Author: CaroATO(Community Support)Community Support 23 May 2023
Hi @mitkoale,
The good news is you don’t need to be an Australian resident for tax purposes to utilise the First Home Super Saver scheme.
There are other things you need to know if you want to use the money under the FHSS scheme you have saved into super, the home you purchase or construct must be located in Australia (amongst other eligibility requirements).
If you want to buy a house overseas, you can’t use the FHSS scheme.
Although we can’t tell you whether it is smarter to withdraw the money now, we have some really handy information on our First Home Super Saver Scheme website page under the heading ‘After your FHSS amounts have been released’ which may help you. Amongst other eligibility criteria, if you don’t sign a contract to purchase or construct a home within 12 months from the date you request a release:
- we’ll grant you an extension of time to do so for a further 12 months. There’s no need to apply for this extension, it’ll be automatically granted to you, and we we’ll 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 also recommend you take a look at First home super saver - the essentials fact sheet and GN 2018/1 .
All the best for your new adventure!
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