Polish lawyer / Property from Poland
Property in Victoria when you live in Poland
Selling, buying or owning a house, unit or land in Victoria while you live in Poland. Radek Dajer, a Polish-speaking lawyer in Victoria, handles the transaction and explains each step in Polish or in English.
What we help with
Choose what you need help with. Each one opens the detail further down this page.
Property in Victoria, owner in Poland
Some people who have moved back to Poland still own a house or unit in Victoria, and others want to buy here. Most transactions can be completed without travelling to Australia: the contract can be signed electronically, and settlement takes place electronically through a platform such as PEXA.
Radek Dajer handles sales and purchases of property in Victoria, checks the contract and the section 32 statement, calculates the adjustments and duty, and coordinates settlement with the agent, the bank and your accountant. We meet by video and explain everything in Polish or in English.
Good to know
When a foreign resident sells property in Australia, the buyer withholds 15% of the price and pays it to the Australian Taxation Office, whatever the property is worth, unless the ATO has varied the amount.
Selling, buying and owning from Poland
Choose a topic to see what it involves and how we help.
Selling a house, unit or land in Victoria while you live in Poland.
- Electronic signing: you can sign the contract of sale and the section 32 statement electronically from Poland, if the other party agrees to electronic signing.
- Authorisation and PEXA: we sign the transfer digitally for you under a written client authorisation, which can itself be signed overseas and electronically. Settlement takes place electronically.
- Your identity: before the transaction we must verify your identity. The national standard requires a face-to-face meeting, which a video call does not satisfy. We discuss with you at the start how this will be done.
- A power of attorney: if you would rather someone in Victoria sign for you, a Victorian power of attorney is signed in Poland on paper, with the witnesses physically present. It cannot be witnessed by video from Poland.
A foreign resident for tax purposes reports the sale of Australian property in an Australian tax return.
- 15% of the price: for contracts entered into from 1 January 2025, the buyer withholds 15% of the price on any property sold by a foreign resident and pays it to the ATO. An Australian resident seller avoids this by providing a clearance certificate.
- A variation: a foreign resident can apply to the ATO to reduce the amount withheld, for example where there is no capital gain. The amount withheld is then claimed in an Australian tax return.
- Your former home: a person who is a foreign resident when the property is sold generally cannot claim the main residence exemption, apart from narrow exceptions.
- No 50% discount: the 50% capital gains discount is not available for periods of foreign residence after 8 May 2012. Ask your accountant about your own position.
Whether you can buy property in Victoria while living in Poland depends on your citizenship and status in Australia.
- Australian citizens: an Australian citizen living in Poland does not need Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) approval to buy residential property.
- Foreign persons: since 1 April 2025, foreign persons generally cannot buy established homes. The ban has been extended to 30 June 2029. Buying a new dwelling or vacant land usually needs FIRB approval, and the contract can be made conditional on it.
- Permanent residents: a permanent resident living overseas usually does not need approval, but can be treated as a foreign person in some situations, so we check this before you buy.
- Extra duty: a foreign purchaser pays foreign purchaser additional duty of 8% of the value of residential property in Victoria, on top of ordinary land transfer duty.
Owners who live overseas should know the Victorian property taxes that can apply.
- Absentee owner surcharge: an owner who is not an Australian citizen or permanent resident and does not live in Australia can pay a land tax surcharge of 4% of the land’s value, and must notify the State Revenue Office by 15 January.
- Vacant homes: residential property in Victoria left vacant for more than 6 months in a calendar year can attract vacant residential land tax, whatever the owner’s citizenship.
- Renting it out: rent from Australian property usually has to be declared in an Australian tax return. Ask your accountant.
Step by step
Selling from Poland, step by step
How a sale of property in Victoria usually runs when the seller lives in Poland.
01
Talk by video
We discuss the property, the agent, the timing and your tax residence. Before any work starts, we tell you in writing how we will charge.
02
Identity and authority
We verify your identity and you sign a client authorisation, so that settlement can take place electronically.
03
Contract and section 32
We prepare the section 32 statement and check the contract, which you sign electronically once we have explained it.
04
Tax
If you are a foreign resident for tax, you or your accountant can apply to the ATO to reduce the 15% withholding. Without a variation, the buyer withholds 15% of the price. An Australian resident seller needs a clearance certificate instead.
05
Settlement
Settlement takes place electronically. You receive a settlement statement, and the proceeds go to the account nominated before settlement.
How we work
Visit our Frankston office
435 Nepean Highway, Frankston VIC 3199
Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:30pm, by appointment
Notarial appointments
In person at our office, by appointment. Bring your passport or other photo identification.
By train
A short walk from Frankston station, at the end of the Frankston line from Melbourne.
Parking
Wilson Parking at 453 Nepean Highway, street parking on the Nepean Highway, and the car parks at McDonald’s across the road and at Dan Murphy’s.
Common questions
Can’t see your question? Call 1800 776 529 or send us a message.
Not necessarily. The contract can be signed electronically and settlement is electronic. Your identity must be verified face to face, and we discuss with you at the start how this will be done.
No. An Australian citizen living overseas does not need FIRB approval to buy residential property in Australia.
Yes, if the seller is a foreign resident for tax purposes and the ATO has not issued a variation. You claim the amount withheld in an Australian tax return.
It depends on the agent running the auction. The winning bidder signs the contract and pays the deposit, usually 10%, straight after the auction, and there is no cooling-off period. Prepare well in advance.
No. We are an Australian firm and advise on Victorian and Australian law. Where Polish law matters, we work with a lawyer or notary in Poland.
Yes. Radek Dajer speaks Polish and can take your instructions and explain your documents in Polish. See our Polish-language page.
Property insights
Updated 12 October 2026: the reserve price rules in the Consumer Legislation Amendment Act 2026 (Vic) (Act No 36/2026) now…
Buying a home is one of the most significant financial decisions you will make. A conveyancing lawyer guides you through contracts, Section 32 statements, stamp duty, and settlement.
Talk to us about property in Victoria
Tell us briefly what has happened or what you are planning. We reply to every enquiry within one business day, by phone, email or text, whichever you prefer.
What happens next
- Send the form.
- We reply within one business day.
- We arrange a time to talk, or ask for any information or documents we need first.
Prefer to talk? Call 1800 776 529, Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:30pm.