How to Invest in U.S. Real Estate from Australia
Who can invest from Australia under local rules, how money leaves the country, and how the income is taxed on both sides. General information for residents of Australia.
Not available to residents of Australia today. This page is not an offer, invitation or solicitation. It explains the rules that apply if you want to invest in U.S. real estate from Australia.
11 min read
Private real estate investments are illiquid, are normally held for several years and can lose capital, and distributions are never guaranteed. ASIC has not approved or reviewed this page. Thresholds and tax rates reflect our understanding as at November 2026, may change, and are not legal, tax or investment advice.
Usually yes, if you meet Australia's investor test for private offerings. An Australian resident who is a sophisticated or professional investor under the Corporations Act can invest in income-producing U.S. real estate without a U.S. visa, by sending funds from an Australian bank and subscribing for shares in a U.S. corporation that owns the property through a property-specific LLC.
Australia has no exchange controls, no cap on overseas investment and no approval step, so the money's path is open. The gate on this route is who you are.
The Australian dollar floats against the U.S. dollar. Your bank converts at its rate on the day, distributions reach you in U.S. dollars, and your Australian-dollar outcome moves with the exchange rate.
01 · Eligibility
Who can be offered private U.S. real estate investments in Australia?
Two tests apply at once: the Corporations Act wholesale tests, which decide what may be offered to you, and the SEC Regulation S requirement that you are not a U.S. person.
✓Who qualifies under local rules
- Sophisticated investors with a qualified accountant's certificate no more than two years old: net assets of at least A$2.5 million, or gross income of at least A$250,000 in each of the last two financial years
- Investors subscribing at least A$500,000 to a single offering
- Professional investors, including anyone who has or controls gross assets of at least A$10 million
- Companies and trusts controlled by a certified sophisticated investor, subscribing through entity KYC
- Non-U.S. persons only, subscribing in offshore transactions under SEC Regulation S
×Who usually does not
- U.S. persons, who invest under different U.S. rules
- Retail clients who meet none of the wholesale tests. Offers of this kind are made only to wholesale clients, without a prospectus
- Anyone who cannot complete KYC with a passport or driver licence and proof of Australian address
- Anyone who may need this capital back within one to two years
If you are resident in another jurisdiction for tax or regulatory purposes, that jurisdiction's own regime governs your position, and you should take advice under it before subscribing. The provider does not assess or advise on any investor's status under foreign law.
02 · The route
How a cross-border investment usually works
The five stages a resident of Australia typically goes through when investing in U.S. real estate. The legal work sits in stages one and two.
STEP 01
Complete identity checks (KYC)
Verify your identity with the platform or firm you invest through with an Australian passport or driver licence, or a foreign passport with your visa details. Expect sanctions screening and a residence check before any offering is shown. A provider may not ask for your tax file number.
Passport or driver licenceProof of addressSelfie verificationSTEP 02
Confirm you are a wholesale client
Provide a qualified accountant's certificate dated within the last two years, confirm a subscription of at least A$500,000, or evidence professional investor status. The certificate must be signed by an Australian qualified accountant: a U.S. CPA cannot sign it. Offering materials stay hidden until this clears.
Accountant's certificateA$500,000 subscriptionProfessional investor evidenceSTEP 03
Select the property and read the documents
Review the market, tenant, lease term, debt and business plan inside the deal room. Establish who carries taxes, insurance and maintenance under the lease. The offering documents set out fees, holding period, distribution mechanics and the full risk factors.
Offering memorandumSubscription agreementLease and tenant profileSTEP 04
Subscribe and transfer through your Australian bank
You sign the Regulation S subscription documents and IRS Form W-8BEN, then send a U.S. dollar international transfer from your Australian bank. Raise your bank's daily international transfer limit first, because several major banks set it low or at zero by default. Your bank reports the transfer to AUSTRAC itself, so you file nothing. Major banks state that international transfers usually take one to three business days.
Form W-8BENDaily transfer limitSWIFT confirmationSTEP 05
Take ownership, collect distributions in USD
Your dollars purchase shares in the property-specific U.S. C-Corporation. The shareholding is recorded in your name and you receive ownership documentation. Distributions, when declared, are paid in U.S. dollars net of 15% treaty withholding, and you receive IRS Form 1042-S each year a distribution is made showing U.S. tax withheld.
Subscription confirmationShare register entryForm 1042-SSEC Regulation S
03 · Qualification
Do you qualify as a wholesale client?
Australia imposes no cap on what you can send, so the gate is who you are. Any one test is enough. This is a self-assessment, not a classification decision.
Tests applied: Corporations Act 2001 s 708(8) and s 708(11), Corporations Regulations reg 6D.2.03, as at November 2026. The certificate itself is provided with the provider, never on this page.
The tests in law. An offer received in Australia needs a prospectus unless an exemption in s 708 of the Corporations Act 2001 applies. The sophisticated investor exemptions are a minimum subscription of at least A$500,000 (s 708(8)(a) and (b)), or a certificate from a qualified accountant, no more than two years old, that you have net assets of at least A$2.5 million or gross income of at least A$250,000 in each of the last two financial years (s 708(8)(c) and reg 6D.2.03). A company or trust controlled by a certified person also qualifies (s 708(8)(d)). Professional investors include anyone who has or controls gross assets of at least A$10 million (s 708(11)).
04 · Ownership
What an investor owns through a U.S. corporation
You are not on a deed. You hold shares in the U.S. company that stands between you and the building. That one distinction drives your rights, your tax and your exit.
A property-specific structure
Each property is held in its own U.S. limited liability company. The LLC is a pass-through for U.S. federal tax and pays no entity-level federal income tax.
A U.S. C-Corporation as your entry point
You subscribe for shares in a U.S. C-Corporation that holds the membership interest in the LLC. The C-Corporation is the taxpayer of record in the United States.
Why the corporation sits there
It acts as a blocker. You have no U.S. personal income tax filing obligation from holding shares or from receiving dividends, and U.S. withholding arises only when the corporation actually distributes cash to you.
The sponsor operates
The sponsor arranges financing, appoints the property manager, handles leasing and reports to investors. You do not manage tenants.
Exit is on sale, not on demand
There is no ready secondary market for these shares. Assume you hold until the property is sold and the structure is wound up. Section 06 sets out how that final step is taxed.
The structure, top to bottom
You
Australian wholesale client
U.S. C-Corporation
You hold shares here. Taxpayer of record in the United States.
Property-specific LLC
Pass-through for U.S. federal tax. One asset only.
The property
Income-producing U.S. real estate
05 · Documents
What a provider will ask for
What a provider will typically ask a resident for. Tap to tick them off as a checklist for your own planning.
06 · Tax
Taxed at the U.S. corporation, then in Australia with an offset
The property is in the United States, so U.S. tax applies there first, at the corporation. The U.S.-Australia tax treaty then cuts withholding on your dividends from 30% to 15%, and Australia lets you offset the tax withheld against Australian tax on the same income.
The U.S. taxes it at the corporation
Rent is earned in the United States, so U.S. tax applies. It is paid by the C-Corporation before anything reaches you, which is why you have no U.S. filing obligation of your own.
The treaty cuts withholding to 15%
Dividends carry 15% U.S. withholding under Article 10 of the U.S.-Australia treaty instead of the statutory 30%, once a valid Form W-8BEN is on file. On unlisted shares the treaty claim needs a tax identification number on the form; because Australian law restricts who may ask for a tax file number, the provider guides you through the options, which can include a U.S. ITIN.
Australia taxes the dividend, with an offset
The dividend is foreign income at your marginal rate. The U.S. tax withheld comes off your Australian tax as a foreign income tax offset. There is no franking credit, and Australia gives no relief for the U.S. corporate tax.
6.1Rent arrives at the LLC
In the United States
No entity-level federal income tax. Income passes through to the C-Corporation, after depreciation and operating deductions.
In Australia
Nothing applies. You hold shares in the C-Corporation, not the LLC.
6.2The corporation is taxed
In the United States
Federal corporate income tax at 21% on its share of taxable income. State corporate income tax may also apply, depending on where the property sits.
In Australia
Nothing applies to you. For Australian purposes the C-Corporation is an ordinary foreign company.
6.3Cash is distributed to you
In the United States
Withholding at 15% under the U.S.-Australia treaty (Article 10) instead of the statutory 30%, once a valid Form W-8BEN carrying a tax identification number is on file. Without one, 30% is withheld. You receive Form 1042-S. The dividend is an ordinary dividend, not a FIRPTA gain.
In Australia
Foreign income at your marginal rate, declared in your tax return. There is no franking credit, because the payer is a foreign company.
6.4You claim the offset
In the United States
Nothing further. The 15% withheld is your final U.S. tax on the dividend, and there is no U.S. return to file.
In Australia
The U.S. tax withheld is a foreign income tax offset against Australian tax on the same income. It is capped at that Australian tax, is not refundable and is not carried forward.
6.5Earnings are retained instead
In the United States
No withholding arises until an actual distribution is made, so the timing of that charge follows the distribution decision rather than the rent.
In Australia
Nothing applies to an ordinary minority holder. The foreign investment fund rules were repealed, and the controlled foreign company rules reach only concentrated holdings.
6.6The property is sold and the structure wound up
In the United States
The expected position is that no withholding applies to the final liquidating distribution, under the cleansing rule at IRC section 897(c)(1)(B), once the sale has closed and the gain has been taxed at the corporation. Selling your shares before that point would be a taxable FIRPTA disposition.
In Australia
How the liquidation proceeds are taxed in Australia depends on how they are characterised under the liquidator's distribution and capital gains tax rules, and needs advice on the facts. From 1 July 2027, the 50% CGT discount is replaced by cost base indexation and a 30% minimum tax for gains accruing after that date. Gains accrued before then keep the discount.
6.7U.S. estate tax
In the United States
Shares in a U.S. corporation are U.S.-situs assets for a non-resident's estate, with a USD 60,000 exemption by default.
In Australia
The U.S.-Australia estate tax convention replaces that with a pro rata share of the full U.S. exemption, so U.S. estate tax generally reaches only very large worldwide estates. A U.S. estate return may still be required.
Investing through an Australian company instead of personally. A company holding less than 10% of the C-Corporation is taxed on the dividend at the corporate rate with the same offset, and passes it on to shareholders unfranked. A company holding 10% or more of the voting interests can treat the dividend as non-assessable and claims the 5% treaty rate instead. Self-managed super funds and family trusts have their own treatment, and trust eligibility for the treaty rate is not settled. Decide the vehicle with your adviser before subscribing.
07 · FAQs
Clear answers
This page is general information, not legal or tax advice. Nothing here determines your tax residency, your U.S. person status, your wholesale client status or your eligibility to invest. Those are questions of law that depend on your own circumstances, and they are settled by the applicable rules and by your own professional advisers, not by Raveum. Descriptions on this page reflect our understanding as at November 2026 and may change. Take your own legal and tax advice before you act on anything you read here.
Investing in U.S. real estate from Australia
Not available to residents of Australia today. This page is not an offer, invitation or solicitation. Our guides explain U.S. real estate in more depth.
No Australian cap on overseas investment
15% treaty rate with a valid W-8BEN
No U.S. return to file