Mel Lofts

The UK budget is changing the rules for tax that is applied to non UK assets and earnings - link here - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spring-budget-2024-non-uk-domiciled-individuals-policy-summary/spring-budget-2024-non-uk-domiciled-individuals-policy-summary I am wondering how these new rules will affect us Brits living permanently in Australia. Whilst it is clear that we live in Australia so are not resident for UK tax income tax purposes, it is not so clear as far as inheritance tax is concerned. The old rules were that you were classed as domiciled in the UK if your father was born in the UK. You could choose to be non-domiciled by choosing another country of domicile e.g. Australia. HMRC would not recognise that domicile of choice unless you met specific criteria - some of which is objective e.g. need to be non resident for a number of years in the last 20, some are subjective e.g. how many ties you have to the UK such as members of social clubs. This was not concrete and was at HMRC discretion at the time of death. The upshot of this is that anyone classed as UK domiciled would be subject to inheritance tax at 40% on any GLOBAL assets worth more than 325000 GBP per a single person or 650000 GBP for a married couple. This has to be paid within 6 months of death. Now the new rules seem to be anyone coming into the UK that is there for 4 years is subject to being domiciled. Obviously we aren't in the UK but that rule of x numbers of years being removed so where does that leave us. Most people would think oh that's ok we don't have more than 650000 GBP between us but don't forget the UK will see that as your Aus home plus your Aus super plus any savings or other assets you have regardless of where they are located. Even getting good financial advice is going to be tricky as it's such a specialist area and it will be the little guys that get penalised the most as they will have just over the limits and not be able to afford financial wizards and trusts like the super rich. Anyone on here with financial wizardry have any ideas?

Sadly no. I got a reply from someone on a Facebook group that received a letter from Barclays, and they just so happened to be visiting the UK shortly afterwards. They said that they went to every single bank in the high street and they were told that they were no longer opening accounts for non-residents and they will soon be closing existing ones.

Hi All, Barclays have sent out letters to all Australian account holders that have any non UK address on their accounts. They have notified account holders that the account must be closed as they will no longer service non UK account holders. Just wondering what the options are for anyone with investments still in the UK and or state pension payments. It's a big pain for us as we have rental income and costs. Looked at opening a new expat account but all of them require you to invest 50k GBP or have a salary of 100k GBP and have extortionate fees. Tried to change address online to a UK relatives but it won't let me change the country without calling them and providing proof of address. What is anyone else considering?

Hi, I'm an IT (SAP) professional and came here 4 years ago on a PR visa. I came to Townsville (very regional Australia) out of choice for lifestyle reasons. I am semi - retired. I have no degree but I do have a professional qualification and am a certified SAP consultant (Do you have certification in your IT area of expertise? - this may help). I have had no issue getting work when I want it and certainly no-one has questioned whether I have a degree or not but I do have 22 years relevant experience. The only issue I have had is that there is no work locally. I have had to FIFO Brisbane for project work. I do have the luxury of working from home for some overseas clients. I have also travelled in my caravan in NSW and QLD and can tell you there is very little IT presence in regional Australia in those states. From my experience most of the companies that have a presence in regional Australia are running their IT teams in the major capital cities. I would be looking at trying to find some more points where you can. Even if English is your first language you can get extra points by sitting the IELTS test or as others have said maybe some further education. If this is not an option you could maybe look at whether the ACS would recognise any of your work experience and any professional qualifications as equivalent to a degree. Hope it all works out for you whichever way. Good luck!

The rules changed for UK expats last year. It used to be zero capital gains tax for UK expats on the sale of private residential property as long as you had been out if the UK for 5 years or not expected to return within 5 years. As of 6th April 2015 capital gains tax is due - but only on the gain in value between the 6th April 2015 and the value at the sale. I think this is then taxed at 28% so you will need to get someone to value what it should have been worth on 6th April 2015. Maybe a surveyor.

Ok search complete - that's all I could find with the potential of sea breeze - there are lots available in Bushland Beach which is about half an hour north of Townsville but I have known a few people that have lived there and they have complained about it for various reasons.

Number 8 http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-qld-pallarenda-412375843

Number 7 http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-qld-north+ward-418063254

Number 6 http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-qld-north+ward-417965266

Number 5 http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-qld-north+ward-417907126

Numbers 3 and 4 - Castle Hill is a little more expensive but you are guaranteed a sea breeze and usually sea views - lots of people walk their dogs up the hill - 3 http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-qld-castle+hill-410463779 , 4 - not sure about the view on tis one as its on the wrong side of the hill http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-qld-castle+hill-417961462

Number 2 - not far from Rowes Bay and the Strand - dogs can be walked but only on a leash - Pallarenda can be reached by driving, walking, cycling along the road from Rowes Bay http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-qld-belgian+gardens-413438815

Hi Nicky, Welcome to Townsville. When we first arrived we use a local agent that specialised in short term rental until we found what we were looking for - took us 5 weeks. You can book weekly accommodation via the internet http://www.accomtownsville.com.au/ . Realestate.com also has all the listings for property to rent or buy longer term. After the initial search on realestate.com select the option "pet friendly". I have just done a search and there are quite a lot of 3 bedroom houses that are pet friendly. I will check through them and post the ones that I think suit your needs of sea breeze and nice area for dogs. Here is the first one - http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-qld-pallarenda-418119746 right by the beach and you can walk your dogs off lead in Pallarenda.

We lived in Staines from 2001 to 2012 and worked in Windsor, Slough and a few other places. We rented in Windsor originally but moved after 6 months. Prices for rent and to buy are half that of Windsor and Staines is a really nice area with the river and the town shopping centre and cinema. There area few good schools too. Staines is a maximum of half an hour from Windsor even in rush hour on the M25/M4 and there are a few short cuts either on the A308 or via Warysbury. Heathrow is also only 10 to 15 mins away via the back roads (A30). Wraysbury and Datchet and also Ashford (Surrey not Kent) are also areas to consider, as well as Old Windsor, Englefield Green, Egham. Good Luck!

We had a similar experience when moving our stuff from Florida to Australia but it was over capacity. The company said we would need a 40 foot container and we were in the UK when it was packed and sent. We paid 16000 US dollars plus 2000 dollars for insurance. When the container arrived they had not packed it properly and it would have fitted in a 20 foot container so everything was moving about in transit. 20% of our stuff was broken and the receiving agent said it was the worst packed container they had ever seen. We contacted the movers an they wouldn't reply neither would the insurance company they recommended. The UK house was completely different and we couldn't be happier with the company. All within budget and expertly packed and shipped with no breakages. I hope that the moderator allows me to mention the company - Camberley Removals - they did a great job for a fraction of the cost of the USA move.

Yes we've been up to Cooktown but not in the caravan as we didn't have it then. We have a grown up daughter who lives with us and goes to JCU. Daughter did a one week teacher training placement at Mossman State School so we dropper her off on our way up when we went to Cooktown. We were only in Cooktown for the day and it was raining, so we will probably go back there on our way across toward Darwin or even go up to Thursday Island. We are in Castle Hill, so handy for the city and the strand and lovely views. Are you going travelling until the new year? If so where are you off to?

Hello Pom Queen. We have lived in Townsville for 3 and a half years now. Interesting to read your thoughts. We moved here straight from the UK and love it, although we bought a caravan recently and have started travelling around (weekends only for the moment due to work commitments) and yes there are some lovely places around including Cairns and we also love Cape Tribulation and Mossman. We both work from home too. Do you fancy meeting up for a cuppa to share stories?

Hi Steve, Welcome to Townsville! We've been her for 3 and a half years now and have just had citizenship approval. Haven't met too many brits but there are some here. Where are you from in the UK?

Dugong, I really feel for you right now being so torn between your commitments. My best advice is to try to take the emotion out of it, take a step back and look at where your commitments lie in the short, medium and long term. For the short term if your priority is 1 family, 2 OH and 3 Australia and these commitments are the same long term then you may well want to consider moving back but you should balance this with the needs of your OH if his commitments are different or you could risk you relationship. If your long term commitments are different, say 1 OH, 2 Australia and 3 family - say because the family member gets better or the worse happens then you need to focus on the long term and come up with a short to medium term compromise. There are 2 practical considerations - the house purchase and whether you will lose your deposit and if so how substantial this is, if the purchase does not complete and secondly your citizenship. If your long term goal is to stay with your OH in Australia then it would make sense to go ahead with the purchase and the citizenship ceremony and then go back to the UK to support your family. Even if you both go back short term you could rent out your house and I think that house prices are going to go up due to the decrease in interest rates. I suppose another thing to consider is whether your employers would allow you to take some compassionate leave without losing your jobs. It is difficult to offer specific advice without knowing your or your specific circumstances but I hope I have given you enough to think about so that you can ask yourself the right questions and answer them honestly to yourself.

Here's a few ideas to get you thinking https://www.redballoon.com.au/outdoor-activities/animal-experiences

Ours is still at home. Does have some advantages though - she drives and doesn't drink so we have our own free taxi service :-) We are up for meeting for a few beers picnic or BBQ. Anyone else out there in Townsville? My new bestie just moved down to Brisbane :-(

Hey Steve, Welcome to Townsville! I moved here 2 and a half years ago with hubby and daughter. We are in our late 40s too and like BBQ and drinking. How long have you been here?

Hi Mae, I sent you a PM. Mel.

Hi Emily, I have lived in Townsville with my husband and daughter for 2 years and absolutely love it. I lived near London for 11 years so was expecting a bit of a culture shock but we soon got used to the lovely warm weather and relaxed attitude to life. I have worked in Brisbane for a few months too and we have friends down there. Townsville is a long way from Brisbane but it is not as remote as people seem to think. You can drive to Cairns in 4 hours. You can drive to the Whitsundays in three hours and there are many places to visit in between. There are direct flights from Townsville to Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne all less than 3 hours away. The population (around 180,000) is much less that the major cities, but in my opinion that is a good thing. You can drive from anywhere in Townsville to anywhere else in Townsville in half an hour and not hit traffic. You can walk around breathing fresh air when you go site seeing or shopping and not have to endure a thick fog of cigarette smoke. Shops - Despite the House Rules production team implying that everything in Townsville needs to come up from Brisbane, it does not, there are 3 Bunnings and soon a Masters, there are 3 big shopping centres, one with a Myers. From my experience of Brisbane and Melbourne, although they all have lots of shopping centres, they essentially have the same range of shops in each. The shops carry stock too. You can usually buy something big and have it delivered within 24 hours. Restaurants - Lots of restaurants and cafes catering for all styles of cuisine ranging from the award winning Jam Corner to the more budget conscious. Sports and Leisure - Home of the Cowboys and the Crocodiles and host to V8s. Lots of facilities for adults and children to participate in. Riverway is a park by the Ross River that has walkways and huge swimming pools and is free entry. The strand (you probably walked along that) has many parks for children to play in including a splash park. There is an Olympic sized pool at one end and a seawater pool at the other (the Rockpool). There are times of the year that you can swim generally in the sea due to jellyfish but at those times you can go into the rock pool or swim between the stinger nets where the life guards patrol. There are lots of freshwater creeks nearby that have crystal clear water to swim in. Magnetic Island is a 25 minute ferry ride and has beautiful beaches. There are a few cinemas and a couple of Theatres. There is always something going on. General - There are lots of young families in Townsville and lots of young adults. People are very friendly. When we lived near London nobody spoke to anyone they didn't know but here you will be best mates with everyone who serves you in the shops etc. I got used to this pretty quickly and thought that people were like that everywhere in Oz, but I soon found out not, when I recently visited Melbourne and spoke to everyone I met with the same warmth as a Northern Queenslander. They of course thought I was mad. I hope I have given you some insight as to what it is like to live here. You have got a lot to think about. One thing though, if you come here and don't like it you can go back but if you pass up on a good opportunity you will never know. Take Care, Mel.

Hi Mrs Bee, I moved to Townsville 18 months ago with my husband and daughter. We moved from Staines. Are you enjoying Townsville? Mel.