Do property firms ever file an IFTI?
An IFTI is a cross-border instruction. For most conveyancers and agents, someone else’s bank files it.
Quick answer
Most property firms do not file an IFTI. An overseas buyer, or purchase money that arrives from a bank, is not by itself an international funds transfer instruction the agency or the conveyancer must report. The trigger is rare: the firm itself sends or receives the instruction. FreeAML stays on customer due diligence. The check is client-pays. FreeAML does not lodge an IFTI.
A search for “ifti austrac” from a conveyancer or an agent usually starts with a myth: foreign funds mean a foreign-transfer report. An international funds transfer instruction is an instruction accepted in Australia for money or property to be made available in another country, or an instruction accepted in another country for money or property to be made available in Australia. If you send one out of Australia or receive one into Australia, AUSTRAC says you report it within 10 business days. Checked against AUSTRAC’s international funds transfer reports on 2 October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. This page does not reproduce the report forms or the party lists. Sector context is /tranche-2.
Two report types, and who they are for
AUSTRAC describes two IFTI reports. One is for financial institutions moving money electronically to or from another country. The other is for remittance providers, casinos, and other entities that are not financial institutions, where money or property moves under that kind of arrangement. A bank that accepts the buyer’s instruction and pays the beneficiary is in the first row. A property firm that is not itself the institution in that chain is not there because the buyer lives overseas.
The transitional rules on that page keep the current IFTI reports in place until a later international value transfer reporting date, on or after 31 March 2029. Read that note on AUSTRAC’s page before you build a process around a form name. This article does not restate the transitional rules.
The overseas-funds myths
What property firms ask, and the usual reading. Get advice if the firm itself is moving value across the border.
| What happened | Usual reading | Still look at |
|---|---|---|
| An overseas buyer’s bank credits the conveyancer’s trust account in Australia | The financial institution in the instruction is the usual IFTI reporter. A domestic credit is not a second IFTI from the conveyancer merely because the buyer is overseas | Whether the firm itself accepted an instruction to make money or property available offshore |
| An agency markets property to overseas buyers | Marketing is not an IFTI. Living overseas does not choose the report | Whether brokering the sale is a designated service, and who the customer is |
| Physical currency of $10,000 or more on the file | That is the threshold transaction report, not an IFTI | The cash rule, including who files when more than one firm touched the money |
| The firm itself sends value overseas, or accepts an instruction to do that, outside a bank’s instruction | This is the rare row. It can be an IFTI. Get advice before you assume you are, or are not, the reporter | Do not redesign the payment to avoid the report. This page does not describe how to move value |
Who files the cash report is the $10,000 threshold transaction report. Who the customer is on the sale is who is the customer. A pattern that gives you reasonable grounds for suspicion is a suspicious matter report, including when the money is electronic and no IFTI is yours: when a Tranche 2 firm must lodge.
Where FreeAML fits
FreeAML remains a customer due diligence product. The firm suite is A$0. When the program requires a check on the customer of the designated service, the firm sends it by email and verification is client-pays. Amounts are on FreeAML pricing. The product does not lodge an IFTI, a threshold transaction report, or a suspicious matter report. It does not decide that an overseas buyer creates a report, and it does not replace austrac.gov.au. You lodge in AUSTRAC Online if the rare trigger is actually yours.
📚 Related Resources
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Frequently Asked Questions
Customer due diligence stays client-pays.
The firm suite is A$0. FreeAML does not lodge an IFTI. If a check is required, the client completes it by email.
View pricingQuestions: team@freeaml.com.au