End of Financial Year FIRB Water Rights update
Unlike the Foreign Investment Review Board
(FIRB) agricultural land register – which
needs to be updated constantly, the FIRB water rights register only
needs to be updated annually. And, it's that time of year
again.
Under the Register of Foreign Ownership of Water or
Agricultural Land Act 2015 (Cth) (Land and Water
Registration Act), foreign persons with interests in
registrable water entitlements or contractual water rights in
Australia, are required to notify the Australian Taxation Office
(ATO) about any changes to these interests on an
annual basis and within 30 days of the end of each financial
year.
More so than in previous years, compliance in the foreign
investment space has been a key consideration and driver for FIRB.
Amendments to the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act
1975 (Cth) brought in at the start of 2021, demonstrate this
by granting significantly greater penalty and investigation powers
to
