Exemption or ex gratia relief from additional foreign acquirer duty
Land acquisitions for significant development that are liable for AFAD may be eligible for an exemption or ex gratia relief in certain circumstances.
Depending on the date of the transaction, we may consider an exemption from additional foreign acquirer duty (AFAD) or ex gratia relief for transactions undertaken by Australian-based foreign corporations or trusts whose commercial activities involve significant residential development in Queensland.
Exemption
For transactions entered into on or after 15 December 2025, an exemption from AFAD may be available where the transaction is undertaken by Australian-based foreign entities whose commercial activities involve adding to the supply of housing stock in Queensland, provided certain conditions are met.
See the public ruling on the exemption from AFAD and land tax foreign surcharge for residential land developers (GEN012).
There are 2 types of exemption approval:
- pre-approval
- exemption approval.
Pre-approval
You can apply for pre-approval to confirm whether you meet certain entity requirements outlined in the public ruling.
- You do not need to have applied for pre-approval to apply for exemption.
- If you apply for pre-approval, you still need to apply for final approval for the exemption once liability for transfer duty for a transaction arises.
- Receiving pre-approval will streamline the exemption application process for you. For example, if you have pre-approval, when applying for the AFAD exemption you may only need to provide information and evidence to establish that development requirements for the land subject of the transaction will be met. We may also seek to confirm that any Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) requirements under the ruling are met.
- Pre-approval continues unless a notifiable event occurs. This means that once you have pre-approval, you will not have to re-apply for pre-approval unless your circumstances change. If your circumstances change after you receive pre-approval, you may need to notify us.
To receive pre-approval, an entity must have either:
- been approved for the AFAD exemption for a previous transaction (or ex gratia relief for AFAD or the land tax foreign surcharge (LTFS))
or
- be an eligible subsidiary or an eligible parent of a group entity in a corporate group that has been approved for the AFAD exemption when the liability for transfer duty for the transaction arises.
Complete an application for exemption from AFAD (Form D4.11). Refer to the:
- evidence you must supply with your application
- form’s guide to ‘completing the application’. This guide has a table that outlines the parts of the form that you must complete and the information you must supply with your application.
Generally, details about you and any previous AFAD exemption—or AFAD or LTFS ex gratia relief—you have received is sufficient. Other information that will help includes:
- details about a group entity’s previous approval for an AFAD exemption
- information on how you satisfy regulatory requirements outlined under the ruling. Where possible, we’ll use the information we already have to do this for you.
Exemption
An exemption approval includes where a foreign entity has previously obtained pre-approval.
- You will need to apply for the AFAD exemption when your transaction occurs, even if you have pre-approval.
- A streamlined process may be used to consider your exemption application where pre-approval has been given (e.g. if you have pre-approval, when applying for the AFAD exemption you may only need to provide information and evidence to establish that development requirements for the land subject of the transaction will be met).
- We may also consider whether any FIRB requirements have been met. If our information is insufficient, we may contact you to verify.
- If your circumstances change after you receive the exemption, you may need to notify us and repay the amount you received an exemption for. See more about notifiable events.
Complete an application for exemption from AFAD (Form D4.11). Refer to the:
- evidence you must supply with your application
- form’s guide to ‘completing the application’. This guide includes a table that outlines the parts of the form that you must complete and the information you must supply with your application.
Generally, if you have:
- received pre-approval, you will have fewer sections to complete
- not received pre-approval and are not entitled to apply for pre-approval as part of this application, you need to complete all parts of the form and provide supporting information.
You’ll need to provide:
- completed Form D4.11
- transaction documents (e.g. signed sale and purchase agreement), approved form and other documents required to assess duty
- any supporting documents that may help with your application, particularly regarding development activities on the AFAD residential land.
We may also consider whether any FIRB requirements have been met. Generally, we will use the information we already have; however, you can supply any evidence to confirm that you have satisfied this requirement.
Lodging your documents
It’s important that you provide all required information with the application to avoid unnecessary delays.
See the evidence you must supply with your application. We may request additional information; however, where possible, we will use information we already have.
If you are applying for an exemption from both the land tax foreign surcharge (LTFS) and AFAD under Public Ruling GEN012, we can consider both applications at the same time. You may use the same supporting documentation for both applications.
We will send you an email confirming our decision.
For final AFAD exemption approval, the liability for transfer duty for a relevant transaction must first be assessed. Transactions related to an AFAD exemption application cannot be assessed by self assessors.
You can lodge your application by email or post.
- Email AFAD@treasury.qld.gov.au
- Post to:
Complex Assessments Branch
Royalty and Complex Assessments Division
Queensland Revenue Office
GPO Box 2593
BRISBANE QLD 4001
Processing timeframes
The processing times for determining eligibility for the AFAD exemption are:
- pre-approval—30 working days from the date we receive all necessary information, which we may request from you after you lodge your initial application
- exemption approval—60 working days from the date we receive all necessary information, which we may request from you after you lodge your initial application.
Urgent assessments
We process matters in order of date received.
If your application has become time sensitive, contact the QRO officer who is looking after your case (if known) or email AFAD@treasury.qld.gov.au to request urgent attention and provide reasons for the urgency.
Even though we cannot guarantee an urgent assessment, we will try to prioritise these matters where possible. This can depend on the number of applications awaiting determination.
Notifiable event
If you have been pre-approved or approved for the AFAD exemption, you have an obligation to notify us if certain events occur. These are known as ‘notifiable events’ and include things like ceasing to meet the eligibility requirements for the exemption or otherwise experiencing a material change in circumstances that may affect your eligibility. For a full list of possible notifiable events, refer to Public Ruling GEN012.
Where a notifiable event occurs, you must advise us of this within 28 days after the event happens.
Corporate group tracing
Some of the requirements in the ruling can be taken to be met if they are satisfied by an eligible parent or subsidiary of the applicant; that is, such requirements can be satisfied either directly by an applicant (i.e. the entity), or indirectly by an eligible parent or subsidiary of the applicant or a combination of such entities. This is referred to as ‘corporate group tracing’.
For more information on corporate group tracing, refer to
Ex gratia relief
For land acquisitions entered into before 15 December 2025, we may consider ex gratia relief if the transactions were undertaken by Australian-based foreign corporations or trusts whose commercial activities involve significant development by adding to the supply of housing stock in Queensland, where such development is primarily residential.
See the public ruling on ex gratia relief from AFAD (DA000.15).
There are 2 types of ex gratia approval you can apply for:
- In principle pre-approval—before entering into a transaction, you can apply for an indication of whether ex gratia relief will be granted. You do not need to have applied for in principle pre-approval to apply for ex gratia relief from AFAD for a transaction, because ex gratia relief can only be granted once a transaction has been entered into and assessed, you will still need to apply for final approval.
- Final ex gratia approval (including where a foreign entity has previously obtained in principle pre-approval)—as ex gratia relief can only apply where a liability has arisen, you will need to make an application for ex gratia approval when your transaction occurs, even if you have in principle pre-approval for the transaction. A streamlined process may be used to consider final relief where in principle pre-approval has been given for a transaction.
To apply for ex gratia relief from AFAD, lodge a completed application for ex gratia relief from AFAD (Form D4.1) with your supporting documents for either:
- in principle pre-approval
- draft transaction documents (e.g. draft sale and purchase agreement)
- supporting information
- final ex gratia approval
- copy of in principle pre-approval (if applicable)
- transaction documents (e.g. signed sale and purchase agreement), approved form and other documents required for assessment of duty on the transaction
- supporting information.
Lodging your documents
To ensure that your application is considered within our processing time frames, it is important that you provide all required information.
If you are also applying for ex gratia relief from LTFS, we can consider both applications at the same time. You may use the same supporting documentation for both applications.
We will send you an email confirming our decision.
For final ex gratia approval, the liability for transfer duty, landholder duty or corporate trustee duty for a relevant transaction must first be assessed. Transactions related to an ex gratia relief application cannot be assessed by self assessors.
You can lodge your application by email or post.
- Email AFAD@treasury.qld.gov.au
- Post to:
Complex Assessments Branch
Royalty and Complex Assessments Division
Queensland Revenue Office
GPO Box 2593
BRISBANE QLD 4001
Processing timeframes
The processing times for determining eligibility for the AFAD ex gratia relief are:
- original application (in principle pre-approval or final ex gratia approval)—60 working days from the date we receive all necessary information, which we may request from you after you lodge your initial application
- streamlined approval—30 working days from the date we receive all necessary information, which we may request from you after you lodge your initial application.
Note that an application for ex gratia relief cannot be finalised before the relevant transaction is assessed for duty.
We will contact you if we need more information to consider your application. This may defer finalisation of your application.
Changes of circumstance
If ex gratia relief is approved and the circumstances on which ex gratia relief was granted have changed, you are required to notify us in writing within 28 days of the change.
Failure to notify is a breach of the ex gratia conditions.
Also consider…
- Read about build-to-rent concessions for land tax and AFAD.
- Find out about additional foreign acquirer duty for landholder duty and corporate trustee duty.
- Read the additional foreign acquirer duty provisions in Chapter 4 of the Duties Act 2001.
- See the public rulings on:
- the exemption from AFAD and land tax foreign surcharge for residential land developers (GEN012)
- the exemption from land tax foreign surcharge for landholders undertaking commercial activities that make a significant contribution (LTA000.6)
- AFAD and ex gratia for significant development for liabilities arising before 15 December 2025 (DA000.15)
- ex gratia relief from the land tax foreign surcharge for liabilities arising before 30 June 2026 (LTA000.4).