A property ceases being your main residence once you cease living in it.
However you can continue treating a property as your main dwelling and as your main residence for CGT purposes, even though you no longer live in it.
The following is directly from the ATO’s website:
Generally, you can treat the dwelling as your main residence for:
- up to six years if it is used to produce income
- indefinitely if it is not used to produce income
• can't treat any other dwelling as your main residence for that period (except for a limited time if you're moving house).
You can't make this choice for a period before a dwelling first becomes your main residence.
If you are a foreign resident when a CGT event happens to your residential property in Australia you are no longer entitled to claim the main residence exemption.
There is a transitional period.
When does a dwelling stop being your main residence?
Indicators that a dwelling has stopped being your main residence include:
- you and your family no longer live in it
- your personal belongings are not kept in it
- it is no longer the address your mail is delivered to
- it is no longer your address on the electoral roll
- services such as gas and power are no longer connected.
Whether a dwelling has stopped being your main residence is not determined based on one or more factors alone, and the weight given to each varies depending on individual circumstances.
The length of time you are absent from the dwelling and any intention you have to re-occupy it may also be relevant
Source: https://www.ato.gov.au/general/capital-gains-tax/your-home-and-other-real-estate/your-main-residence/treating-a-dwelling-as-your-main-residence-after-you-move-out/
Jason Gwerder
Tuesday, 6 November 2018
