InnerVoice

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.

When you've been living over here a few years, and especially when you haven't been back to the UK for a while, it's easy to forget just how long and dreary the British winter is. There are normally a couple of mild days in February which gives one false hope, only to be dashed by a month of rain in March and single-digit temperatures. Who could blame anyone for wanting to escape that on an annual basis - or even part of that!

I don't think that's quite how it works in practice. When completing your Australian tax return you declare if you're an Australian resident or non-resident for tax purposes, so you decide. I've been here over 25 years and completed a tax return almost every year during that time, and the ATO has never stipulated that my tax residency was different to what I claimed it to be. It's a long time since I've completed a UK tax return, but I assume you are required to make a similar declaration to the HMRC. Everything is automated these days, and I'd have thought the only time a tax authority will start looking into your circumstances more closely is if you appear to be evading taxes in their jurisdiction.

Not unless you were previously a permanent resident of Australia for at least a year before your 3 years of continuous stay. New Zealand citizens must meet the general residence requirement of being lawfully present in Australia for four years, including 12 months as a permanent resident, immediately before the date of citizenship application. https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/entering-and-leaving-australia/new-zealand-citizens/pathway-to-permanent-resident-and-citizenship

Good grief, what's happened to my thread? I can't leave you guys alone for 5 minutes!

As long as your Australian account is registered to an overseas address, you'll only have to pay the ATO 10% tax on any interest earned. However, as a UK tax resident that income stream is also taxable in the UK, but because Australia and the UK have a DTA you shouldn't pay tax more than once on the same income. In the UK you're entitled to a Personal Savings Allowance (PSA) of £1,000, so you won't pay any additional tax in the UK if your Australian-earned interest is lower than that amount. However, once you exceed the PSA you'll pay tax 20% if you're a basic rate taxpayer, or 40% if you're a higher rate taxpayer, so if your Australian-earned interest exceeds £1,000, you're going to have to pay the HMRC the difference - an additional 10% if you're a BRT, or 30% if you're a HRT. Hope that makes sense.

I like Monkey Shoulder too, but also not into the peaty stuff - takes like antiseptic to me!

Anything can be done of course, but you've already identified some of the major challenges - not to mention the transient nature of the lifestyle, which you might find unfulfilling after a while. Probably okay for singles and younger couples, but as soon as kids arrive then you've got the challenges associated with childcare and schooling too. If you're able to get on the property ladder in both countries, you could AirBnB'd them for the 6 months you were overseas. That might be a more practical solution than trying to find a new tenant every 6 months for a 6-month let, and then you could also leave both properties fully-furnished. Vehicles would probably be best left with family or friends, unless you can securely garage them at either property. Tax could be a real can of worms as both countries are likely to consider you resident for tax purposes. You'd really need to take specialist advice. This is why a lot of people talk about doing the half and half thing but few actually do it, apart from the very well off who can afford to waste money maintaining vacant properties for several months a year.

Yes indeed, thanks for pointing that out. Non-residents will have 10% of any interest earned from Australian bank accounts withheld for tax, but a non-resident will need to provide an overseas address otherwise tax will be withheld at their top marginal rate.

If you can open an account with UBank you can currently get 5.1% interest on your savings, just as long as you continue to deposit $200+ per month. https://www.ubank.com.au/banking/savings-account Wise (formerly TransferWise) offer very good rates for currency exchange. As a foreign resident you'll pay at least 32.5% tax on any income generated in Australian, so bear that in mind as it might well make what you're thinking of doing unviable.

Sorry, a bit rude of me not to answer the OP's questions, and didn't intend to hijack the thread - but yes, I'd do AirBnB for a couple of months and try and rent somewhere from there. Most places will be listed on the Domain or RealEstate.com websites (or both), but it'd be worth joining relevant Facebook groups too.

Oh right, so maybe the seller's conveyancer/solicitor drew up the contract and then passed in on to the real estate agent. I've never sold a house in Australia, so that's good to know. I recall there were also a couple of clauses in which I could withdraw from the contract, and one was the outcome of the pest inspection. In QLD it's pretty much a no-brainer to get a PI done - termites can gobble through your house in no time at all!

When we bought our current house the contract came directly from the estate agent, and that was before we'd contacted a solicitor to handle our end of the transaction. It was all done electronic actually, I just had to press a button to buy the house! I think that's how it works in QLD too.

I'd be interested to know how that works in practice because the estate agents over here do a lot more than the ones in the UK, who simply advertise your house and arrange viewings. I recall that the one's here handle the contracts, and also hold the buyer's deposit until settlement. If you're completely dispensing with their services then how are you going to manage those aspects of the transaction? And as a further matter of interest, does anyone know anyone who's actually done that?

Yes, that's fine.

I'd be setting my sights a little more highly, if I was you. A friend of mine left a HOD position in a UK school last summer, applied for Principal in a small school in Western Australia when he arrived in December, and got it!

I'll take that as a compliment. I'd love to be in my mid 40s again, even though that would mean I'd be working for another 15 years. I'm old enough to remember the men landing on the moon, and I know it was real because you couldn't see the strings like you could on Thunderbirds and Stingray.

Just over a year ago my wife and I enjoyed a very nice holiday in Tasmania, which was also a bit of a reccie for somewhere to spend our golden years. We really liked Launceston, although overall we weren't sure whether Tassie was a place that we could settle in retirement. We're thinking of taking another trip there during winter time and seeing what that's like. During the last year, two of my friends have moved from the East Coast to the Perth area for different reasons. One has retired near Mandurah while the other is working in Rockingham, and both are loving it. The most common reasons cited being affordability, proximity to the beach, lack of humidity, and that generally it's just a more laid back lifestyle over there. All this sounds very appealing, and for someone who really enjoys travelling it's also much closer to the rest of the world than the East Coast is. We want our next move to be mortgage-free and have a budget of $650,000 to play with, and looking on RealEstate that seems to get you a lot more house than you'd be able to buy anywhere (desirable) on the East Coast. I've only ever made two trips to the West Coast. The first was a 4-day city break in Perth 25 years ago, and the second was a two week road trip (Perth - Kalgoorlie - Esperance - Albany - Margaret River - Perth). The latter was 17 years ago so my experience of WA is far from up-to-date. I know Perth is a lot drier than QLD and I can live with that, but I really don't like anywhere that's completely flat and featureless, and for that reason Margaret River appeals. I remember it being quite hilly and a greener there. All of the affordable places between Perth and Margaret River would also be of interest, although I don't think we could afford to live close to Perth itself. I'd love to hear opinions (both positive and negative) and advice from those currently living in WA, or anyone who lived there fairly recently. Many thanks in advance!

If you're going to rent out your UK home and you're already citizens, then those are two biggies you won't need to worry about. You mentioned 'my husband and I', which I assume means you don't have kids either, so it isn't going to be a big risk to re-establish yourselves over here. However, I'm sure you'll be aware from reading other recent posts on this subject that housing affordability (whether renting or or buying) is now a real issue in Australia, particularly if you want to live in a desirable location. I'd have to agree with @Toots that moving just for the weather isn't a good enough reason itself, although I'll admit I never get bored with the nice weather here while I find the UK climate rather depressing. Have you considered the possibility of moving to southern Europe. Is your business something you could continue with through remote work, if you were on a similar time zone to the UK? You mentioned that your leisure time is constantly compromised, although you didn't say how you like to spend it. I emigrated in my early 30s when I was very outdoorsy, so I really embraced the Aussie lifestyle. I'm now approaching 60, and although I still love the great outdoors it isn't so much of a priority these days. Given your current ages you might also find that your leisure interests change in the next 10 years or so. If you decide to give it a whirl then set a date by which time you'll choose to either stay in Australia, or return to the UK. At least that way you'll feel like you gave it your best shot, but you won't forever be in a state of limbo. Good luck with it all, whatever you decide to do.

I've only ever done a big move (one requiring a container) from the UK to Australia. We used PSS International and we thought they were pretty good. On the one occasion I returned to the UK I didn't have much stuff, so I sent over some packing boxes with Seven Seas, which was fine too. If I ever found myself in a position where I was moving back to the UK from Australia, I'd probably sell of all the furniture and just do a Seven Seas MoveCube. The amount you're going to save not needing a container plus the money from selling stuff over here will go a long way towards replacing those items (new) in the UK.

That's what I've been doing the last few years to keep my total income under $120k (the 37% bracket). It's a no-brainer given I'm only a couple of years off my preservation age.

As Marisa has said. You'll pay tax at your marginal rate of 37%, unless the additional income takes you into the 45% bracket. There's also the Medicare Levy (2%), and the Medicare Levy Surcharge (1-1.5%), so you'll be paying at least 40% in deductions on that UK income. However, the new tax rates from 1 July 2024 should soften the blow.

There's a world of difference between negativity and pragmatism, although I accept at times it can be difficult to differentiate between the two. Your original post asked about basic monthly living costs, and whether you were going to be worse off financially when you moved to Brisbane. Then further down the thread you mentioned that your current mortgage is £350/month (c.$675), but you anticipate having a monthly mortgage of $4,000. Even taking into consideration that you will be on higher wages over here, that's a huge increase in your monthly outgoings. If both you and your wife are earning $80k/year it'd be 30% of your combined gross income, so it's hardly surprising that raised a few eyebrows. You've asked quite a few questions on PiO in recent weeks/months, and I think forum members have been very supportive. You had 70 replies to this post in a matter of days, which is far more than any other topic posted recently. Without exception, everyone who has commented has your best interests at heart, so I think it's rather harsh to say that about this site. I'm a bit of a Paloma Faith fan, so the words 'Do you want the truth or something beautiful?' spring to mind. If you want a virtual hug or a few 'care emojis' thrown at you then maybe this isn't the best place, but the people who comment regularly have a wealth of experience which they offer for free. Some of our experiences may not be quite as up-to-date as they once were, but the one thing we have in common is that we've all done what you're about to do, so we appreciate what new migrants are up against.

No, he's another forum member.