Morning Briefing: New stores expand franchise's QLD footprint

A franchise giant has boosted its presence in Queensland with a number of new store openings... New property tax puts home buyers at risk...

New stores expand franchise's QLD footprint 
Aussie Home Loans opened eight new stores across Queensland in the last year with more in the pipeline for the current financial year.

The new additions raise its store numbers by 20% from 37 to 45, following a rise in home loans to $3.61 billion for Queensland and Northern Territory customers.

Aussie CEO James Symond, said “We are building momentum in the Queensland market and crucial to our expansion is a strong retail presence with our Aussie stores.

“The key to our growth in the state is having a strong retail footprint in high profile locations, with our focus for growth in the new financial year to be Noosa, Kawana and Buderim, while we are looking to expand our presence in Cairns, Brisbane, Toowong and Oxley”.

Nationally, Aussie saw record results for the 2016 financial year, with $22 billion worth of loans settled and 200 stores in operation.

The eight new stores in Queensland are situated in Cleveland, Moorooka, Everton Park, Bulimba, West End, Nambour, Mermaid Waters and Springfield Lakes.

New property tax puts home buyers at risk
Australian home buyers are at risk of losing money on settlement, because of the new national property withholding tax regime that came into effect last July 1.

The new property tax can have an impact on sellers, buyers, and advisors who have real estate transactions valued at $2 million or higher.

Under the new legislation, vendors required to obtain a residency clearance certificate from the Australian Taxation Office to avoid a compulsory 10% withholding tax.

According to Murray Howlett of Pilot Partners, the application process for the clearance certificate leaves home buyers vulnerable to invalid certificates and eventually, a 10% tax on the sale price.

“While the law clearly states that a certificate must cover the date the contract is entered into, the ATO’s online system will automatically issue a certificate dated from the day of processing. There is, in fact, no ability to request an earlier date in the electronic system,” said Howlett.

“This means that certificates issued for sellers whose land is already under contract will not provide any protection from the withholding tax.”

(Your Investment Property)