PEXA streamlines GST payments on new property purchases

Property Exchange Australia (PEXA) has expanded the capabilities of its e-conveyancing platform in response to recent legislative changes concerning payment of GST at settlement.

The change, effective 1 July 2018, now requires property purchasers to pay GST on the price of new residential premises or potential residential land directly to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

Previously, developers were responsible for this payment.

The introduction of this new legislation is primarily designed to reduce the $1.8 billion owing in GST payments to the Federal Government, and to eliminate the practice of ‘phoenixing’, a process by which a company declares insolvency, but reforms under a new name to avoid paying debts and taxes.

PEXA executive Mike Cameron,said the visibility for all parties is a major benefit of a more streamlined, digital process.

"The PEXA platform provides transparency for all parties and added assurance that the new process has been adhered to," Cameron said. 

"The ability to complete GST at settlement through an e-Conveyancing transaction provides certainty for all involved in property exchange."

Australian Institute of Conveyancers (AIC) national president, Shane Jacob, said through PEXA "we have the clarity we don’t get in the paper-based world that the GST for relevant properties had been captured".