New rules have come into play for property sellers, and ignoring them may prove costly.

As of the start of the year, all properties sold in Australia are required to get a clearance certificate from the ATO or risk 15% of the sale price being withheld. Previously, the rule only applied to overseas-based sellers, but it now applies to all Australian residents who own property.

Anyone selling property in Australia must provide the buyer with a clearance certificate confirming their status as an Australian resident for tax purposes at the time of settlement or earlier. It does not apply to sellers who signed contracts before the start of the year but have not yet settled. Previously, the rules applied to properties valued at $750,000 but that threshold has now been removed.

It comes at the ATO revealing it is making another push to find landlords who have not declared rental income or are under-estimating their earnings. It will match bond data to tax returns to see if landlords didn’t declare an income from a rental property they’ve lodged a bond for or if they have potentially misreported income.