Renting out property in Australia while living in India

More on ownership

Barred outright

Established dwellings, for every foreign person including temporary residents, while the ban runs. Outside the ban, an established home could only be bought to redevelop or as a temporary resident's own home.

Inheritance and gifts

Inheritance under a will does not need approval. Australia has no inheritance tax; capital gains tax follows the asset.

Owning through a company

A foreign-controlled company is a foreign person and needs the same approval. Outside this guide.

Letting it out from abroad

May a non-resident owner let it

Yes. A foreign owner must let or occupy the home for more than 183 days a year or pay an annual vacancy fee, and must lodge a vacancy fee return every year regardless.

Licences, permits, landlord registration

None for a long-term let. Short-term letting is regulated by state and council, with registration and night caps in some cities.

Local agent or representative

No, but a licensed property manager is the norm; bonds, condition reports and tribunal paperwork run on state systems the manager already uses.

The rent agreement

Written agreement required

Yes. Every state requires the written agreement, and most require their standard form, with a copy and a condition report given to the tenant.

Mandatory standard form

Mandatory in each state: New South Wales's standard residential tenancy agreement, Victoria's residential rental agreement, and their equivalents elsewhere. Extra terms are allowed only where the form permits.

Language

English.

Registry

None for the lease. The bond, not the agreement, is what gets lodged.

When registration is required

Never for a residential tenancy. Only very long leases are registered on title.

Who registers

Not applicable

Registration cost

Not applicable

If it is not registered

Not applicable

Stamp duty

None on residential leases in any state.

Notarisation and witnesses

None required.

E-signature

Valid under the Commonwealth Electronic Transactions Act 1999 and each state's equivalent, provided the method identifies the signer and shows intent. Any platform works; myID is a government login, not a signing identity.

The usual term

Six or twelve months fixed, then periodic. Agents renew yearly.

Rules the agreement must respect

Deposit

A bond of up to four weeks' rent in most states, which the landlord or agent must lodge with the state bond authority, Rental Bonds Online in New South Wales or the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority in Victoria, within days of receipt. The landlord never holds it.

Rent increases

Once every twelve months in most states, with written notice of sixty days or more on the prescribed form; a tenant can challenge an excessive increase at the tribunal.

Notice periods

State law, and tightening. New South Wales ended no-grounds evictions in May 2025; landlords now need a stated ground and the notice period it carries. Tenants give the period their agreement and state set, commonly fourteen to twenty-eight days.

Disputes

The state civil and administrative tribunal, which handles bonds, repairs, increases and possession. Self-help eviction is unlawful.

Mandatory disclosures

State forms carry the mandatory disclosures: the condition report, embedded networks, proposed sale, and in some states any known planned works. Smoke alarms, pool safety and electrical safety obligations sit alongside.

Tax when the landlord lives abroad

Is the rent taxed here

Yes. Rent from Australian property is Australian-source income, taxed at foreign-resident rates with no tax-free threshold, after deductible expenses and depreciation.

Withholding at source

No

Withholding rate

Not applicable

Who withholds

Not applicable

What the tenant must register

Not applicable

How to reduce it

Not applicable

Filing and tax ID

An Australian tax return every year with a tax file number, declaring the net rent. Selling triggers foreign resident capital gains withholding of fifteen percent of the price unless the ATO issues a variation.

VAT or GST on rent

None on residential rent, which is input-taxed.

Municipal and housing fees

Council rates and water charges are the owner's. Land tax applies above a state threshold, and foreign or absentee owners pay a surcharge in New South Wales, Victoria and other states.

Money inside the country

How tenants pay

Direct debit, bank transfer or BPAY into the agent's trust account, which forwards the rent net of fees.

Currency of rent

AUD

Bank account for a non-resident owner

The major banks open accounts for non-residents, often started online before arrival with a passport and address. An agent's trust account is the alternative.

Paying rent to an overseas account

Allowed; nothing in tenancy or tax law requires a local account.

Taking rent out of the country

No capital controls and no exit tax. Rent moves abroad by bank transfer; nothing to declare beyond the tax return.

Owning property abroad from here

Buying abroad

Allowed under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme: up to USD 250,000 per person per financial year, which relatives may pool for one property. Also by inheritance, by gift from a resident who owned it lawfully, or from income already held abroad.

Reporting foreign assets and accounts

Every resident reports foreign property, accounts and the income from them in Schedule FA of the annual return, with the rent itself in Schedule FSI. Leaving it out is penalised under the black money law.

Tax at home on foreign rent

Residents are taxed on worldwide income, so foreign rent is taxed in India at slab rates after the standard deduction. Tax paid abroad is credited through Form 67, filed before the return, under the treaty with that country or unilaterally where there is none.

Bringing rent home

No limit on bringing it back. Income from an LRS investment may be retained and reinvested abroad; if it is not reinvested it must be repatriated within 180 days of receipt. The bank records the purpose as income from property abroad.

Digital identity for e-signing

Aadhaar eSign signs any Indian document and a growing number of foreign platforms accept it. Where it is not accepted, a certificate-based digital signature from an Indian certifying authority, or the foreign platform's own e-signature, does the job.

Between India and Australia

What applies to this pair of countries in particular.

Tax treaty between the two countries

Yes

Withholding under the treaty

Not applicable: Australia withholds nothing on rent. The landlord lodges an Australian return at foreign-resident rates; the treaty lets India credit that tax through Form 67.

The usual vehicle for this corridor

FIRB approval as a foreign person, a tax file number, a property manager, and the yearly vacancy fee return; the property bought under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme.

Banking blocks

An Indian resident is a foreign person: new dwellings or vacant land only, and no established home while the ban runs.

Typical remittance route and cost

Dollars move to India by bank transfer with no Australian restriction; India has no inbound limit, taxes the rent at slab rates, credits the Australian tax through Form 67, and takes Schedule FA disclosure.

What most people do

Get FIRB approval before contract, buy a new dwelling under LRS through a manager, lodge the Australian return and the vacancy fee return every year, and declare the rent and the account in India.

Sources

1. ATO: foreign investment in Australia, residential property — www.ato.gov.au
2. ATO: banning foreign purchases of established dwellings (extended to 30 June 2029) — www.ato.gov.au
3. ATO: vacancy fee return for foreign owners — www.ato.gov.au
4. ATO: residential fees for a foreign person — www.ato.gov.au
5. ATO: tax rates for foreign residents — www.ato.gov.au
6. ATO: foreign resident capital gains withholding, foreign residents and variations — www.ato.gov.au
7. ATO: Australian resident for tax purposes — www.ato.gov.au
8. Revenue NSW: surcharge purchaser duty — www.revenue.nsw.gov.au
9. State Revenue Office Victoria: understanding the absentee owner surcharge — www.sro.vic.gov.au
10. NSW Government: the standard residential tenancy agreement — www.nsw.gov.au
11. Consumer Affairs Victoria: lodging the bond with the RTBA — www.consumer.vic.gov.au
12. Attorney-General's Department: electronic signatures, documents and transactions — www.ag.gov.au
13. Income Tax Department of India: the India–Australia tax treaty — www.incometaxindia.gov.in
14. RBI Master Direction: Acquisition and Transfer of Immovable Property under FEMA — www.rbi.org.in
15. Ministry of External Affairs: acquisition and transfer of immovable property in India by NRIs and OCIs — www.mea.gov.in
16. RBI FAQ: Accounts in India by Non-residents (NRE, NRO, current income) — www.rbi.org.in
17. RBI FAQ: Remittance of Assets (the USD 1 million limit) — www.rbi.org.in
18. RBI FAQ: Liberalised Remittance Scheme — www.rbi.org.in
19. RBI FAQ: Purchase of immovable property outside India — www.rbi.org.in
20. Income Tax Department: TDS rates, including section 195 for non-residents — www.incometaxindia.gov.in
21. Income Tax Department: Form 13, certificate under section 197 for a lower or nil rate — www.incometaxindia.gov.in
22. Income Tax Department: Form 15CA, remittance to a non-resident — www.incometaxindia.gov.in
23. Income Tax e-filing portal: Form 67 FAQ, foreign tax credit — www.incometax.gov.in
24. Income Tax e-filing portal: guide to Schedules FA, FSI and TR — www.incometax.gov.in
25. The Registration Act, 1908 (Delhi Revenue Department copy), section 17 on leases — revenue.delhi.gov.in
26. MeitY: The Information Technology Act, 2000 (sections 3, 3A and 10A) — www.meity.gov.in
27. UIDAI: enrolment and update, who may enrol — uidai.gov.in
28. UIDAI: NRI Aadhaar enrolment — uidai.gov.in
29. PIB: Model Tenancy Act, states that have adopted it (25 July 2022) — www.pib.gov.in
30. PIB: draft Model Tenancy Act, the security deposit cap (11 July 2019) — www.pib.gov.in
31. StockHolding e-Stamping, the Central Record Keeping Agency — www.shcilestamp.com
32. IGR Maharashtra: leave and licence e-registration and stamp duty — igrmaharashtra.gov.in
33. GST Council: Notification 12/2017-Central Tax (Rate), exemption for residential dwellings — gstcouncil.gov.in
34. CBIC: Notification 04/2022-Central Tax (Rate), renting to a registered person — cbic-gst.gov.in
35. Controller of Certifying Authorities: digital signature certificates — cca.gov.in
36. Delhi Police: citizen services, including tenant registration — delhipolice.gov.in