Foreign Purchaser Surcharges Class Action

If you purchased property in Victoria or Queensland, Australia, and are from one of the below eight Relevant Countries, you may have paid invalid property surcharges and could be eligible for compensation.

Learn More

Claim Overview

Basis of the Claim

Relevant Countries

Eligibility

Registration

Current Status

Claim Overview

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Johnson Winter Slattery, an Australian commercial law firm, has filed two class actions against the Victorian State Government and the Queensland State Government respectively in the Federal Court of Australia. These class actions concern stamp duty and land tax surcharges imposed on foreign property purchasers and owners of Victorian and/or Queensland property.

Both class actions allege that certain surcharges were in breach of treaties with eight Relevant Countries. If you are from one of these eight countries and paid a stamp duty or land tax surcharge, you may be a group member in one of the class actions.

Johnson Winter Slattery has also filed a proceeding in the High Court of Australia against the Commonwealth Government and the Victorian State Government in relation to issues underpinning the class actions. The proceeding is with respect to the validity of the Victorian Surcharges (defined below) and legislative action taken by the Commonwealth Government and Victorian State Government following the commencement of the class action against the Victorian State Government. We expect this proceeding will also be determinative of issues relevant to the Queensland class action.

What is the basis of the claim?

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The treaties between Australia and the eight Relevant Countries contain promises to ensure taxes are equitably imposed.

The class action against the Victorian State Government alleges that at least two surcharges imposed on foreign property purchasers and owners by the Victorian State Government are likely to be inconsistent with those treaties. These surcharges are:

Foreign Purchaser Additional Duty (FPAD) – a once-off surcharge imposed at the time of property ownership transfer on acquisitions of residential land in Victoria (in force from 1 July 2015); and
Absentee Owner Surcharge (AOS) – a land tax surcharge imposed annually on foreign persons (in force from the 2016 land tax year),

(together, the Victorian Surcharges).

The class action alleges that the inconsistency between the Victorian Surcharges and the treaties entitle people from the Relevant Countries to a refund for any surcharges paid to the Victorian State Government.

The class action against the Queensland State Government concerns similar surcharges and also alleges that these surcharges are likely to be inconsistent with those treaties:

Additional foreign acquirer duty (AFAD) – a once-off surcharge imposed at the time of property ownership transfer on (direct and indirect) acquisitions of residential land in Queensland (in force from 1 October 2016); and
an absentee surcharge – a land tax surcharge imposed annually on foreign persons holding land in Queensland (in force from the 2018 land tax year for individuals and the 2020 land tax year for companies and trusts),

(together, the Queensland Surcharges).

The class action also alleges that the inconsistency between the Queensland Surcharges and the treaties entitle people from the Relevant Countries to a refund for any surcharges paid to the Queensland State Government.

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What are the Relevant Countries?

Finland

Germany

India

Japan

New Zealand

Norway

South Africa

Switzerland

How do I know if I am eligible?

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Persons (whether an individual, partnership, company or trust) who satisfy the following criteria may be eligible to participate in one of the class actions:

They have paid one or more of the Victorian Surcharges or Queensland Surcharges; and
They are a foreign person due to their association with one of the eight Relevant Countries.

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I am a Foreign Purchaser. How do I register for the class action?

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By submitting your information, you will receive further information about the class action, including progress updates and how to participate.

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Current status of the class action?

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The class actions against the Victorian State Government and the Queensland State Government have been stayed (i.e. paused) pending the outcome of concurrent High Court proceedings relating to issues that overlap with the class actions. We anticipate that the High Court proceedings should be determined in the second half of 2025.

Register your interest

If you purchased or leased one of the vehicles mentioned above with a 4-cylinder Theta II MPI or GDI, Gamma GDI or Nu GDI petrol engine, you may be a group member in the class action. This may be the case regardless of:

whether you purchased your vehicle new or second hand

whether you still own your vehicle or have already sold it

whether you experienced any of the engine faults referred to above or not

whether your vehicle or its engine has already been repaired or replaced (by Hyundai or someone else, under warranty or otherwise)

If you think you may be a group member, you can register your interest in being part of the class action by completing the registration form below.

Frequently asked questions

1. Who is conducting the Class Action?

Johnson Winter Slattery (JWS) are the solicitors running the class action.

JWS has leading-edge experience in advising clients on large-scale litigation and class actions, and its litigation partners have been involved in many of the significant claims and major class actions in Australia over the last 20 years. JWS has the experience acting for both plaintiffs and defendants in large-scale litigation and class actions related to consumer insurance products, antitrust/competition, corporate, financial services and tax matters.

2. How is the Class Action being funded?

The class action is funded by Harbour Fund V, L.P. (Funder).

There are no upfront costs payable by the group members to become part of the class action.
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If the class action is unsuccessful, group members will not be liable to pay any of the costs of the class action.
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Funding updates

In June 2022, the Full Court of The Federal Court of Australia released its judgment in LCMFunding Pty Ltd v Stanwell Corporation Limited (Stanwell Judgment), which impacts whether funding arrangements such as those in place for the CMC Markets Class Action should be classified as Managed Investment Schemes and regulated as such under the Corporations Act 2001.
The CMC Markets Class Action was registered as a managed investment scheme named Harbour Litigation Funding Scheme No. 1 (ARSN 655 507 716) (the Scheme) under laws impacted by the Stanwell Judgment. Evolution Trustees Limited (AFSL No. 486217) (Evolution Trustees) was the Responsible Entity for that Scheme.
On 11 August 2022, Evolution Trustees resolved to deregister the Scheme.
On 20 November 2022, ASIC confirmed the deregistration of the Scheme.
On 22 December 2022, Evolution Trustees provided Members of the Scheme a notice to terminate the Scheme in one months’ time from the date of the notice. You can view a copy of the notice here.
The class action continues to be funded by the Funder and the termination of the Scheme will not impact the running of the CMC Markets Class Action.

3. What sort of compensation might I receive if the claim is successful?

The class action seeks damages and/or compensation for the Applicants and Group Members.

The actual amount of compensation payable will depend on the outcome of the case and the circumstances of individual Group Members, and therefore cannot reliably be predicted.

4. How long will the action take?

The length of the proceedings is difficult to predict but the litigation is likely to last several years. It is not uncommon for a class action in Australia to last for more than two years.

5. What if I do not want to be a group member?

In due course, the Court will order an opt out process in the class action for group members.

Contact us

You can email us at fpsclassaction@jws.com.au or fill out the form below.

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