Residency requirement for CGT home exemption failed - 25th November 2013

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) has denied an individual's claim that an exemption from capital gains tax (CGT) should apply to a property that he and his ex-de facto partner had sold. The individual had purchased land in 2002 with his then partner, and construction of a house on the land commenced in April 2004. However, the couple ended their relationship in September 2004.

Despite this, the individual argued that they had moved into the house in around May or June 2005 to meet the requirements under the law to sell the property without being subject to CGT. The AAT found that the evidence before it failed to establish that the house became the individual's main residence "as soon as practicable" after construction was completed, and failed to establish that the house continued to be his main residence for at least three months after that. In this case, both requirements had to be met in order for the exemption to apply.