Julian927
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In the Transport & Shipping section of this forum there is a sticky that tells you "all you need to know about shipping your car". Ian
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Congratulations Ann and Roy. Really pleased for you. Julie
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This is the Australian Government comparison website. http://www.privatehealth.gov.au/ which we found quite useful. We also subscribed to Choice (an online website that provides information rather like Which in the UK) it cost $22.95 for a quarter. We have hospital cover, which also covers you for ambulance use and extras that provides something like 60% off dental, glasses and the like, plus 6 visits to the chiropractor, massages etc. It is difficult deciding between the various offers as they are all different. One good thing is that as you get older the cover gets cheaper (When my husband reached 65 it went down by about $30 a month) and you do not have to pass a medical to get cover. Julie
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NRMA A random fact for any of you trying to save a small amount of money....Did you know that if you can prove you were a member of a motoring organisation, for example AA or RAC, that the NRMA will waive their joining fee?
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No you actually have to be an Australian Citizen....so we all have to wait at least 4 years before we can apply for the CSHC unfortunately.
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Once you have become an Australian Citizen you can apply for a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card - you can read about in online at http://www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/internet.nsf/payments/conc_cards_cshc.htm It is then seriously reduced rates. Until then, if you spend more than a certain amount each year you can claim some back. (I am not sure how much that is, but have a feeling it is around $2000) You have to keep all receipts. You can include non-prescription medicines i.e. if you had, for instance, a verruca and needed ointment that can be counted. Julie
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Re: Teacher's Pension - mine is paid without any tax deduction in the UK. You have to complete HM Revenue and Customs form: "Individual Australia 2003" click here for the form. You have to be a permanent resident. You then declare the income on your ATO return, but you can claim UPP (Undeducted Purchase Price of your pension in payment) which I think works out to about 8% follow this link http://www.ato.gov.au/content/18917.htm Hope this helps? Julie
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I will preface my reply with the fact that I am not a tax expert.....but from our experience we have had to complete tax returns for both HMRC and Australian Tax where you have income that is untaxed from the UK you have to declare it on the form to the ATO and are then taxed, when it is on an investment, if you have made a profit in the UK, even if you have not realised that profit you have to pay the tax over here. If you have paid tax on it in the UK you deduct that amount of tax clearly on your ATO form and it is taken into account. We were advised to sell any assets, for example we had a small piece of land...because if you want to avoid paying IHT once in Australia you have to be able to prove you have cut all links with the UK....even to the extent of not taking out any subscriptions etc. ....then after 5 years, writing of an Australian will, becoming Australian citizens etc....you have to hope that the UK recognises that fact and allows you to escape their tax system. Julie
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Congratulations! Julie and Ian
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This post had me worried for a while but I think Alan means that you cannot take the fund out as a lump sum within the first 5 complete UK tax years of non-residency. During the 5 year reporting period, payments/withdrawals must not exceed those which would be permitted from a UK pension fund. Generally this would mean a maximum pension commencement lump sum of 25% and income not exceeding the UK drawdown limits. Julie
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Have PMd you Julie
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Hi - we went through this process leading up to our emigration in October 2010. Neither of us are 65 yet, my OH will be this year. I am so glad I took advice from a financial adviser. We talked to 3 at a Get Me DownUnder Show....one was very pushy and tried to scare us into using him. The other proved to be worth his weight in gold. I am more than happy to send you his name by Private Message. We paid him for a report which was very good and moved our money from various places so that we could take advantage of any blip in the exchange rate. It gives you the freedom to move the money when you consider it is the best time. He can explain more clearly. He advised us to write our wills over here with Australian witnesses.....as one more way to prove that you have cut your links with the UK to avoid any inheritance tax in later years. Please feel free to contact me, we have set up Self Managed Super Funds over here - the advantage being you pay no tax on any interest made on your super fund....unlike interest made on bank accounts....should you be lucky enough to be able to transfer any funds at a reasonable exchange rate. Julie
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I would ring them up or email them again -because a £ to a penny they are sitting on their desk. We had the same thing happen with ours and emailed saying that we had tracked them to Australia on a specific date and could they check again amongst their delivery...lo and behold they found them. Julie
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I don't fancy your ants!! I suspect different states have different power tarriffs. When we first bought our house in NSW I rang around the gas and electricity and the best deal I could get was 7% off both if I got them with AGL. When we moved in we suddenly got a letter saying we would be charged because we had not stayed with them for a year....and apparently the company who the previous owner used had told AGL that we were still their customer. It eventually was sorted out - but added to the initial hassle. Some companies only offered 7% off electricity and 5% off gas......go into your local library, there is usually a service desk there and ask them for all the companies that operate in your area and where you could get advice. Meanwhile hope the cockroaches come soon to eat the ants! Julie
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Just to throw something else into the melting pot....a friend in England sent me a long email about how she was now having to store a Bentley on her drive because, in her words her friend: "found that the Australian authorities would not accept the Bentley as it was two months over the manufacture time limit for importing old cars into Australia." It is a 1989 one, he has now had to put it on eBay.
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Yes you are right, whatever the cost of the visa when you first lodge it - that is what you pay - depending on the exchange rate at the time, sometimes it is better to pay through the Australian Commission. They set their rate every six months. Have a look at this link: http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/990i/converter.htm Julie
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Almost the same thing happened to us. We sold our house the night before flying to Australia for a 6 week holiday. On our return we had 9 days to find ourselves somewhere to live and move out of the house where we had lived for 30 years. Our advice would be to get yourself a rental property in the UK and stay there waiting in the hope that the exchange rate will improve - that will give you longer to gradually shunt money over - using something like UK Forex or a similar provider - into an Australian bank account. We toyed with the idea of a small flat for the duration but then would have had to pay for furniture storage, so in the end we took a 4 bedroom with double garage on an estate. This gave us time to whittle down some of our accumulated junk. We are pleased we took a 40 foot container to bring the majority of our possessions over here though - because it has saved us a considerable amount of money. Hope our experience helps you making your own decision.
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Barking dogs is very definitely something to add. We are surrounded by them in the house Phil Spencer found for us. People seem to have at least 3 or 4 dogs, leave them in the garden all day whilst they are at work and never walk them....so all they have to do is bark!
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Yes we took out one way travel insurance with STA. Julie
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Some friends alerted us a letter in the newspaper yesterday. I wonder if any of you have read it or could confirm the meaning? It talked about Winston Churchill's speech when given the Freedom of the City of London and expressed his appreciation of the fact the Dominions of Australia, Canada and South Africa never failed to respond to the call....re WW2 ".....How could he possibly ever have imagined that one day Britons who emigrated to those very countries would be shamefully discriminated against by having their pensions (to which they are legally entitled) frozen." The article goes on to say: "We in Australia are the lucky ones as our government generously makes up the shortfall, but why should they have to? It is time that the British Parliament listened to its conscience and voted to end this discrimination." It is the sentence in blue that I am interested in. Can anyone throw any light on this? Does it mean that once we are Australian citizens versus Australian residents that the Australian government will make up the index linking on our pensions? Yours ever hopeful.... Julie
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I have a Pure Evoke DAB radio and contacted them to see if I could get an upgrade to DAB+ and they said for my particular model this was not possible. There are a number of models that are upgradeable, so you might be lucky? You can still listen to the radio, just not use it as a Digital Radio.
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I had to pay tax in the UK because I went over the allowance....it was only because we had sold our house early and got the money in the bank....so between my pension and the interest - they managed to get us! Still that should be the last time I ever have to pay UK tax - I hope! Julie
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I have just looked out the letter that I received from The Pension Service last October when we emigrated. They state the obvious such as - you will not get a Christmas Bonus, plus they say you will not receive any Widow's Benefit or bereavement benefit PLUS "People living abroad permanently can only get emergency treatment under the National Health Service whilst visiting the UK. If you need more information about British medical benefits write to" ....Dept of Health at Wellington House...Tel No 020 7210 4850 I think the whole pension thing is pretty tough, particularly as we have both paid NI contributions for 40 years with no claim for any type of benefits within that period....but I think the NHS ban on anything other than emergency treatment is taking the ****! However, I was aware of it before we made the move so I suppose we can't complain - only agitate to get a fair go. Julie PS I have paid tax over there this year as well!
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We both signed this morning, we have both worked and paid full NI and Tax for 40 years....never claimed a jot and YES it is incredibly unfair....particularly when you receive a letter from the UK saying that if you go back you are not eligible for NHS - can only have emergency care. Thank you for bringing it to everybody's attention. Julie and Ian
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Our daughter doesn't own her own house, but had rented, in her name - so could produce evidence of that and it was sufficient. She had worked over here for 3 years though.