FIRB fees – some relief at last

WHO SHOULD READ THIS

• Potential foreign investors in Australian agricultural land.

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

• From 1 July 2017 a new fee regime applies to the acquisition of interests in Australian agricultural land.

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO

• Consider the timing of your acquisition (and FIRB application) to take advantage of this fee reduction where possible.

Last week’s Federal Budget included a number of announcements relating to the foreign investment rules in Australia and unlike most other changes in the last few years, there is finally some good news, particularly for investors in the agricultural sector.

In an attempt to streamline and simplify the fees and approval framework for agricultural land, the Treasurer has announced a change to how Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) application fees are calculated from 1 July 2017 in respect to a number of different types of land, including agricultural property.

Currently the application fee for an application to acquire an interest in agricultural land is $5,000 for acquisitions for less than $1 million, or for acquisitions where the purchase price is greater than $1 million, $10,000 for each million of the purchase price with a cap of $100,000 (subject to indexing).

As of 1 July 2017, there will be a simplified (and reduced) three tiered fee framework for FIRB applications for the acquisitions of an interest in agricultural land.

We have set the new fees and a comparison to the previously charged fees below:

This publication covers legal and technical issues in a general way. It is not designed to express opinions on specific cases. It is intended for information purposes only and should not be regarded as legal advice. Further advice should be obtained before taking action on any issue dealt with in this publication.