weeks ago?) and making the offer that I would send you a copy of a portfolio excel spreadsheet product I developed for myself if you decided to go down the path of developing a commercial version of your product. Q: did you receive this email & do you want to receive a copy of the spreadsheet?