le petit roi

On 17/05/2021 at 09:23, rammygirl said:

Really, just transferred 40k and it went through no problem. Never been asked for proof of funds. 

Perhaps one reason is that after the sale of my UK property with additional savings included, I had significantly more than 40k. The request did give me some additional inconvenience i didn't need or expect but thankfully, once the transfer was approved, the rest went through without a hitch in time to settle on an Oz property.

I'm in Northcote and have been for the last 8-9 years. For me, it is the ideal suburb with lots of facilities, parklands and entertainment on the doorstep with great public transport to/from the CBD and other parts of the city. I'm single and in a spacious apartment because house prices are expensive and unaffordable for me. A 4-bed house will not be far from (if not exceeding), $2m with a 4-bed townhouse being a rarity (most are 2 and 3 bed). 

I needed to provide evidence on 'proof of funds' due to money laundering regulations. Standard practice I am led to believe for large transfers.

Admittedly it isn't always obvious what to do from the web pages but the help and assistance the support desk offered me during the process was very good.

On 04/05/2021 at 17:48, Wanderer Returns said:

I've recently moved £250,000 over with Wise (formerly TransferWise) in dribs and drabs, and it was a fraction of the cost of using a bank. My last transaction was £15,000 and the charge was £52.50 pounds, so they charge 0.35% commission.

I used TransferWise/Wise in December and of the ones I investigated, they were the best for rate and fees hence my choice. They also had a very good helpdesk because transferring large sums isn't straight-forward. Be prepared to undergo money laundering checks and able to provide the appropriate evidence. You should also check with your UK bank on transferring large sums - banks have a daily maximum limit and you may find it easier transferring to the FX company in a single transaction. That may incur a fee (to my surprise, RBS charged only 20GBP but needed a request faxed from Australia during the Christmas holiday period) The RBS request put me under pressure to get money to Australia for settlement on a property in January but Officeworks have a fax facility that to my relief, came to my aid.

20 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

That's odd, it worked for me, but it doesn't now.

There is this one: https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/skilled-migrants-weigh-whether-to-stay-or-go-20210514-p57rzj

Not much reading material worthy of reading and consideration in my opinion; a poor article.

On 29/06/2020 at 20:07, martymarty5436425 said:

Given most on this forum are moving to Aus, the most likely class will be class 3 (living abroad but making voluntary contributions rather than out of PAYE).  The weekly cost for this currently is: £15.30.  

I've just been asked to pay Class 2  NIC which is 159.20 GBP per year.

If you live abroad it could be either Class 2 or Class 3 (refer to here: https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/who-can-pay-voluntary-contributions)

From memory you can backdate NI contribution payment up to 6 years but that may still not be the case.

I have the most recent HMRC form for NI contributions in front of me that I received only last week (the letter was dated 4th April ). To summarise:

I've been asked to pay Class 2 NIC which is 159.20 GBP per year.

If you want to talk to them, the telephone number (from overseas) is +44 191 203 7010

To write to them, the address is: 

National Insurance Contributions and Employer Office

HM Revenue and Customs

BX9 1AN

Best to have your NI Number available when you call or quote it in all written correspondence. The post is pretty crap now with the coronavirus upheaval hence would likely be best to call them or contact them via an email address or electronic form provided at the HMRC website.

12 minutes ago, Alan Collett said:

In case of interest, I've not been at GM Tax for over 2 years

You are very welcome to ping a PM to me with a view to having a freebie chat.

Best regards.

I understand that and I can see my initial post may be construed as 'having a pop' (hence I edited it immediately). Perhaps my experience was a 'one off' bad one but its the only one I have of using a single accountant for Uk and Aus tax.

10 hours ago, Marisawright said:

How would that make it easier on yourself?   I haven't tested it myself, but I can't see how it would be any easier - and I'd have thought appointing two separate accountants would be more expensive.

Easier as in I wouldn't be doing it myself to have to assess any potential CGT for the UK property. Uncomplicated tax returns are easy to do yourself but throw in CGT from property and shares and it gets a bit more complex - which will be the case for me this year. Getting it wrong could be expensive.

You raise cost benefits of using a single accountant as opposed to two single ones. In response, I once used GMTax for Uk and Oz tax in the same year and were expensive for very two straight-forward submissions. Not only were there no savings, that whole experience was enough to encourage me to investigate doing my own tax submissions.

An old thread but I'll resurrect it rather than open a new one as my query is related to it.

Is there any additional Oz or UK taxes applied when transferring a largish sum of between 50k GBP to 250k GBP (proceeds from a property sale and savings)? Is there anything unexpected (other than making sure I use the correct account details) I should be aware of when transferring sums of this size from UK to Oz? I don't want any nasty surprises before I proceed.

Thanks

On 14/11/2019 at 16:22, Marisawright said:

I would add that it's not as simple as finding a UK accountant to do your UK tax return and then finding an Australian one to do the Aussie one. 

I've done my last few UK annual tax returns so while I agree its important the Oz accountant knows how to deal with foreign income, for simple and straight-forward financial structures, why is the UK accountant required to know about the Australian tax system? I am in the exact same position as the OP. but for my next UK submission involving CGT, I was intending to make it easier on myself by using a Scottish based accountant.

After one, fairly long and detailed email, I demonstrated sufficiently the legal standing a JP has in Australia to get agreement that I could use a JP.

Job Done and thanks to all who provided assistance.

I'm now going to keep that fairly long and detailed email 

Cheers

Thanks. I'm informed that evidence of my identity is for compliance with UK anti-money laundering legislation if that makes a difference and only a solicitor or Notary Public are acceptable to certify the passport and utility bill. Without being directed at the pertinent legislation, I'm not convinced hence if this is only an office policy, it'll be easier and cheaper to go somewhere that an Oz JP is acceptable. If its UK legislation, I'll need to suck it up but I'll never be convinced however that the almost $100 fee I've saw advertised online for the Notary Public will ever be one that has been well-earned for my documents.              

Thanks. I am in Oz so you'd think an Oz JP would be acceptable to the UK legal system (and more convenient for me) hence I'm asking the question of the UK. Today's UK Public Holiday will delay the answer but hopefully it will be a worthwhile wait. I'm informed that evidence of my identity is for compliance with UK anti-money laundering legislation if that makes a difference.

I need a passport (and possibly a utility bill) certified for emailing a certified copy to the UK. I have no problems for paying for services where justified but the fees ($100+) I saw advertised for this service from a couple of Notary Public websites I viewed, are, for less than 10 minutes of simple and unskilled effort, outrageous.There are no reading complex manuscripts or several pages of text to ensure the data is valid so I don't care what training they have or their experience, for a simple exercise, this is a rort.

If anyone would like to suggest such an alternative  I'm happy to listen because it's likely to be significantly cheaper and less inconvenient just to send over my physical UK passport via recorded delivery. I'm not hopeful for my purposes that the use of a  JP is an approved alternative to a solicitor or Notary Public but I have asked the question and awaiting a response.

Cheers

I obtained UK landlord insurance through a broker....too easy. I've used him for several years now and each year he searches out competitive quotes for my consideration.

The UK property is treated as though its located in Australia so ensure you keep ALL receipts for expenses you incur e.g. maintenance, agent fees, building insurance, grass cutting etc. I'm assuming you need the internet to manage the investment hence you will be able to deduct a portion (dependant upon usage) of your internet fees, office equipment, etc. I generally work out the income/expenses each month and if there is a net profit (in GBP) at the end of the financial year, I use the average GBP:AUD conversion rate during the financial year. It's probably worth going and discussing it with a tax agent with foreign income experience particularly for the first time.

If you do sufficient overtime to take you to $83000, with the additional investment income included, I'd do the sums to decide if salary sacrificing Super payments would be beneficial in order to reduce your assessable taxable income. This would not only reduce your immediate tax bill but provide an uplift to your Super in the long-term. Not tax advice but something else to consider and investigate because these matters can vary dependant upon age and personal circumstances.

This topic encouraged me to do a bit of a search and I found this on the HMRC that allows non-residents to calculate their CGT liabilities. Still best to consult a UK tax agent but should give some guidance.

https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/calculate-your-capital-gains/non-resident/

Note: Residents in Scotland have to apply different tax rates.

6 hours ago, Andrew from Vista Financial said:

As Alan has pointed out it is not possible to transfer a pension to an Australian Super Scheme until at least age 55.

I originally intended to leave mine in the UK but I'm 55 next year and this has me thinking...is there any value in transferring over to Oz my 'Pension pot' in the UK currently held with Aviva?

Cheers

13 hours ago, cubiq4 said:

I used them once to do a simple AU tax return but having a rental property in the UK.  I didn't feel like I got any UK specific advice and in fact had to correct them on a number of currency conversions.  I won't be using them again.

I had a similar indifferent experience of using them the once and only time and don't intend to ever to do so again.  They also made a demand for their invoice to be paid even although the document had been passed back and forth a few times and no agreement on the final submission had yet been reached.

Much appreciated for those responses. I privately thought that it wouldn't be possible but had to ask.

Reading the info, I can only transfer a UK pension into a QROPS compliant account here in Oz.

Once in the Oz account, is there any regulation that prevents me transferring it into any Australian Super account e.g. I open an Oz QROPS account, I transfer my pension from the UK into it, it stays there for 2 weeks then I transfer it into my 'regular' Super to consolidate all my Super into one policy.

Cheers

On 14/05/2019 at 21:21, Whey aye said:

Why do you want a mortgage broker?

I am an exisiting savings account holder of several years with Ubank so  aware of their mortgages. Ubank appears to be a good, simple and straightforward mortgage product but may or may not be the best for my particular set of circumstances.

Does anyone have a recommendation for an independent Melbourne based mortgage broker?

CBD or northern suburbs probably preferred but getting quality is more important so willing to travel further afield.

Thanks

I was able to re-mortgage my unmortgaged UK property to release equity around the 2007/08 period. I paid it back as my plans changed but was never permitted to repeat that feat again when I tried in 2014.

Looking at all the T&C for mortgages, they all specify they are for UK residents only. For suggestions, try going through a mortgage broker or you could try an approach to an international branch of a UK bank based in say the channel islands.