scuffythetugboat

It's not income so it's not taxed.

As an Australian Tax Resident you are required to declare all your income from the known universe. Some people don't declare it and have so far escaped justice.

Could you claim to be moving on a trial basis to see whether or not Australia suited you? Sometimes I think bank managers (do they still exist?) just want a quiet life, and as long as they can tick all the boxes at the outset and all the payments are made on time, would be happy to just let things roll

Apparently the bones of bank managers are being dug up alongside the bones of the Triceratops.

I was working in Perth back in 2013 for a company that laid off some people on 457 visas. One of them had a car on finance that was only a few months old. He drove it to the Airport then flew out leaving the car in the car park.

Remain calm. We've shipped clothing 4 times now and no harm has come to any of it. Larger items can be hung up in a wardrobe type box which is then sealed up with the usual packing tape. Other clothes are folded and placed in the standard shipping boxes and taped up as well. No special protection required.

Our last lot that arrived back here in the UK had a box of clothes, inside which we placed some chocolate bars. The clothes were fine but the chocolate had melted with the heat.

Marry this with Labour wanting to suspend the 457 and train local people instead of bringing in skilled immigrants, could we be seeing the end of the 457 in its current guise?

Good. About time.

You are supposed to lodge a final return whether you are due a refund or not but usually most people get something back. The size of any refund is immaterial as it all depends on your personal circumstances. You can lodge a return either before you depart Australia or afterwards. If you do a paper return it will take 10 weeks to process. Look it all up on the ATO website.

We have moved twice in each direction with and without children but I must say that if either of us was feeling the way you are at the moment, we would certainly have put the plans on hold.

We flew back with Emirates back in September and we had a golf case without the clubs in it. When we booked we noticed that the 30kg baggage allowance no longer applied to the cheaper zoo class seats. We paid for the next level up which was cheaper than their excess baggage fees.

Think it through. You are going to send "tea leaves" through the post. You will have to declare exactly what is inside your parcel/package on a sticker attached to the parcel/package. Probably all the red flags on the Australian and UK customs systems will be activated. Is it worth it?

Assuming that your wife is an Australian resident for tax purposes she must declare all income from anywhere in this world whether it has been taxed at source or not. By not declaring any income you run a risk of getting into serious strife with the ATO which can result in heavy penalties. Look it up on the net or ask an accountant before you decide what you want to do. Depending on each persons circumstances the tax (if any) bill may not be as bad as you think. Personally, I like to sleep at night

You could get your relatives to buy Premium Bonds in their name with your money or you can buy them in your name but you would have to pay Australian tax on your winnings.

Hi @scuffythetugboat did you have a lot to move from Perth to UK? We are looking at options and would be very interested to know how you used etc. How long ago was the move? Much appreciated.

Hi Sue, we had just over 5 cubic metres of boxes which we packed ourselves. We looked into Movecube but our stuff would have been over their safe weight limit and we had nowhere for them to park the trailer as we were in an apartment in East Perth. The cost was $1800 door to door with Chess Removals who we can recommend as we've used them twice now. They picked up on the 5th of September and everything was delivered to our address on the 1st November. All accounted for and no breakages. We insured with Letton Percival, but I would point out that as everything was self packed, they did not cover china or glass breakages.

Part container loads are being shipped quite quickly at the moment as a lot of people are heading back to the UK.

Hope this helps.

The OP is going back to the UK. We got insurance for our goods. Nothing was opened by customs on arrival in the UK and everything turned up in one piece.

We sent our stuff back in a shared container. We packed everything ourselves and they picked it up, shipped it over, then delivered here in the UK. It was cheaper than Movecube. It took 8 weeks from pick up in Perth to delivery in Cambridge.

We used HIFX to exchange our money. We transferred money from our Westpac account to HIFX. The money was sent by HIFX to our Nationwide account in the UK. No fees were charged by either Westpac or Nationwide. HIFX and all the others make their money on the difference between buying and selling each currency. Simple!

Having been through the process twice it's not like "Stars in their eyes" where you walk through the mist into a new world that is so much better than the one you left. On both occasions we both thought, what have we done? We were both in an emotional shock, and believe me you have to be strong to get through it. Then once you've settled in for a few weeks, months, years, decades in some cases, you still have the nagging feeling that things are not right. For us, that feeling never went away, and that is why we are now back in England with our loved ones. You will never overcome family ties.

So you finally made it out. Good for you. Not a fan of ageing in Perth myself either.

It was always on the cards. I got laid off again and decided that I didn't want to hang around for months waiting to see if another HR department would grant me another start. So 28 days later we were back in England. Glad to be here, rain and all. You can keep the 50 plus heat, it was damaging my health.

We left Perth a week ago. We're in our 60's. We found it boring.

This was not our experience when we returned to the UK in 2012 - with a 40% deposit it would have been easy to get a mortgage but with the help of a broker we still got one with 10% deposit after less than a year back & that was a standard Halifax mortgage.

The rules have changed since 2012. The banks were told to tighten up on their lending rules. So now anyone over 50 may have trouble getting the money they want to borrow as they would have to provide proof that they could make the mortgage payments past retirement age with a pension for example.

In answer to your last questions with regards to credit cards and mortgages. As far as I am aware you would have to wait 1 or 2 years before applying for a mortgage no matter how much money you have for a deposit. Your credit rating in the UK would be the only one that would count when applying for any sort of finance. If I am wrong then hopefully someone with superior knowledge will slap me down.

Wind the clock back a bit, when there was a shortage of workers in all departments. It became a boom (so they called it) and wages went through the roof ( along with prices that have stayed there) everything was tickertyboo. The bosses did not like it one little bit. So why on earth would they want to reduce the numbers of any type of workers coming into the country when they want to redress the balance so that there are more people outside the factory gates than there are jobs inside? It's payback time, and this country is in for some very big changes, so hold on tight. The lucky country? I don't think so any more.

Spend $254 and get a little book that will help you sleep at night. Your 5 year jaunt may turn into something a bit longer and who knows what would change in that time.

2 months after receiving my first passport I was made a very good job offer on the condition that I could fly out of Australia to Singapore the next day. I went.

Aren't we all so well paid here so the cost of anything must surely be irrelevant?

Never move for the weather. Don't be sucked into thinking that because you are granted a visa to work in Australia that there is work for you. The government are making a fortune out if the fees they charge prospective migrants but there are no guarantees of employment. I can assure you that Perth is more expensive to live in than the north of England. How about $52 for 2 very ordinary burgers and chips.