Your obligations
If you apply for a First Home Owner Grant you must meet certain obligations, which include that you:
- provide the full and correct information necessary for the Commissioner of State Revenue ('Commissioner') to determine your eligibility for the Grant
- notify the Commissioner if you do not satisfy all the conditions for the Grant; this includes the residence requirement
- repay the Grant where a condition of payment is not met
Consequences of not meeting your obligations
If you do not meet the eligibility criteria for the Grant, you will be required to repay the Grant to the Commissioner. Penalties may also apply if you do not meet the obligations mentioned above.
Each case will be considered on its facts to determine whether a penalty will apply, and the amount of any penalty.
Prosecution action may also be taken if the evidence indicates that you knowingly provided false or misleading information to the Commissioner, in relation to your eligibility for the Grant.
Each applicant should read the information sheet on your obligations before completing and submitting the application form.
The following examples are case studies of some actual situations where people have not met their obligations, and penalties or prosecution have applied.
Interstate investors required to repay grant with penalty.
A couple purchased a property in a Brisbane suburb for $205,000 for which a $7,000 grant was paid. Subsequent investigations revealed that the couple had not occupied the property as their principal place of residence within 12 months of completion of the eligible transaction.
An Office of State Revenue investigation revealed that the couple had entered into a management agreement with a real estate agent prior to the completion of the eligible transaction and were working and residing interstate at the time of making the application.
The fact that the property was not used as the couple's home but as an investment property was further supported by additional evidence gathered during the investigation.
The couple was required to repay the $7,000 grant and to pay a penalty of $5,600.
Gold Coast woman faces consequences of non-compliance.
A Brisbane magistrate dismissed an appeal by a Gold Coast woman and ordered that she repay the $14,000 grant, as well as a penalty of $11,200 and legal costs of $8,425.
Investigations revealed that the woman had not satisfied the principal place of residence requirement.
The Court found that the occupation which had occurred had been a deliberate attempt to obtain the Grant without satisfying the residence requirement
Logan man prosecuted for fraudulent grant claim
A Logan business man who rorted the Grant was convicted and fined in the Brisbane Magistrates Court, after he changed his name and fraudulently claimed the Grant for the third occasion. (He originally received a grant in NSW. He was then prosecuted for making a false declaration in applying for the Grant in Queensland).
In his latest fraudulant application, the businessman submitted a further false application for the Grant when, using his changed name, he claimed to sell a house to himself.
He was subsequently fined $5,250 and ordered to pay $2,500 in legal costs to OSR.
OSR also recovered the Grant.
