With the newly introduced First Home Owners Savings Account scheme, do you have to have Australian Citizenship or Permanent Residency?
I am living in NSW as a Kiwi on a Special Category Visa. These accounts are being offered by some banks and other financial institutions and are designed to help people save for a deposit on their first home.
OK I've done some further research and this is what I've found. You are able to use these accounts if like me, are on a Special Category Visa (SCV). It says that you have to be a "permanent resident for tax purposes" which presumably means that you get the govt contribution when you file a tax return in Australia. Also, NZers on a SCV are also eligible for the First Home Owners Grant in NSW (don't know about other states) providing they meet the other criteria. For the purposes of this grant, permanent residents include NZers on a SCV. And for the First Home Owners' exemption on NSW stamp duty, it doesn't actually refer to anything about permanent residency eligibility. Maybe we take this to mean that NZers on SCVs are OK for this as well?
NZ Citizens on an SCV are eligible for the home owners grant in all states from what I can see, so long as all eligibility are met (i.e. it is your first home ever, not just your first in Aussie!). The only things NZ cits don't seem to be eligible for in my research to date is the sickness benefit, unemployment benefit and tertiary student assistance (student loans/allowances). Tax residency is generally met by being present in Australian for most of the tax year, or paying tax to the australian govt, not NZ. It is easy to work out on the ato website (Australian Taxation Office) which I think is www.ato.gov.au
If you are in NSW, this page confirms that NZers on an SCV are eligible for the First Home Owners Grant and that as long as it is your first home in Oz, you are eligible for the grant (even if you owned a home in NZ, you are still eligible). Go to: http://www.osr.nsw.gov.au/benefits/first_home/faqs/fhogs/eligibility/
can husband and wife have separate first home buyers accounts and then buy two homes in each of their names separately?