Marisawright

@kungfustu, don't you think it's time to get over it?

Bloody hell man...life is short ...the quality time with your children is even shorter .....**** the price of tea and bacon ...just get on with it .....anything can happen .....this could be your last trip with your kids.....i hope not ...but who knows

Iam off for a tour of Italy with my wife and youngest daughter in 3 weeks ...its precious time ....the Best time ...the memories.....i won't be comparing costs

Yes, but are you trying to make a decision whether to move or not? There are quite a few people who are, and would really appreciate JD's commentary on costs etc

Thanks guys I'm a total rookie when it comes to all this. I'm not overly fussy, as long as I've got a seat haha. Would prefer not to be in the middle of two strangers though lol.

That's why you choose an aisle seat, that way you can't possibly get sandwiched!

My understanding is GP's surgeries are very busy places.....booked up most of the time..........well if thats the case why should a receptionist let someone that does not even live in this country jump the queue and see a GP ahead of residents for a minor ailment

That's a fair comment, but the point is that's not what the OP was saying. The receptionist did not refuse treatment - what she did was say he'd have to pay for it. Which is incorrect, so she didn't know her job. So you're telling him off for complaining about something unreasonable, when in fact that wasn't what he was complaining about!

I agree about booking early not guaranteeing the best seat. We had that experience with our flight in May - tried to book seats in March and half of them hadn't even been released yet.

The main thing for me is to have an aisle seat. There's not much to see on an overnight flight so the window seat has no advantage, and you have to climb over your neighbour every time you want to go to the loo or have a walk.

I also prefer to book in the middle section, not on the sides. They seem less popular and there's more chance of a spare seat.

Having said that, don't get your hopes up for a free seat. These days, airlines overbook so much that spare seats are rare. I remember flying twenty years ago and always being able to find a free row to sleep on. Over the last ten years, every plane I've been on has been packed.

Did you you rent for the 30 years. If you did it must be frightening how much you paid in rent with nothing to show for it.

 

No, I owned a place with my first husband and when that marriage broke up, rented for about six years before buying again with my second oh. He'd also been through a marriage breakup and out of the market for a while. We did buy our own place but it was a two bedroom townhouse. The trouble is, that meant that all our money was tied up in our home, and we wanted to free up some money for our retirement.

You can get a decent family house in Paddington for that money :rolleyes:

That's Paddington Queensland, not Paddington Sydney of course!

There are huge differences between house prices in different parts of Australia. Houses in Hobart are the cheapest of the capital cities, they're about half the price of an equivalent house in a similar suburb in Sydney.

That's what I understood but we are already over 60 so that part is not a concern. My concern, as you say, is with what the "foreign jurisdiction" would do and my understanding is that the UK tax could make quite a dent in our lump sum if we chose to take it.

Tax will not be withheld provided you have supplied your Tax File Number to the Financial Institution.

If you haven't supplied your TFN then withholding tax at top marginal rate will be deducted from your account.

Not what we have been told by our banks.

Here's what it says on the ATO website:

Bank accounts held by foreign residents

"Financial institutions automatically withhold tax from interest earned on accounts held by foreign residents.

If you've given the financial institution your overseas address, the tax will be withheld at the rate of 10%. Without your overseas address tax is withheld at 49%."

https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/investing/investing-in-bank-accounts-and-income-bonds/

Of course, if you don't notify your bank of your change of address when you leave Australia, they're not going to know you've become a "foreign resident" so they won't withhold anything - but that would be illegal.

It doesn't affect us yet because we are still Australian residents for tax purposes and will probably remain so.

Thanks for the advice. From what you have said there isn't any hidden penalties that we weren't aware of. We won't get the Aus pension anyway as its means tested. Super I'll take a lump sum while still in Oz and transfer as cash to the UK. We will be eligible for UK pension as have paid NI contributions for 30 years. Appreciate that this plus any other income received in the UK will be taxed. Are you aware of anything else re tax and pensions?

Sounds like you're all set. Wish we were in such a good position!

Can you confirm the exact situation you will be in when looking to withdraw super from your Australian Fund ie what age would you look to withdraw, how you would withdraw lump sum, income etc?

We would be open to taking either a pension or a lump sum, depending which was financially most beneficial. I understand the pension would be taxable as normal income by the UK government. I understood the lump sum would be more complex as it could be seen as a foreign currency investment?

my stepson wasn't, due to need permission from father, for passport and name change.

 

...

We have asked father for permission the change his name and whether he could have a passport, answer was categorically 'No'!

 

 

Sounds to me like the legality of the name change is the big issue here.

First, where did you do the name change In the UK, if the father didn't give permission for the change of name, then the deed poll wasn't legal, and therefore the Passport Office is right - they can't provide a passport in a false name.

https://www.gov.uk/change-name-deed-poll/change-a-childs-name

If you did it in Australia, I don't know what the rules for Deed Poll are in the various Australian states but I'd suggest double-checking. If it was legal without the father's consent, then get the relevant authority to provide a statement to prove it to the Passport Office.

If you can prove the Deed Poll was legal and above board, then I don't think it matters what the Citizenship certificate says, provided you have documentation which shows both names are the same person. My Citizenship certificate isn't in my current name.

Either way, sounds like you need a court order - the only question is whether you need to do it for both the Deed Poll and the passport or just the passport.

No, tax on interest is not automatically deducted in Australia, provided you have an Australian address on the account. If you have an address outside Australia, they'll deduct 10%

Hmm. I'm still not convinced.

I'd love to be proved wrong as it's one of the reasons we've decided we will be forced to return to Australia when we need to start drawing on our super.

There are two conversations going on here so it does get confusing, doesn't it!

Pension - no, it's not taxed by the ATO but it will be taxed as income by the UK government at normal tax rates - whereas if you get an income stream while resident in Australia, you get a tax offset. So you'll be paying more tax on your super if you're receiving it in the UK instead of in Oz.

Lump sum - I was told this by a financial adviser in a conversation, and it's come up in a couple of threads here too. It was a shock to me, as well! In fact before writing it here, I did Google to find a couple of sources to be sure I hadn't dreamed it

The relevant paragraph is "However, if the Australian superannuation benefits were to be taken in the form of lump sum payment, the benefits withdrawn would be taxable in Australia, in accordance with the marginal tax rate applicable to non-residents, subject to the maximum rate of 15% for non-excessive benefits."

Jackson where did you get your information from re claiming the years up to 2001?

The best way, if you have a NI number, is to write to the UK Pensions office and ask for a pension forecast, they'll tell you what you're entitled to and explain how to claim the pre-2001 work history.

https://www.gov.uk/state-pension-statement

Can you be more specific about the tax penalties as my wife and I are moving back to the UK after 20 years and will be in retirement in the UK?

If you move to the UK before you reach pensionable age, you won't be able to claim the Australian state pension, ever. If you're already receiving the Australian pension then you'll continue to receive it, but it will be reduced if you don't meet the higher residency requirements - you only need 10 years' residency to get the full pension while you're living in Oz, but when you move you'll need 35 years' residency.

As for super - if you're still in Australia, if you take a lump sum on retirement then you'll pay little or no tax on the money. But if you take a lump sum while you're living in the UK, the Australian govt will tax your lump sum, so you'll lose at least 15%.

If you decide to take an income stream (pension) instead, that gets favourable tax treatment in Australia too. But the UK government doesn't make any special concessions for pensions, so you'll have to pay UK tax on it.

If you are a temporary resident your super is taxed if you draw it, but not if you have PR, or are a citizen.......once you are old enough. Sorry if my point wasn't clear.

That's only true for people living in Australia. Even if you're a citizen or have PR, if you're not living in Australia when you draw it, you get taxed on it.

Seriously? If we come back to Oz before cashing in our super tax free then take it back to the UK, the UK govt could tax it? We were hoping to collect it in Oz tax free and take it home to invest....

Yes, if you cash it in BEFORE you leave Australia and put it in the bank, then it's just money and you can transfer it no problems. In the OP's case, they're leaving before they're allowed to cash it in. So they'll either have to take the lump sum or a pension after they've been in the UK for several years, and that's a whole different ballgame.

I hate to be controversial, but isn't the whole point about superannuation that it is favourably taxed because it is supposed to support you / the Australian Taxpayers in your dotage. It is not meant to be a tax fiddle.

If you don't want to become citizens here then don't. But please don't expect Australian Taxpayers to fund you, because we would rather fund our schools, our hospitals, and our pensioners.

Citizenship or not is irrelevant to this discussion, actually. Being a citizen makes no difference to your tax treatment - it's where you're resident that matters.

Yes, its becoming very common for super funds to offer a choice of investment s. Or you can start a SMSf (self managed super fund) where you can invest as you like. Be aware though, that if you leave Australia you have to wind up the SMSF and that can be costly if the market is not in your favour

There are many reasons why migrants give up and go home, but overwhelmingly the No. 1 reason is that they miss family too much.

The most successful migrants are people who are fairly independent and not that close to family, or who are already accustomed to not seeing them very much (e.g. living at the other end of the UK). If you're close to family and are missing them already, then I'd be questioning whether a move is the right idea.

However you can always bring your cat with you...

Thanks for the advice thus far. Another question is how much tax will I have to pay when I am able to access the Super at 60 years of age. I will be classed as non resident I suspect.

 

If you are not living in Australia, then you will be classed as non resident - but so would anyone not living in Australia! I'm a Aussie citizen and if I move permanently to another country, I'll be classed as non-resident too.

However I'm not sure what you mean about taxing your super when you access it. Who do you expect to tax your super and how much? I understood that I'd still be able to draw my super tax free, resident or non-resident. I'd love to know if that's wrong!!

It's the British government I'd have to worry about. If I take my super as a lump sum and bring it over to the UK, it might be taxed as a foreign currency investment and I could lose a hefty chunk to the British tax man. Alternatively if I take it as a pension, I'll have to declare that pension on my UK tax return as income.

Have no knowledge of this , it's the same thing as not uprating pensions in certain countries, completely arbitrary, but wonder whether it is worth your while to explore doing a house swap with someone in the uk, get a uk address and claim the years and get your pension updated and then go back and live in france after the dust has settled or do you have to be permanently resident in the uk, you could claim that you intended to stay but just couldn't.

Nice idea but it wouldn't help. As soon as they left the country the non-resident rules would apply and the pension would be reduced. The only solution is to pay extra NI contributions.

I'm sure most people know that if you return to the UK and claim a State Pension, any years spent in Australia prior to 5/4/2001 can count towards your pension amount. What we have discovered to our cost is that these years are only paid if you are resident in the UK.

We didn't know this

No,because I knew that was the case before I moved. The UK is not the only country to have rules like this. For instance, if you're resident in Australia you need only 10 years residence to get the full pension, whereas if you're non-resident you need 30 years' residence.