Purchasing a vacant land and FHSS Scheme conditions

 Author: JodieR_ATO(Community Support)Community Support

ATO Certified Response13 Feb 2023

Hi @Oliviamarg,

You’re correct, you need to request a determination for FHSS before signing any contract, this includes purchasing vacant land. Once you sign a contract to purchase property (including land), you are not eligible to request any further FHSS determinations – any personal contributions you make after signing a contract, will also not be eligible under the FHSS scheme.

You can only request a release under the FHSS scheme once. The release request needs to me made within 14 days of signing a property contract to buy or build your home (this does not include a contract to buy land only).

Remember, if you do purchase vacant land after requesting a FHSS determination you will need to enter into a contract to construct the premises within 12 months (or other period allowed) from the date you make a valid release request; the purchase of vacant land alone within the 12 months (or other period allowed) is not enough to satisfy the requirements under the FHSS scheme.

You have up to 12 months (or other period allowed) from the date you make a valid release request to the ATO under the FHSS scheme to sign a contract to purchase or construct a home. This home must be residential premises, and cannot be:

• any premise not capable of being occupied as a residence

• a houseboat

• a motor home

• vacant land (see note)

If you do not sign a contract to purchase or construct a home within 12 months from the date you requested a release:

• we will grant you an extension of time to do so for a further 12 months. There is no need to apply for this extension, it will be automatically granted to you - we will notify you of this, or
• you can recontribute an amount into your super fund(s). This amount must be a non-concessional contribution and be at least equal to your assessable FHSS released amount, less any tax withheld. This amount is stated in your payment summary, and may be less than the total amounts released to you, or
• you can keep the released amount and be subject to FHSS tax. This is a flat tax equal to 20% of your assessable FHSS released amounts and not the total amount released.

We recommend you read the Guidance Note we have available here for further information.

You can find out more about the First Home Super Saver Scheme here.