Australia never lets go of your property, mind the exemption cliff

Property is taxable Australian property, which means it never leaves the Australian CGT net no matter where you live. That part most investors expect. What ambushes them is the main residence exemption cliff.

Since 2020, if you sell a former home while you’re a foreign resident, you can lose the main residence exemption for the entire ownership period, not just the years you were away, the whole thing, back to the day you bought it. A house that would have been completely CGT-free if sold as a resident can trigger a six-figure bill purely because of your residency status on the date of the sale. And it is the disposal date that matters, not where you were when you decided to sell or signed the listing. The six-year absence rule people rely on doesn’t save you if the contract settles while you’re non-resident.

The frozen discount compounds it: the 50% CGT discount doesn’t accrue for the years you’re a foreign resident, so even an investment property that stays in the net is taxed more heavily on the way out.

Meanwhile the rent is taxed from the very first dollar at non-resident rates (no tax-free threshold) and several states pile on absentee or foreign-owner land tax surcharges, with Queensland’s in particular capable of catching Australian citizens living abroad.

None of this means keep it or sell it. It means model all three timings (sell before you go, sell while away, sell after you return) because the difference between them is often the most valuable decision in your whole departure.