jpe123 Posted August 29, 2014 Share Posted August 29, 2014 Hello, My wife and I will be arriving in Sydney early October, Pretty sure one of us will have work pretty quickly so my question is ...... Does anyone know if we can apply for a tax file number before we arrive or can this only be done once on Aussie soil ? or does it not make much difference ? Cheers Justin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyman Posted August 29, 2014 Share Posted August 29, 2014 Of course you can and its free........and bring plenty of yellow dusters................. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpe123 Posted August 29, 2014 Author Share Posted August 29, 2014 Brilliant thank you, Yellow Dusters I am lost on that one ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boganbear Posted August 29, 2014 Share Posted August 29, 2014 My understanding is that you cannot apply before you arrive as you have to have an Australian address and be resident. it only takes a few days and you can do it online https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Tax-file-number/Applying-for-a-TFN/. although the website says you can apply for one if you are outside Australia it is for people who are non resident but still have Australian income Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 29, 2014 Share Posted August 29, 2014 Iirc TFN is applied for once in Australia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rammygirl Posted August 30, 2014 Share Posted August 30, 2014 And they know when you are in Australia, try it on line and see. My son got a message saying it appeared he was not in Australia yet and to re apply when he was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumpkin Posted August 30, 2014 Share Posted August 30, 2014 (edited) Of course you can and its free........and bring plenty of yellow dusters................. No you can't. TFN can only be applied for onshore. I arrived a couple of days before the OH, applied for my TFN and then tried applying for his, but the system knew he was not on shore however, presumably because the passport or visa details I had to enter was cross referenced. As for the yellow dusters reference, too cryptic for me. Edited August 30, 2014 by Pumpkin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rammygirl Posted August 30, 2014 Share Posted August 30, 2014 It's from another thread on the lack of yellow dusters in Aus. never used them myself, always use micro fibre cloths. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumpkin Posted August 30, 2014 Share Posted August 30, 2014 It's from another thread on the lack of yellow dusters in Aus. . Oh ok, thank you for clarification. I never noticed that either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyman Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 No you can't. TFN can only be applied for onshore. I arrived a couple of days before the OH, applied for my TFN and then tried applying for his, but the system knew he was not on shore however, presumably because the passport or visa details I had to enter was cross referenced. As for the yellow dusters reference, too cryptic for me. `I`ve just checked on that with mrs tonyman and we got our TFN`s here , it was our bank accounts we opened up while still in the UK ...sorry JPE and if you use dusters I would bring some as they are hard to find here (yellow ones ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpe123 Posted September 1, 2014 Author Share Posted September 1, 2014 haha, Brilliant thank you all. I will bring a container of dusters and open a shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gin100 Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 Having just arrived in Melbourne last week, you just need to apply for a TFN online once in Australia & make sure you go with the individual auto registration (https://iar.ato.gov.au/IARWeb/default.aspx?pid=4&sid=1&outcome=1) for migrants. You don't want to apply off shore anyway as then you'll be liable for Australian and UK tax. The other thing to be aware of (which we fell foul of) is that you cannot apply for a TFN without an Australian phone number (UK ones are no good even if they work in Australia) and address. We had our friends address but what we didn't have was a phone number and getting one of these was harder than we'd ever imagined! Just so you don't have the same problems as us - you can only get pre-paid phones as you won't have an Australian credit history and you need to take ID (i.e passport) with you in order to buy any sort of phone deal. Also, make sure you register with Medicare & CentreLink early on too. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpe123 Posted September 1, 2014 Author Share Posted September 1, 2014 Thanks Gin100, will look into medicare and Centrelink not sure what that last one is should we do this before we arrive also ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gin100 Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 CentreLink is the Australian equivalent of the Department for Work & Pensions so you can claim the equivalent of job seekers allowance, family tax credits etc. Worth registering with if you're job hunting and/or have kids... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpe123 Posted September 1, 2014 Author Share Posted September 1, 2014 Are you eligible for them on a WHV ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gin100 Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 Don't know about that (I had to look up what a WHV was!); I'd be surprised if you could but you don't lose anything by asking - it's all done at the same place as your Medicare. Not sure what the rules would be for Medicare on a WHV either. I'm on a permanent residents visa & am eligible to apply... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tina0101 Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 We have got contract mobile phones - our Australian bank supplied us with a letter when we had transferred our money, showing our account details and a healthy balance, we had our passports and UK driving licences and have managed to set up contracts. We get free texts to the UK and an allowance of free minutes to chat to the UK. We could only apply for our TFN when we arrived. You can set up bank accounts before. Having looked at the QLD we page, it would seem that you have to be in Australia for two years before you can claim job seekers allowance. http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/enablers/waiting-periods#Newlyarrivedresidentswaitingperiod Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpe123 Posted September 1, 2014 Author Share Posted September 1, 2014 Cheers Gin. yeh not planning on going for job seekers haha Tina0101 ! ah brilliant that's all great advice thanks. Did it cost you much to transfer your money ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tina0101 Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 Cheers Gin. yeh not planning on going for job seekers haha Tina0101 ! ah brilliant that's all great advice thanks. Did it cost you much to transfer your money ? We have used Moneycorp to transfer the money. The rates have been ok and there are no fees if you are a PIO member. There seem to be a few companies that do this service and it seems to work out better for you than the bank!!! We're not planning on job seekers either, but it was something I hadn't realised until I came across that webpage the other day :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonathonS Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 I've heard that you can apply for a TFN in advance if you have an Australian address. Sure, it says that you have to be in the country first, but I don't see what the difference is. Some hostels even advertise that you can use their address for the TFN so that it's there waiting for you when you arrive, at least that's what I plan on doing. One thing I am curious about is if Telstra will let me do their 1-year contract on a WHV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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