本平台将致力于为您提供与您在澳洲的投资项目相关的法律信息与服务、同时也会将与中国企业及个人投资者热切关注的产业相关澳洲新闻、最新行业规定等讯息及时传递给您。

在澳大利亚购买或出售土地时，需要理解和考虑一系列非常重要的因素。作为买方，对一系列问题进行彻底的调查是非常关键的工作，例如土地所有权、土地上的建筑物状况、根据当地规划部门的规定该土地可以如何使用、该收购是否需要联邦政府的批准、以及税务后果。这就是通常所说的进行“尽职调查”。作为卖方，还必须满足一些法定义务，包括向潜在买方提供所需的法定披露文件。

托伦斯权土地

在所有权方面，澳大利亚的大部分土地都被纳入被成为托伦斯系统的土地登记系统。如果一方希望在澳大利亚购买或出售托伦斯土地所有权，则必须通过向相关托伦斯注册机构注册其在该土地的权益。注册机构赋予注册所有人一个“不容置疑的所有权”。澳大利亚存在的另外两种土地体系是公有土地和普通法契约系统，即旧所有权体系。与托伦斯所有权相比，这些体系是不常见的，通常只存在于农村土地。

买方和卖方之间的合同

在澳大利亚购买或出售土地时，买方和卖方之间通常签订书面合同。这些合同中含有包含在相关的州内常用的条款，以及含有任意一方提出的特殊条款的“特殊条件”。某些条款经常不在合同中体现，但是这些条款是在法律中隐含的条款。非常重要的一点是，卖方必须遵守这些隐含条款，如果卖方未能遵守这些条款，买方也应该知道其享有哪些潜在权利。

在向律师咨询并获得专家的意见之前，您不应该签署任何合同或文件。一旦签署则可能受法律约束而无法重新考虑。

通常情况下，产权转让期，即各当事方签订合同的日期至履行合同的日期之间的时间，是30-90天。当完成时，所有权转让给买方，卖方从买方收到收购款项，该款项应根据与土地相关的支出（例如市政费和土地税）和来源于该土地的任何收入进行调整。

印花税和税款

当购买或出售土地时，税收也是需要考虑的非常重要的内容。特别需要考虑的是需要支付给州政府的印花税和土地税，和支付给联邦政府的商品及服务税（GST）以及资本增值税（CGT）。

州政府对地的购买征收印花税，其计算方式是该土地一定比例的完税/市场价值，通常是购买价格。土地税的税率比印花税的税率低的多，但是土地所有人每年都需要支付，除非该所有人可以根据相关法律豁免。购买土地的实体的类型（例如个人、公司、受托人）可能会影响该实体后续的土地赋税。

一般情况下，在澳大利亚出售房地产需要缴纳商品及服务税（GST），税率为收购价格的1/11，除非可以豁免（例如出售某些现有民居）。卖方可以要求买方承担卖方应付的任何商品及服务税（GST），在这种情况下，买方必须考虑是否可以要求用ATO的补偿金额进行相应的税收抵免。

结构

在澳大利亚购买任何土地之前，获取专家关于如何构建收购的意见是非常重要的。您需要获得的建议包括是否应该使用您自己的名字、还是使用公司、信托或其他实体进行收购。如果未能使用正确的名义进行收购，可能在未来带来不利的税收后果和其他后果。

租赁

作为购买土地的替代方案，租赁土地还可能是首选方案。租赁通常授予在一个固定的时间段内独家占有土地的权利。与购买土地一样，租赁土地通常需要在相关托伦斯登记机构注册，但是各州的规定有所不同。在澳大利亚，对购物中心的店面或其他物业的租赁受到“偏向租户”的零售租赁法管辖。该法律规定了租赁或土地所有人必须遵守的强制性条款，包括关于披露、装修、干扰、搬迁、广告和促销以及转让条款的规定。商业（非零售）租赁不受零售租赁法管辖，但受到其他法律的管辖，例如新南威尔士州的1900年房地产法和1919年产权转让法。

使用或开发的批准

不论是在澳大利亚购买或租赁土地，咨询相关的规划部门和其他部门、法规和证照是非常重要的，可以确保该土地的使用或开发目的是可以允许的，假如这样的话，确定是否必须在使用或开发行为发生之前获取相关的规划部门或其他部门的进一步许可。

代理

如果您希望在澳大利亚购买土地，您将很可能需要接触代理人。销售代理是卖方的代理人，而不是您或买方的代理人。因此，代理人在法律上有义务为卖方寻求利益，而不是为买方。

FIRB

外国权益对某些类型的房地产中的权益的收购通常需要联邦政府的审批，然后由FIRB进行审查并提出建议。“权益”包括购买土地，但也包括租赁、融资或利润分配安排。这是您不应该在咨询律师之前签字的另一个原因。

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【专业干货——助您成功投资澳洲业务】

以下是我们会在最近即将为您带来的专题信息：

· 常见领域法律与规定：房地产、环境法、气候变化相关规定

欲查阅之前我们发布的如下【在澳经商基本法律法规】主题系列以及与您生意相关的其他资讯，请进入订阅号点击右上角按钮，选择“查看历史消息”：

· 在澳大利亚注册公司

· 澳大利亚的公司管理规则

· 澳大利亚公司的劳资关系

· 澳大利亚的外商投资基本规则

· 澳大利亚税收政策

· 澳大利亚政府概况

· 澳大利亚法律制度概况

· 澳大利亚企业结构概况

· 技术与知识产权保护

· 反垄断和消费者保护法

· 合同法

· 公开接管

· 电子商务

· 商业移民和雇主担保签证

（原创文章，欢迎转发，谢谢关注！未经授权，严禁转载！）

Real Property【Laws and Regulations in Common Area VII】

When buying or selling land in Australia, there are a number of important matters that need to be taken into consideration. As a buyer, it is crucial to carry out athorough investigation of issues such as the title to the land, the condition of any structures on the land, the use to which the land can be put inaccordance with local planning authorities, whether Federal Government approvalis required for the purchase and the taxation consequences of the acquisition. This is commonly referred to as conducting ‘due diligence investigations’. As a seller, there are statutory obligations which must be met, including providing a potential buyer with the requisite statutory disclosure documentation.

Torrens Title Land

In terms of title, most land in Australia operates under a system of land registration known as the Torrens system. If a party wishes to buy or sell Torrens title land in Australia, it must do so by registering its interest in the land on the relevant Torrens register. The register confers on the registered proprietor an “indefeasible title” to that interest. Two other systems of land that exist in Australia are Crown land and the common law deeds system, also knownas Old system title. These systems are far less common than Torrens title and usually are found when dealing with rural land.

Contract between Buyer and Seller

When buying or selling land in Australia, a written contract will generally be entered into between the buyer and seller. These contracts contain provisions commonly used in the relevant state jurisdiction and ‘special conditions’ which are inserted by the representative acting for a seller. Often there are also terms not set out in the contract itself but which are implied by law. It is important for sellers to comply with such implied terms and for buyers to be aware of their potential rights should the seller fail to comply.

You should not sign any contract or document before consulting a lawyer and obtaining expert advice. Once signed you may legally bound and unable to reconsider.

The usual conveyancing period between the time the parties enter into a contract and the date of completion of the contract (also known as‘settlement’) is 30 - 90 days. Oncompletion, the title is transferred to the buyer in return for payment of the purchase price, which is adjusted for outgoings which concern the land (such ascouncil rates and land tax) and any income from the land.

Duties and Taxes

When buying or selling land, it is also important toconsider the taxation consequences. Inparticular, liability to pay state government stamp duty and land taxes, federal government Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Capital Gains Tax (CGT)should be considered.

State Governments charge stamp duty on the purchase of land calculated as a proportion of the ‘dutiable value’ of the land, usually beingthe purchase price. Land tax is charged at a much lower rate than stamp duty,but is payable annually by the owner of the land, unless the owner is exempt under the relevant statute. The type of‘entity’ (eg. individual, company, trustee) that purchases the land may affect the entity’s subsequent land tax liability.

Generally, a seller of land will be liable to pay GST on thesale of land at a rate of 1/11th of the purchase price, unless an exemption applies (eg. the sale of certain existing residential dwellings). The seller may decide to require the buyer to reimburse the seller for the GST liability, in which case the buyer must consider whether it can claim a corresponding tax credit from the ATO for the amount of the reimbursement.

Structuring

Before buying any land in Australia it is very important that you obtain expert advice as to how to structure the purchase. You need to obtain advice as to whether you should buy it in your name, a company, trust or other entity. A failure to structure the purchase correctlycan create adverse taxation and other consequences in the future.

Leasing

As an alternative to buying land, it may be preferable to enter into a lease of land. A lease usually confers a right of exclusive possession of the land for a fixed periodof time. As with buying land, dealings with leases are usually registered on the relevant Torrens register but thisvaries from state to state. In Australia the lease of a shop or other premises located in a retail shopping centre willbe regulated by ‘tenant friendly’ retail leasing legislation. This legislation contains mandatory provisions with which the lease or the land owner must comply including provisions relating to disclosure, fit-out, disturbance, relocation, advertising and promotion and assignment. Commercial (non-retail) leases are not governed by retail leasing legislation but will be subject to other statutes, such asthe Real Property Act 1900 and Conveyancing Act 1919 in New South Wales.

Consent for Use or Development

Whether buying or leasing land in Australia, it is important to consult the relevant planning and other authorities, statutes and instruments to ensure that the proposed use or development of the land is permissible and, if so, determine whether any further consents from the relevant planning or other authorities must be obtained before that use or development may occur.

Agents

If you want to buy land it is likely that you will need to deal with an Agent. The selling agent is the vendor’s agent, not yours or the buyer’s agent. Therefore the Agent is legally obliged to look after the vendor’s interests not the buyer’s.

FIRB

The purchase of an interest in certain types of real estateby a Foreign Interest generally requires federal government approval following examination and recommendations made by the FIRB. An ‘interest’ includes buying land but canalso include entry into a lease, financing or profit sharing arrangements. This is another reason why a contract should not be signed until you have consulted a lawyer.

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【We provideexcellent, expert advice to businesses wishing to invest in Australia.】

The coming topicsinclude:

· Laws and regulations in common areas, includingreal property, environmental law, climate change, etc.

To view ourprevious news releases for Chinese investors and the following articles of the topic ‘Basic legal knowledge on doing business in Australia’, please click theupper-right button on our WeChat platform, and choose ‘view previous information’:

· Setting up in Australia

· Company Administration

· Workplace Relations

· Foreign Investment

· Tax

· Australian Government

· Australian Legal System

· Australian Business Structures

· Protection of Technology and Intellectual Property

· Anti-trust and Consumer Law

· Contract Law

· Public Takeovers

· Electronic Commerce

· Business Migration and Employer Sponsored Visas