Capital Gains Tax and GST

Hi Ned,

From the ATO website CGT guidelines, hopefully this will address the first part of your first question.

CONSTRUCTING, RENOVATING OR REPAIRING A DWELLING ON LAND YOU ALREADY OWN

Generally, if you build a dwelling on land you already own, the land does not qualify for exemption until the dwelling becomes your main residence. However, you can choose to treat land as your main residence for up to four years before the dwelling becomes your main residence in certain circumstances.

You can choose to have this exemption apply if you acquire an ownership interest (other than a life interest) in land and you:build a dwelling on the land repair or renovate an existing dwelling on the land, or finish a partly constructed dwelling on the land.

There are a number of conditions that must be satisfied before you can claim the exemption. You must first finish building, repairing or renovating the dwelling and then: move into the dwelling as soon as practicable after it is finished, and continue to use the dwelling as your main residence for at least three months after it becomes your main residence.

The land, including the dwelling that is being built, renovated, repaired or finished on it, is exempt for the shorter of the following periods:
the four-year period immediately before the date the dwelling becomes your main residence, or
the period between the date you acquired the land and the date the dwelling becomes your main residence.

However, if after you acquired the land you or someone else occupied a dwelling that was already on the land, the period of exemption starts from the date that dwelling was vacated.

If a newly constructed dwelling is built to replace a previous dwelling that was demolished or destroyed, a full exemption is available when you dispose of the property if:
the original dwelling was your main residence for the full period you owned it, it was not used by you to produce assessable income and it was on land covering an area of 2 hectares or less
the new dwelling becomes your main residence as
soon as practicable after it is completed, it continues to be your main residence until you dispose of it and that period is at least three months you make a choice to treat the vacant land and new dwelling as your main residence in the period starting when you ceased occupying the previous dwelling and ending when the new dwelling becomes your main residence, and this period is four years or less, and you dispose of the land and new dwelling together.

If you make this choice, you cannot treat any other dwelling as your main residence for the period, except for a limited time under the ‘moving from one main residence to another’ rule (explained on page 55).

Therefore, if you have a dwelling you acquired on or after 20 September 1985 and you live in it while you build your new home, you must decide whether to: maintain the exemption for your old home, or have the exemption apply to the land (including the dwelling that is being built, renovated, repaired or finished on it) for the shorter of:
– the time from when you acquire the land until the new home becomes your main residence, or
– the four-year period immediately before the date on which the new home becomes your main residence.

If you acquired your old main residence before
20 September 1985, it is exempt. This means you will benefit from choosing to treat the land on which your new dwelling is to be built, renovated, repaired or finished as your main residence for the relevant dates above.

You cannot choose to have a shorter period of exemptionfor the new home in order to exempt the old home for part of the construction period.

EXAMPLE
Choosing to claim exemption for the land from the
date of construction;

Grant bought vacant land on which he intended to build a new home under a contract that was settled on 3 September 1999. He bought his previous home under a contract that was settled on 3 November 1991.

Grant finished building his new home on 8 September 2003. He moved into it on 7 October 2003, which was as soon as practicable after completion. He sold his previous home under a contract that was settled on 1 October 2003.

If Grant wants to, he can:
treat the new home as his main residence from
3 September 1999, and
claim the exemption for his previous home from
3 November 1991 to 2 September 1999.

Both homes are also exempt from 1 April 2003 to
1 October 2003, the date Grant disposed of the
old home. This is because the maximum six-month
exemption outlined in the section Moving from one
main residence to another on page 55 also applies.

If you were to die at any time between entering into contracts for the construction work and the end of the first three months of residence in the new home, this exemption can still apply.

If you owned the land as a joint tenant and you die, the surviving joint tenant (or if none, the trustee of your estate) can choose to treat the land and the dwelling as your main residence for the shorter of:
four years before your death, or the period starting when you acquired the land and ending when you die.

Derek
[email protected]
http://www.pis.theinvestorsclub.com.au
0409 882 958