I want to buy a property that was once leased an architects office and turn it into a house (as my Principal place of residence). It s a commercial style terrace rather than an "office building". It is a house "size". The whole street is zoned E3 "productivity Support" and there is a mix of residential houses and small offices. The building is currently empty. We want to buy it in our PERSONAL NAMES as joint tenants and as we plan to live in it we do not want to have the GST added to the sale cost. Buying it as a "going concern" etc is not applicable as we don't want to purchase the property in the name of an Enterprise /ABN as it is planned to be our home. The only reason it is being sold as a commerical property is that there USED to be a commercial tenant. If we had the "use" changed at council to specify it as residential does that make it offically a residential purchase? Very frustrating to have to consider an extra 10% on the purchase price when it's not a commercial venture and we won't be claiming the GST back. There is nothing that covers this scenario on the ATO website that I can find.
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If we had the "use" changed at council to specify it as residential does that make it offically a residential purchase?
You cannot change till you own it - that would be too late.
Vendor would need to occupy as main residence, or maybe rent out for residential use first, in order to change GST status of property.
Sorry should have clarified the building is 30 years old (not a new build).
Does not make any difference - point is that vendor is registered for GST, and is selling what is a commercial property in their hands.
Talk to your lawyer - if your offer was an inclusive price, then GST should not be added later.
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This is no different to buying a new house from a property developer - that includes GST as well.
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