InnerVoice

1 hour ago, Marisawright said:

Also as a reality check, £450,000 won't be enough to buy a house in most capital cities in Australia, especially as you'll be slugged a hefty surcharge as a temporary resident.  Housing is very expensive here.

A quick fact check; $870,000 would be sufficient to buy a home in any Australian city with the exception of Sydney. In Melbourne and Canberra you're going to be living in suburbia, but they're still affordable on that kind of budget. One assumes that the OP could obtain a mortgage too, which would further extend his budget. He also mentioned that he can earn over USD $1,000/day, which is a fantastic income. Blimey, I wished I'd become a welding inspector instead of a teacher!

https://www.domain.com.au/research/house-price-report/march-2023/

£450k is some solid coin and a lot more money than most migrants arrive on these shores with, so I don't see any problem for the OP financially. However, his pathway to PR is going to be a lot harder, and as others have said, consulting an RMA should be his next step.

@MrTee I'm 100% behind your reasons for wanting to leave the UK. Have you considered any other countries? I believe it's a fair bit easier to get PR in NZ, although don't quote me on that!

13 hours ago, Cheery Thistle said:

To be honest I haven’t told my near and dear about the bottle incident. I think they’d be really quite shocked and I don’t think my Dad would want us to move if he knew about it. So mum (or dad)’s the word! 

You're not the only one to have experienced an unpleasant bottle-breaking incident. A number of years ago I was parked up in the shopping centre at Victoria Point (south-east Brisbane). It was early evening, about 6pm, and I'd just returned to the car with my shopping. There were some hoons in a ute a couple of parking spaces away from me, talking loudly and drinking. I should've just driven off straightaway, but I'd received a couple of messages on my phone which I started to read first. The conversation these guys were having was typical 'locker room talk', but at a volume anyone within half a mile would hear. I gave this guy a disparaging sideways glance, to which he replied "WTF are you looking at". I said nothing and just wound up the window, at which point he threw the empty bottle so it broke right in front of my car. Fortunately, I was able to reverse out of my space without having to get out to remove the broken glass.

On another occasion I was gardening and some P-platers came hooning up our street which is rather rare given that we life in a cul-de-sac, so they must've been visiting someone. A couple of hours later my wife and I were watching TV and we heard the familiar sound of engine revving and loud music playing, followed by breaking glass. Two bottles thrown out on either side of the road and glass everywhere, which took me quite a while to sweep up. I've often see broken bottles in the vicinity of the pub at the weekends when I'm out jogging, so unfortunately what you've experienced isn't just an isolated occurrence. The government could easily stamp this out by making throwing a glass object from a vehicle a far more serious offence than littering, but they can't even effectively legislate against kids riding eScooters, not to mention having sufficient police to actually enforce it afterwards.

I'm sure this type of thing happens in the UK just as frequently too, but because the boundaries between good and bad areas in towns and cities are more clearly defined, if you're fortunate enough to live in a good area then you won't experience it as much.

12 hours ago, Nemesis said:

I had a lot of friends in the Logan area, between Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Lots of vests, grubby shorts, mullets, drugged up hoons. It used to amaze me when going to a pub down that way with friends - we would never have dreamt of going down the garden dressed like some of them, never mind the pub! I also had some Aussie mates in a couple of places up the Sunshine Coast near Gympie, and they were the same when it came to going out. "Dressing up" for one guy consisted of putting on a baseball cap  

I have to say that I've really enjoyed your reflections on your trip, and think that by doing them this way - the good, and the not-so-good, it does show quite a balanced outlook. No rose-tinted-specs on show here. Obviously everyone sees things differently, but as you say, the whole point of forums like this is to allow everyone to give an opinion. 

The poor reputation of the suburbs halfway between Brissie and the Gold Coast proceeds them, although I don't think they're quite as bad as they used to be. The nicknames always give me a smile though...

Logan => Bogan

Shailer Park => Trailer Park

Browns Plains => Brown Stains

Rochedale => Cockroachdale

Slacks Creek => Slags Creek

Capalaba => Crapalaba

Bethania => Methania

And a few from the north side of town, just to be fair...  

Deception Bay => Depression Bay

Morayfield => Moronfield

Redcliffe => Deadcliffe

1 hour ago, Cheery Thistle said:

Yes Sydney did not suffer the same fashion epidemic that we witnessed in QLD. And it was not that much cooler there so the extreme heat is not an excuse for being scruffy! Sorry @InnerVoice not buying what you’re selling there. 

Well I'm sure if you compare Coogee Beach, one of the most affluent and bourgeois suburbs in Sydney, with regional QLD (which the Sunshine Coast is), you're going to see a significant difference in attire regardless of the climate. I worked in Brisbane CBD for several years in the mid noughties (nearly 20 years ago) and people dressed smartly for work in the city, even back then. If you'd travelled to regional NSW or VIC you'd have found plenty of fashion disasters, weird haircuts and bad tattoos there too, so it isn't just a Queensland thing.

15 hours ago, BendigoBoy said:

I had to chuckle at the line about work life balance. 71 hours I have been at my desk this week...

But 41 of those hours you spent on PiO  

14 hours ago, calNgary said:

Hubby would agree with you there Toots, but i hate it. As i've got older i just cannot tolerate the cold and love the heat. I pmsl when i first came and saw hats and gloves in shops, now its me that is wrapped up in fleeces and hats, lol

            Cal x

I've often heard it said that the coldest winter you'll ever experience is your first winter in Australia, and I'd say that's true. Most people tend to migrate during the Aussie summer to miss the British winter, and ensure their kids start the new school year. You feel like summer is never going to end, but it does. I spent my first winter in Sydney, and I remember waking up one morning at the start of May and thinking "Hmmm, this really isn't shorts and T-shirt weather any more!" QLD winters are a lot shorter of course, but you only have to head 20-30km inland from the coast and you notice how cool it gets at night. Brisbane has never record a sub-zero temperature, but it regularly goes below freezing in Ipswich. I recall they recorded -5C there one year.

@Cheery Thistle as a long-standing QLD resident, no offence taken. I'd concur with most those observations, with a few caveats...

1. 
2. The climate in QLD is the driving factor behind most people's choice of attire, and dressing up like a dog's dinner is neither comfortable nor practical. That said, most seem to dress smartly for work if they're in a business or customer-facing role, or for special occasions. Generally, Aussies are a lot less formal than Brits and not quite as up themselves about wasteful fashion trends, which personally I feel is a good thing.
3.  It definitely adds to the charm for me, although I appreciate many find it hard to adjust to which is why they never leave the major cities.
4.  I've never got used to the insularity here. It's the one single factor that makes me question whether I really want to spend my remaining days in Australia.
5.  Hooning and other anti-social behaviour is annoying but you can avoid it most of the time. Just make sure you don't live on a main road or busy street.
6.  It's a pain but you adapt to it, and it's not so noticeable during the winter months.
7. 
8. Freaking out over creepy crawlies is definitely a tourist/new migrant thing, but you'll find fly-screens keep out 99% of the nasties and your resident gecko will finish off the rest!  
9. 
10.  Indeed. Unless you live a hermitic lifestyle, an annual skin check at the end of summer should be de rigueur.

8 hours ago, Cheery Thistle said:

The main reason for that is that catchments in state schools are so tightly managed and we might need to move around and we’d rather not move our daughter school.

That's true, although state schools can accept out-of-catchment enrolments as long as they are not oversubscribed, and few are. There's also 'at the Principal discretion' so if your child is already enrolled in a school and you move, then they can continue attending that school - particularly if they are a good student  

By the way, glad you had such a great trip!

I'd have thought that you will have already paid more tax in Australia given the higher tax rates for foreign residents than you would be due to pay on that income in the UK, meaning that you'll not need to pay any further tax to the HMRC because of the DTA. However, you won't be entitled to a refund from them either. You will need to prove to the HMRC that the income has already been taxed in Australia. That's just my take on it, but I might be completely wrong!

One of the experts who contribute regularly might point you in the right direction but failing that you could contact the HMRC to clarify what you need to do, or consider getting professional tax advice.

10 hours ago, Nemesis said:

I think you'll find that its not a case of people being cranky

I thought your comments were very helpful @Nemesis, but there were others which were condescending and factually incorrect. I chose to draw attention to that in a light-hearted manner to avoid further unpleasantness.

I've been following PiO for many years, and more recently have been making a contribution. During that time I've found it to be an invaluable source of information, courtesy of some of the more-helpful and knowledgeable members. However, I can recall many occasions in recent months where newer members have expressed dismay at negative and unpleasant remarks made by more-established members, and have stated they will no longer be contributing. It may well explain why the numbers on here have dwindled so much in recent years when compared with other expat forums.

Telling another member that they're inconsiderate/irresponsible and to 'man up' is just plain offensive, but when the majority following thread appear to agree with that comment then it's tantamount to online bullying. It's very poor show and as the old saying goes, if you haven't got anything nice to say then just don't say anything at all!

Given the crankiness of previous comments, it appears that some may have forgotten their daily dose of glucosamine!

Have you ever considered what may seem blatantly obvious to you with your lifetime's worth of experience, isn't even be a blip on the radar of someone half your age? Only yesterday I had a teenager ask me if I could show him how to tie his school tie. I asked him if he'd ever asked his parents, to which he replied he had but they didn't know either. There is actually no such thing as 'common sense'. It's just our understanding drawn from knowledge and experiences we are very familiar with. From the sounds of it the OP made a genuine mistaken by not realizing the significance of the Australian passport in terms of travel requirements, and I doubt they'll make the same mistake again.

And to put the record straight, holding an Australian passport is not a responsibility - it's a privilege.

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/citizenship-subsite/Pages/Learn-about-being-an-Australian.aspx#

Responsibilities and privileges of Australian citizenship

8 hours ago, Marisawright said:

I have to admit, I had a similar experience as Nemesis with a financial adviser.  It might be better now, because of the ban on financial advisers taking commissions from the funds they sell.  However, that means they now charge a flat fee, which is a few thousand dollars, and some people baulk at that. 

I feel as though the OP's question -- will he be taxed on the lump sum if he withdraws it before he leaves - has been answered.  It sounds like you're talking about a much bigger question, i.e., is it really a good idea to withdraw the lot?  

I think there's a lot of strong reasons why it's a bad idea to withdraw the whole lot if you're staying in Australia in your retirement.  After all, the minute you take it out of super, you've got to put it in some kind of investment (even if it's just a bank account) and suddenly you're earning taxable interest.  And there's all that decision-making about how and where to invest. Not to mention the temptation to treat yourself to something with some of that lump sum, which you may regret when the money runs out later.

It gets a lot more complicated if you're thinking of moving overseas, due to exchange rate risks, tax differences between countries etc.  For that reason, I think he'd need to consult someone like Andrew from Vista, who's got experience of how moving between countries affects things like tax and pensions. Ordinary financial advisers either here or in the UK wouldn't know the complexities. 

I agree on all points. The OP didn't provide much information about their circumstances but hopefully we've provided some helpful information between us so he can move forward, or seek professional advice if required.

13 hours ago, Nemesis said:

I tried to do that, but the respected (??) company I spoke to basically lost all interest when they discovered I had under $500k. 

So I spent some hours on the internet, talked with an advisor at my UK bank & just withdrew the lot into savings, then transferred it all to a UK bank account as "savings" before I left Australia. I didn't have any property or assets in the UK before I arrived so my tax residency was very clear.  I was even still doing my normal job in Oz when the money was moved. 

I recall you'd had a poor experience in that regard which must've been frustrating. Hopefully it was an exception and most financial advisors are a little more helpful, even if you aren't exactly minted.

If the OP has a small amount in his super (e.g. $100k) then cashing it in before leaving Australia would make sense, just as you have done. Whilst not to be sniffed at, £50-60k isn't a huge sum of money in the grand scheme of things. By the time you've factored into the cost of moving back etc, what's left over could probably be invested into an ISA over a couple of years.

However, if we're talking about a significant amount then 'cash and run' might not be the best course of action. Assuming the OP doesn't intend to work when he returns to the UK, he'll be able to use his UK personal allowance which would be approximately £63,000 over 5 years. He could take a smaller lump sum from his super and then draw the rest as an income stream, and still pay no (or very little) tax in the UK. That way his super would stay invested, with the likelihood of producing better returns. Also, there wouldn't be a large cash balance that would require investment, plus the need to spread it across different banks for security if the amount was greater than £85,000 (FSCS threshold).

I mentioned 5 years because the OP said he was 62, and I assume he will be entitled to a full or part UK state pension at 67, so that's another income stream to take into consideration. That's why I suggested seeking professional advice if his query hasn't already been answered by previous comments in this thread.

5 hours ago, Del said:

Hi Ken, I don’t own a property in the UK, I would be staying with a relative for a couple of months when I arrive before buying.  

I would also be living off my savings so no actual income as far as the tax office is concerned apart from interest on savings, which wouldn’t come anywhere near the $10,000 the tax office says is the figure to go by to do a self assessment return.

So, I’m hoping my cashed out Australian  Superannuation doesn’t need to be included in a self assessment return as I won’t be a UK resident when I cash it in.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks

You could always consider paying for advice if all the free advice you've received already hasn't provided a comprehensive answer to your query. Just saying.

47 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

So are you saying that it won't be treated as savings, or are you thinking about the tax due on interest earned by the savings?

As I understand it you need to ensure that you're not deemed a UK tax resident retrospectively before you've cashed in your super, due to the overlap between the two tax systems.

I was at an expat gathering a few months ago and coincidentally there was a couple (mid 60s) doing exactly what the OP intends to do. They'd been advised by their accountant that to avoid any complications they should cash in their Aussie super before 5th April (end of UK tax year), then sell up and leave Australia permanently between 6th April and 30th June. That way your Aussie super is just cash before the start of the new UK tax year, so the HMRC cannot class it as income when you complete your tax return at the end of your first year back. You will have also left Australia permanently before the start of the new tax year here, so you'll be straight with the ATO once you've completed your last return, unless you choose to leave the funds in an Australian savings account earning interest.

5 hours ago, Del said:

Hi, I’m 62 and plan on closing my QSuper account and taking the whole amount as a lump sum while still in Australia and then a couple of months later retiring to the UK.

My question is will I be taxed on the cash lump sum when I arrive in the UK or is it classed as savings from my Australian bank account into a UK bank account?

Thanks for your help.

Hi @Del, good luck with your move back to the UK. What made you decide to move back?

On 11/03/2024 at 17:13, pob said:

The thing is we need a car until the end of our stay, so what should we do with it?

Selling it is a hassle here, I REALLY hate all the haggling!!!

Sell it for scrap? And then pay for an Uber to the airport? Just park it at the airport and forget about it???

Gumtree? Ebay?

What do we do with a 20 year old cheap car? Any suggestions?

Second-hand cars are in demand and still command a fair price here, even when they're really old. If you price it at the lower end, you won't get much haggling. You could either flog it on Gumtree or Marketplace, but then you might not have it until the end of you stay. Alternatively you could gift to someone you know whose children are learning to drive, on the basis that you have it until the day you leave and maybe they could take you to the airport.

I wouldn't suggest dumping it at the airport (or anywhere) as that could well come back to bite you should you ever wish to return to Australia, even as a tourist. That said, about 30 years ago I went on holiday to France and my Peugeot 205 broke down in Calais the night before we got the ferry back to the UK. It was already pretty old and had quite a few dings so we left it parked in the street with the keys in the ignition, and joked about how it had returned to it's spiritual home to die!

8 hours ago, bluequay said:

Yes you can but you won't get the annual cost of living uplift if you move to Australia as it doesn't have a social security agreement with the UK. It is frozen at the amount you received when you leave.

1 hour ago, Marisawright said:

Yes you can, BUT there's one  snag.  If you look at the article you linked to, it says that:  Depending on which country you move to, your pension may be frozen at a certain rate or linked to the cost-of-living.

Australia is one of those countries where it's frozen.  Whatever figure they're getting when they move to Australia, that's the figure it will stay at forever. No increases.  Can you imagine how they'd be managing now, if they still had to live on the pension they were getting ten years ago?

I wonder how many who retire overseas 'accidentally forget' to tell the DWP that they've moved? It would be very easy to change your correspondence address to that of a family member or close friend. From what I recall about my mum receiving the state pension, there's hardly any correspondence apart from the odd letter about cost of living increases or some additional benefit that will be paid, such as the Winter Fuel allowance. As a matter of curiosity, do you still receive the latter if you live overseas? I guess it might help with aircon bill in summer!

2 hours ago, Toots said:

Certainly very easy to move between 2 countries with your 2 passports if you have the cash and a lot of it.

Or even 3 countries if you're an Aus/UK citizen, courtesy of the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement with New Zealand.

3 hours ago, Toots said:

@empire it's still not clear who in your family want to return to Australia.  Is it only your grandparents who you live with or other family members?  I think it would a huge upheaval and a very expensive move for your grandparents at their age.  I honestly think life would be better for them in the UK and probably for you too as you really aren't keen on returning.

Apologies if I've misinterpreted this, but it seems that the OP is living with his grandparents (and maybe has been all his life) and it is they who now wish to return to Australia, after living in the UK for 8 years. The question is whether the OP wishes to return with them or remain in the UK, should indeed they return to Australia.

10 hours ago, DrDougster said:

Probably best to leave this kind of answer to one of the actual tax/accounting experts?

Original question...We moved across from Brisbane to Perth a little over a year ago. The area you ask about has some amazing scenery, vineyards and climate. The difference in temperature just a few hours drive South of Perth is pretty remarkable in the summer when many people head down there for Christmas.

Year round there is so much more sun here than in Brisbane and far less humidity. There seemed to be barely a week over there when it could string it together without rain and I don't miss those periods where all the paperbacks shrivel with humidity and towels are permanently wet. 

Healthcare is a bit primitive. There's a hospital at Bunbury and if you need specialist outpatient care lots of services are run out of Perth so Telehealth is an option unless you need to travel for the appointments. There are various radiology/pathology providers so basic testing is supported but not really much different to anywhere more than a couple of hours from a city in Aus.

Thanks, that's very helpful given that we'd also be moving from Queensland. I know what you mean about the humidity here - this summer has been an absolute shocker!

10 minutes ago, paulhand said:

Yes … this was Labour policy long before the Conservatives hijacked it. 

Great reply - loved that!

On 08/03/2024 at 19:43, AliG said:

The Telegraph says (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/tax/inheritance/british-expats-benefit-inheritance-tax-break-non-dom-scrap/#:~:text=As part of a swathe,IHT on their estates globally.

"Tens of thousands of British expatriates could see their inheritance tax bills cut under government plans to reform the non-dom regime.

As part of a swathe of reforms to the current tax rules, the estates of Britons living abroad may no longer be charged UK inheritance tax (IHT) on assets outside of the country.

Currently individuals who are UK domiciled – the UK is their home country – but resident abroad, are charged IHT on their estates globally.

However, under plans to move to a ‘residence-based regime’ from April 2025, expatriates who have lived outside of the UK for 10 years or more will only need to pay IHT on assets in the UK."

Thanks for including the link so I could read the whole article.

These proposals are set to be implemented in April 2025, by which the time the current government will almost certainly no longer be in power. So will they still go ahead?

19 hours ago, Marisawright said:

What decides your tax liability, in each country, are the rules about residency and domicile, which are sometimes open to interpretation -- and it's the tax authorities who decide how they're going to interpret them!

Those rules are clearly set out and there's even an interactive tool on the ATO website to help determine your tax residency, which covers the majority of situations. The same applies to the HMRC. I think most people would be able to work out their tax status from answering those questions honestly, unless they have rather unusual circumstances.

19 hours ago, Marisawright said:

So yes, you could make a unilateral decision which country you're going to be 'resident for tax purposes' in -- but if the other country gets wind of it, and takes a different view, then you won't just be due for extra tax.  You'll be up for fines, too.

That sounds like conjecture, and a bit of scaremongering.

It's not a unilateral decision, it's a declaration based on your personal circumstances. As long as you've answered questions honestly and declared all your income on any returns you're required to submit, I don't think you've too worry about. Both in the UK and Australia, I've phoned the tax office on several occasions with queries relating to completing my tax return, and I've always found them more than helpful.

The worst-case scenario is that you might be classed as resident for tax purposes by both jurisdictions, but as long as you've paid tax in the country where the income is sourced you're entitled to receive a tax credit in the other country, as per the DTA. As @Blue Manna said, unless you have a particularly complex set of circumstances it's going to be pretty straightforward for most people to sort out.

4 hours ago, Toots said:

The top 10 warmest winters on record for the UK include 2024, 2022, 2020, 2016 and 2014, and the top 10 wettest 2024, 2020, 2016 and 2014 – so very mild winters also show a tendency to be very wet.

Sounds good on paper Toots, but the reality now is many more miserable, rainy days, compared to when we were growing up when you could expect a good dollop of snow combined with sunny frosty days, which made winter far more bearable.