The Federal Government introduced new rules that aim to catch foreign residents that dispose (i.e. sell or transfer) certain taxable Australian property. These new rules started on 1 July 2016 and apply to contracts (and various other transactions) signed after this date.
The withholding rules started with a bunch of important people sitting around a table (probably with very decent coffee and a reasonable selection sandwiches) discussing what they needed to do to ensure that when a foreign resident sells an asset the tax gets paid. Similarly, about 5 years ago, members from Niantic Labs plotted an evolutionary idea…(I would suspect that they were surrounded by very good coffee accompanied by some serious sugary stimulants) a concept to ensure that every person with a smartphone has the ability to catch Pokémon. True Pokémon enthusiasts must be feeling pretty nostalgic right now.
