Foreign buyer crackdown: ATO demands 32 years' worth of property records

The government will cross-check the records of 11.3 million people in a bid to hunt down illegal owners of Australian real estate.

On Tuesday, the Australian Tax Office –  responsible for overseeing foreign property investment – put in a request to access 32 years’ worth of data relating to property transactions across the country.

The ATO has demanded revenue and land title authorities across all states and territories hand over information from between 1985 to 2017 relating to property sales, sub-divisions, land transfers and valuation details.

Rental bond authorities in each state and territory will also be required to provide details of leased properties during that period including information about rental payments, length of lease, bond amount and landlord details.

An estimated 31 million records for each year between 1985 and 2017 will be handed over to the tax office.

“The property data will be used to assist in the screening of foreign resident real estate applications and compliance activity to ensure foreign residents are complying with relevant laws,” an ATO spokesperson said.

The details of the request were revealed in the latest Australian Government Gazette, through which the Commissioner of Taxation lodged a notice of a data matching program.

The ATO’s latest data-matching project comes just a week after the government’s amnesty towards foreign investors, who had unlawfully purchased property, lapsed.

Since being charged with overseeing the foreign residential property, the ATO has stepped up its investigations with the employment of 50 compliance officers charged with investigating potential breaches of the law.