Marisawright

Depends if the property is vacant or not, and whether it's been let before. If it's not vacant, obviously you have to wait till the previous tenants move out, but the paperwork can be done in the meantime, then a week for them to inspect and take photos. If it's vacant and been let before, then it's just a question of how quick the agency is at doing the paperwork. If it's brand new, they may not have done all the initial photos, condition report etc so there can be a lot of faffing around. A relocation agent is a company that helps with international relocations, usually for corporations who are moving executives around. That's why they can be pricey, but the bonus is that you won't need to spend weeks in an Airbnb, because they can find a property for you. Here's an example but there are several more in Sydney, who would also cover Wollongong: https://www.expat.com.au/relocation-to-sydney/ There's no such thing as "too soon" if you're looking at a January move. You don't have to up and move the moment you get the visa!

Most people get an AirBnB or holiday let for 4 weeks. In the current tight rental market, depending where you're moving to, you might need 6 weeks. I wouldn't advise starting the rental process before you move. Real estate agents here are crooks; they shamelessly Photoshop all the images online, so you'd be a fool to sign up for a property without seeing it in person. If it's really impossible to move earlier, then I'd be engaging a relocation company. They're not cheap, but then neither is 6 weeks in an AirBnB. Where are you moving to? BTW I'd be surprised if your visa will come through in time to start work next January, but maybe 482s are being processed quickly at the moment?

TBH that's not a great time to make the move. Many real estate agents will be closed for the first two weeks in January so you won't be able to start searching for a rental property until mid-Jan. I'm not sure if you're aware how inspections work -- most rental properties are only open for inspection on Saturdays (and occasionally once mid-week), so it's not like you'll be able to spend two weeks viewing properties, in fact it will be only two Saturdays. Given the tight rental market, I worry that won't be enough time.

No, it isn't. I'd recommend engaging someone like Alan to do your tax returns for your first year in Australia as the whole thing is mind-boggling. Once you see how it's done, you'll probably be fine to DIY the following year. Note that the fee will be tax-deductible if you're paying Australian tax.

You'll notice that it repeats, several times, that the starting point is that 100% of your lump sum is taxable in the UK and you must declare it as income on your UK tax return. So then the first thing you need to do, is establish which, if any, of the exemptions apply to an Australian fund. In any case, all of them just offer some deductions, not a complete exemption from tax. I can see how you're confused because I just did some Googling and the first results are all advice on the Gov.uk community forums, mostly saying a lump sum withdrawal is taxable in Australia but not in the UK. However all of that advice has been given by other members of the forums, not an official UK government official, so I doubt it's worth a bean. Especially as we know you wouldn't be liable for any Australian tax on your lump sum (assuming you're a permanent resident or citizen and over preservation age).

I can't read the article because a subscription is required. I can read the question, which is "Will I be taxed twice?". You already know that you won't be taxed twice, because Australia does not tax you on withdrawals from your super, or on your allocated pension. It's simply a question of whether HMRC will tax you, and we know that they will. Therefore the only question is, how much. That will be determined by the normal rules on income.

The question is, would the Pension Fund agree to pay the money directly to the Trust? I'd have thought they might insist on paying it to you, since you're the named beneficiary of the pension. If they insist on paying it to you, you'll still be liable to pay the tax regardless of where you deposit the money.

...but even if the DTA didn't exist, and the pension was taxable in both the UK and Australia, the effect would be the same (because both the lump sum and the allocated pension are tax-free in Australia). No?

Absolutely nothing to do with the double taxation system. The situation is this: Whether you are living in Australia or living overseas, your superannuation withdrawals or allocated pension are paid to you free of Australian tax. If you are living overseas, your super withdrawals and pension are subject to whatever the tax rules are in your new country. In the UK, that rule is that they are taxed as ordinary income. So what you're saying is, don't convert your super to a pension, just leave it in the super fund. Then take a lump sum withdrawals once a year. I can't see how that helps. You'll still have to declare the lump sum as income, e.g. if your lump sum is $26,000, you'll have to add that whole $26,000 to your other income for the year, and pay tax on it. You could take an allocated pension of $500 a week and pay exactly the same tax. The idea may have arisen because until a few years ago, reporting on international money transfers was sketchy, and people could get away with transferring lump sums, not declaring it to HMRC and no one was any the wiser. Now, the ATO and the HMRC share information, so that avenue -- which was always illegal anyway -- has closed.

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.

The UK insists on it too. The thing is, if you are entering any country as a permanent resident, you need to have a travel document that proves you are a permanent resident. A British passport without a current Australian visa doesn't prove you're a permanent resident of Australia.

"Dual" just means you've got two separate citizenships which have nothing to do with each other. The passport is British so the Australians can't touch it. And the fact that you've chosen to be an Aussie citizen is irrelevant to the Brits. In fact, it's worth noting that when your UK passport runs out, you don't have to renew that if you don't want to. If you go on holiday to the UK, you'll be able to enter on your Aussie passport as a tourist and no one will be any the wiser. Not strictly what you should do but it works.

I assume that processing time is assuming you apply onshore. I wonder why it's so much longer than applying from the UK? And why do you have to stay an extra year after that?

As an Australian, you don't need a passport to enter Australia, because they're not allowed to refuse you entry. However as you discovered, if you don't have a passport, they will faff you around for hours and it's really not worth the hassle.

I think the concern is that your super was an investment that made money, so there might be some liability for tax on the profits made within the fund before you cashed out. I'm surprised that's even a consideration, as I am 99% sure (and Ken has confirmed) that the UK taxman can't tax you on any profits earned before you were legally resident in the UK, even if you arrive in the middle of the tax year. I'm guessing the accountant who gave that advice, wasn't experienced in international tax and was erring on the safe side.

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?

If you cash out your super, and it's sitting in an Australian bank account BEFORE you move to the UK, then it's just savings.

It clearly says, Each member of the family unit aged 18 years or over listed below, whether they are migrating or not, must also complete a form 47A

There is, but you've got to keep paying out until you reach that cap. For some people (and it sounds like the OP's family might be in that category), even that would be too much. And it's already a lot more than they're currently paying (which is zero).

Well, that's what I said. The employer's agent is working for the employer. They're not going to mislead you but they're not under any obligation to tell you anything.

Are they remembering that the health system here isn't free? Most GPs have stopped bulk-billing now. At the moment, you can still find some that bulk-bill pensioners, but I'm not sure how long that will last. That means they'll have to pay every time they visit the doctor. Some doctors charge as much as $80 per visit. The waiting lists for hospital treatment are the same as in the UK. I'm sorry to say. As you'll remember, a lot of Australians avoid the waiting lists because they pay for private health insurance, but it doesn't sound like you or your grandparents could afford that. How many medications are they on? In the UK they get their prescriptions free. In Australia, they'll have to pay for them. It's $7.70 per item, and that can mount up over a year. As for banks -- Australian banks are doing it too. https://7news.com.au/news/union-slams-decision-to-close-all-bankwest-branches-in-western-australia-and-shift-focus-to-digital-services-c-13862175

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? That might not be too bad, IF returning to Australia would mean getting more Australian pension. It might balance out. That's why they need to use that calculator.

@empire to get back to your post. Your grandparents may be thinking they'll be better off financially in Australia. If they're not already collecting the Australian pension, they might be right. As they lived in Australia for 30 years, they'll be eligible for the Australian pension, which is higher than the UK one -- but remember, the Aussie pension is means-tested, so if they have a lot of savings, they won't get the full amount. Here's the calculator where they can work out what they'd get: https://yourpension.com.au/APCalc/index.html Notice they'll have to declare their British pension and that will slightly reduce the amount of Aussie pension they get, too. But they should still be better off. Also, when they first arrive, they'll have money in the bank until they can buy a house -- so that might mean they have too much money to qualify for the pension straight away. Once they've worked out what income they'll have, they also need to think about the higher cost of living and the cost of housing. There's no benefit in having a higher income if it's going to get eaten up in costs.

I guess the problem for employers is that he's going to have to serve his year's apprenticeship when he arrives, so it's not like they're hiring a fully qualified electrician from day 1.

Maybe the answer is for your husband to push those employers, to see if they'll reconsider and offer him a sponsored visa?