Can I own property in Australia?

A citizen of Australia living abroad: Yes. An Australian citizen living abroad is not a foreign person and buys like any citizen, but as a non-resident is taxed at foreign-resident rates and may owe state absentee surcharges. A foreign national: Yes, with conditions. A foreign person needs Foreign Investment Review Board approval for any residential purchase, paying an application fee, and may buy only a new dwelling, a near-new dwelling or vacant land to build on. Buying an established home is banned from 1 April 2025 until 30 June 2029, after the 2026–27 Budget extended the original two-year ban.

Does the rent agreement need registering?

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

Who withholds tax on the rent, and how much?

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

How does the rent reach me in United States?

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. No capital controls and no exit tax. Rent moves abroad by bank transfer; nothing to declare beyond the tax return. No limit and no declaration for the transfer itself; the income was already reportable when earned.

Renting out property in Australia while living in United States

Australia's rules for a landlord living in United States: ownership, the rent agreement, who withholds tax, and how the rent reaches you.

General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and your situation may differ. Check the sources on this page and confirm with a lawyer or accountant in the country before you act.

Desk research Last reviewed 1 October 2026 Report an inaccuracy

The short answers

Can I own property in Australia?: A citizen of Australia living abroad: Yes. An Australian citizen living abroad is not a foreign person and buys like any citizen, but as a non-resident is taxed at foreign-resident rates and may owe state absentee surcharges.; A foreign national: Yes, with conditions. A foreign person needs Foreign Investment Review Board approval for any residential purchase, paying an application fee, and may buy only a new dwelling, a near-new dwelling or vacant land to build on. Buying an established home is banned from 1 April 2025 until 30 June 2029, after the 2026–27 Budget extended the original two-year ban.
Does the rent agreement need registering?: Never for a residential tenancy. Only very long leases are registered on title.
Who withholds tax on the rent, and how much?: No withholding at source. Yes. Rent from Australian property is Australian-source income, taxed at foreign-resident rates with no tax-free threshold, after deductible expenses and depreciation.
How does the rent reach me in United States?: 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.; No capital controls and no exit tax. Rent moves abroad by bank transfer; nothing to declare beyond the tax return.; No limit and no declaration for the transfer itself; the income was already reportable when earned.

Renting out property in Australia

What applies because the property is in Australia, whoever owns it.

Who may own residential property

Who may own residential property, by audience
Citizens living in the country	Allowed Anywhere.
Residents of any nationality	With conditions A permanent resident buys like a citizen. A temporary resident on a visa is a foreign person: FIRB approval, new dwellings or vacant land only, and the ban on established homes applies.
Citizens living abroad	Allowed An Australian citizen living abroad is not a foreign person and buys like any citizen, but as a non-resident is taxed at foreign-resident rates and may owe state absentee surcharges.
Foreign nationals living abroad	With conditions A foreign person needs Foreign Investment Review Board approval for any residential purchase, paying an application fee, and may buy only a new dwelling, a near-new dwelling or vacant land to build on. Buying an established home is banned from 1 April 2025 until 30 June 2029, after the 2026–27 Budget extended the original two-year ban.

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.

Living in United States

What United States asks of its residents who own and let property abroad.

Owning property abroad from here

Buying abroad: No restriction. A US person may buy property anywhere the other country allows and move money out freely.
Reporting foreign assets and accounts: Foreign bank accounts over USD 10,000 in aggregate must be reported each year to FinCEN on the FBAR, and specified foreign financial assets on Form 8938 above its thresholds. Directly held foreign real estate is not itself reportable, but the account the rent lands in is.
Tax at home on foreign rent: Taxed. US citizens and residents are taxed on worldwide income wherever they live; foreign rent goes on Schedule E and foreign tax paid on it is credited through Form 1116.
Bringing rent home: No limit and no declaration for the transfer itself; the income was already reportable when earned.
Digital identity for e-signing: There is no national digital identity. Any e-signature platform the foreign side accepts does the job, or a notarised paper signature where the other country insists.

Between United States 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 and credits that tax on Form 1116.
The usual vehicle for this corridor: FIRB approval as a foreign person, a tax file number and a property manager; the Australian account on the FBAR.
Banking blocks: A US citizen without Australian permanent residence is a foreign person: new dwellings or vacant land only, and no established home while the ban runs.
What most people do: Get FIRB approval before contract, lodge the Australian return and the vacancy fee return, report the rent on Schedule E with Form 1116, and the account on the FBAR.

Sources

ATO: foreign investment in Australia, residential property — www.ato.gov.au
ATO: banning foreign purchases of established dwellings (extended to 30 June 2029) — www.ato.gov.au
ATO: vacancy fee return for foreign owners — www.ato.gov.au
ATO: residential fees for a foreign person — www.ato.gov.au
ATO: tax rates for foreign residents — www.ato.gov.au
ATO: foreign resident capital gains withholding, foreign residents and variations — www.ato.gov.au
ATO: Australian resident for tax purposes — www.ato.gov.au
Revenue NSW: surcharge purchaser duty — www.revenue.nsw.gov.au
State Revenue Office Victoria: understanding the absentee owner surcharge — www.sro.vic.gov.au
NSW Government: the standard residential tenancy agreement — www.nsw.gov.au
Consumer Affairs Victoria: lodging the bond with the RTBA — www.consumer.vic.gov.au
Attorney-General's Department: electronic signatures, documents and transactions — www.ag.gov.au
Income Tax Department of India: the India–Australia tax treaty — www.incometaxindia.gov.in
IRS Publication 515: withholding of tax on nonresident aliens (rents, the 30 percent rule, Form W-8ECI) — www.irs.gov
IRS Publication 519: U.S. tax guide for aliens (the real property income election) — www.irs.gov
IRS: FIRPTA withholding on the sale of U.S. real property by a foreign person — www.irs.gov
IRS: how to apply for an ITIN — www.irs.gov
IRS: instructions for Form 1040-NR — www.irs.gov
IRS: the foreign tax credit — www.irs.gov
IRS: Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) — www.irs.gov
FinCEN: report foreign bank and financial accounts — www.fincen.gov
IRS: United States income tax treaties, A to Z — www.irs.gov
eCFR: 24 CFR Part 35 Subpart A, lead-based paint disclosure on sale or lease — www.ecfr.gov
GovInfo: Public Law 106-229, the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act — www.govinfo.gov
Florida Senate: SB 264 (2023), interests of foreign countries in real property — www.flsenate.gov
USDA: Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act reporting portal — www.usda.gov
California Legislature: AB 12 (2023), security deposits capped at one month — leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
Income Tax Department of India: the India–USA tax treaty — www.incometaxindia.gov.in