confused

[mr & mrs edd]

More questions im afraid,
Can anyone please explain salary sacrifice please?
We are a family of four going to perth on a 457,fingers crossed.
Also is it true that you cant buy a older house has to be a new build?
Is it also true that you have to have a 20 30% deposit , the deposit we thought we would have is getting smaller and smaller due to having to reduce our house price to try and sell.
Please help.

[billy braveheart]

HI
you CAN buy an older house on a 457 but you need permission from the FIRB first,
not sure about the deposit but obviously the more the better

[mr & mrs edd]

Thankyou thats another question ticked off my very long list.

[Quoll]

Salary sacrifice is when your employer takes out some of your pay before the tax is taken out in order to put it into a particular "thing". The most usual "thing" is superannuation but many people also sacrifice against cars. I work for a charity and can actually sacrifice against my credit card payments (every day living expenses) but if I had had a mortgage or paid rent or was paying off a personal loan I could have had my sacrificed money paid into those accounts. If you sac into super there is a 15% tax. If you sac into cars then you have to drive over 25k km per year otherwise you have to pay a fringe benefits tax which makes it uneconomical to sacrifice. If you are in the higher income bracket - 45c in the dollar, salary sacrificing is a very sensible way to go but if you are on a low income then the benefits are not quite as good. You can also salary sacrifice against a laptop which is a short term sacrifice - so your employer takes out the cost of the laptop from your salary before he takes out the income tax on it.

[Liam]

For the official details on Salary Sacrifice use trhis link toi the Australian Tax Office site and run through the page links on the right hand side of the page

Salary sacrifice arrangements for employees

As far as a deposit for a home we always recommend 26% . So 20% to avoid having to pay whats called Mortgage Lenders Insurance (insurance to protect the bank not you) and 6% to cover Stamp duty, Legals, Inspections etc. You can get a 90-100% loan but the providers are drying up as the credit squeeze continues worldwide

As you will be buying your first home in Australia you should see if the stamp duty concessions apply in the state you are moving to while on a 457 visa or not.

Hope this helps

Liam