Main Residence Exemption: The Basic Conditions

Explore the Main Residence Exemption including key definitions, who’s eligible and how to back it up with the right evidence.

In this session, we cover:

• Background and overview of the Main Residence Exemption

• Full main residence exemption

  • Eligibility and consequences

  • Key concepts to consider

• Limited to individuals

  • Some exemptions

  • Absolutely entitled individuals

• Ownership interests

• Must be a ‘dwelling’

  • Meaning of ‘dwelling’

  • Multiple units of accommodation – factors to consider

  • Adjacent land and recordkeeping

• Must be ‘main residence’

  • Factors to consider whether dwelling is main residence

  • Multiple residences

• Applicable CGT events and forfeited deposits

• Foreign resident ineligible

  • Denial of main residence exemption

  • Meaning of ‘excluded foreign resident’

  • Satisfying a Life Events Test

• Granny flat arrangements (Division 137)

  • Background and scope

  • Eligibility criteria for this exemption

Date recorded: 15 August 2025