New Commonwealth Government legislation came into effect on 1 July 2017 requiring more information to be provided to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) when ownership of a property changes. This applies to all buyers and sellers across Australia. The requirements are a COAG initiative to enable the ATO to develop consistent and comparable datasets in the national database, which will reduce tax error and increase tax compliance.
Every state and territory is implementing the data collection in accordance with individual state legislation. In Western Australia this initiative has been led by Landgate, supported by the Office of State Revenue.
The Property Reporting Online system launches on 19 October 2017 and Landgate encourages buyers and sellers to provide information relating to property ownership changes from that date. The information required covers details on the property itself and on the individuals, trusts, companies or organisations buying and selling property.
Collection of information will be through a newly-created Property Reporting Online (PRO) system. PRO is also the system for accessing Electronic Advice of Sale (EAS), accessed through MyLandgate accounts. While building PRO, Landgate has taken the opportunity to build a new and more usable interface for the EAS. The back end of the EAS system will continue to provide property transfer information to relevant organisations (Water Corporation, local government authorities), while the front end has a new design and better functionality. Property Reporting Online and the new EAS screens will be introduced simultaneously. The existing EAS screens will still be available for a period of time, with training and reference materials to help users move to the new service.
Landgate requests the support of the conveyancing industry in assisting the smooth implementation of these initiatives. Please advise buyers and sellers of the ATO’s requirements, and encourage them to provide the information requested for any property ownership changes.
Self-represented parties
The same information is requested from each person who represents him or herself when dealing in real estate in Western Australia and applies to any change in proprietorship, tenancy and/or shares.
Buyers and sellers who choose to self-represent should:
- go to the Landgate website, find the section on Information for buyers, sellers and self-represented parties
- download the self-represented parties form
- complete the form, sign and date it and present it with all other relevant documents at lodgement or settlement.
Please visit http://www.landgate.wa.gov.au/atopropertyreporting or www.ato.gov.au or contact Landgate on 9273 7373 if you have specific queries.
Damian Shepherd
General Manager - Sales, Marketing and Customer Service
