The Australian government has announced that it will double application fees for foreign investors in an effort to improve the federal budget by $455 million (US$315 million) in the next four years.
Starting from July 29, foreigners who invest less than $75,000 will have to pay $4,000 in application fees. And those investing less than a million in residential properties and $50 million in commercial ones need to pay over $13,200.
The changes will also result in an additional fee of about 1.3 percent for residential property investments of up to $2 million and less than 0.1 percent for commercial investments over $50 million.
In addition, there will be different charges for agriculture and commercial investments of various sizes, while application fees for large transactions will be capped at $1.045 million….