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Ruth7862

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Everything posted by Ruth7862

  1. Ruth7862
    Hi Palaceboy1, your post is of interest to me as we are in the 103 queue and I have been sending the test email recently with no reply. Maybe I have been trying too frequently so will have to leave it for a while to try it again. It is so helpful that you are tracking how the figures in the queue are reducing. Please keep it up as it is most informative, much appreciated.
  2. Ruth7862
    So any idea if the one round trip we make would produce enough points for a partial upgrade on a further trip two years later? As they run out after three years this would be the only opportunity to use them. I'm sure we won't collect points in any other way and not motivated enough to spend them in any alternative way!
  3. Ruth7862
    I am really more interested in whether it is worth perusing because as we only fly once every two years and are unlikely to add points from other sources. Therefore how many points would we be collecting compared to how many points we would need to save to get an upgrade on a portion of the journey?
  4. Ruth7862
    We fly to Australia once every two years currently. We fly from Birmingham to Sydney and return from Melbourne to Birmingham. We book through a travel agent. On previous occasions I haven't been able to sort out getting Emirates skywards points added to an account and wondered whether it was worth making the effort to ring Emigrates or go to the travel agents to try and get the points added to our account for our next trip in March 2018. Do the points expire after a certain time and as we only fly every other year would we ever earn enough points to get any benefit? I have looked on the Emirates site and was unable to work it out with any certainty. I wish they would forget the scheme and just make the flights slightly cheaper!!
  5. Ruth7862
    I wonder if anyone can advise please? My son lives in Australia and has a property in the UK which he rents out and I manage as I am in the UK. A self assessment form is completed for UK HMRC and no tax paid as the profit, approximately £3800, is below his personal allowance. With regards to Australian tax I have heard that the tax bill may be reduced if we were to obtain a depreciation report on the UK rental property. My question is how would we go about finding a suitable professional given this is not recognised in the UK system (the property is in the Midlands), what sort of figure could we expect to pay for the report? Is it a one off report that can be used year on year or does it have to be repeated annually? Basically does it save enough tax to be worth doing? My son is on a low income as he is a PhD student so will pay tax at whatever is the basic rate in Australia I guess. Thanks in advance.
  6. Ruth7862
    Thanks Andrew. At least I know now that is probably not the right strategy. Perhaps another way would be to mortgage against the UK buy to lets before we leave to raise the capital to buy in Australia.
  7. Ruth7862
    We are planning to move to Melbourne on a PR parent visa in a few years at age 65. We have three rental properties in the UK and our own home. We did think of selling two or three properties to buy outright in Melbourne but wondered if it would be possible to get a mortgage based on the rental income of the UK properties instead if we had a decent deposit. This would save the costs of selling and potential currency exchange issues. Is there a limit to what age you can have a mortgage until? We could just use the UK rent to rent in Melbourne but would prefer to buy if possible. Any guidance or observations would be helpful thanks.
  8. Ruth7862
    I work in Social Care in the UK and I can tell you with some certainty that the UK is not kind to its older citizens. You are okay if you have money as that gives a degree of choice however good care is expensive. If you have no resources you will get help but it is extremely limited to the most needy. Social Care funding has been cut to the bone resulting in older people being stuck in hospital when medically fit for discharge because Social Care doesn't have the resources to fund a care package or residential care. It was never good but has been in steep decline the last few years.
  9. Ruth7862
    When you come to sell a second home in the future you can offset the second property stamp duty against any capital gains tax on the profit so not quite as bad as it sounds.
  10. Ruth7862
    You also need to consider the second home stamp duty charge which came in this year. If the person buying the investment property already owners another property it will be charged and I suspect this would be the case even if the person is buying in trust on behalf of an individual that doesn't own another property, but that would need to be checked with the solicitor.
  11. Ruth7862
    My son was in a similar position to you, living permanently in Australia but with savings in the UK for a deposit and wanting to buy an investment property here (UK). The problem was he couldn't get a mortgage in the UK at the time three years ago as all the lenders would only lend to individuals who were permanently resident in the UK at the time of application. We got round this by myself taking out the mortgage and having the house in my name. We then got the solicitor to create a declaration of trust document which states that I hold the property in trust for my son. The British tax office are happy with this and he completes a UK tax return regarding the rental income. It has worked out well for us to the extent that he might buy a second property here next year. He rents in Australia as it suits him to be flexible and he likes that fact I can sort it all out for him, clever lad :-)
  12. Ruth7862
    I've never tried a long distance relationship so can't comment on that but have been together with my husband for 30 years and whenever one of us has wanted a big change that affects us both like moving house we have only made the change if we both wanted it. The one who isn't initiating the change has the right of veto. I don't agree with some of the views Booboo bear has put toward but I do understand where she is coming from and I do feel she has been backed into a corner by some of the critical posts on here. I would probably compromise if it was me and cross my fingers that it is only a year. Equally my husband would exercise his veto if I suggested moving and he wasn't keen but then he thinks being selfish is a positive trait haha. It's a difficult thing when you want such different things.
  13. Ruth7862
    I started a new post today but it seems this post answers most of my questions. I agree profit is good and wouldn't recommend spending money to pay less tax. I was more interested in how to make sure all allowable deductions were made regarding depreciation etc. I guess paying for an accountant is probably sensible even though my son, whose rental in the UK it is, is an intelligent person and generally capable of filling in forms. What is the best way to go about finding a good accountant if you don't know anyone that can recommend someone?
  14. Ruth7862
    I am hoping members resident in Australia but with UK rental income will be along to advise. My son lives in Melbourne and has started renting a property out in the UK. He has done everything right with HMRC registering as an overseas landlord and completing a self assessment tax return in the UK. I have read on the forum that in Australia you can claim for some depreciation on things like the heating system on rental properties but I wondered if this also applied to overseas property. Similarly can you claim deductions for mortgage interest on foreign property as you would for rental property in Australia? I will probably suggest he use an accountant but thought it would be good to have an idea.
  15. Ruth7862
    Thanks Fisher1 and Pat and Bill. 10 years would be perfect for us as our plan is to retire first and we are 54 (nearly) and 55 now. Our daughter has no plans to leave the UK so we will always have ties here too. Your replies are encouraging that we should not be too far off although I know it is a very impresice science and we still have to pass the medicals.
  16. Ruth7862
    We have our 103 queue date! Was about to leave for the airport on Friday for a weekend away in Amsterdam and just checked my emails and there it was. We were expecting it to take a few more weeks so that was a surprise. Just a decade or so (hopefully not much more than this) to wait for a visa. I am guessing and hoping that people drop out, change their mind, jump over to the 143 etc and am working on a 50% reduction in wait time due to this but could be way out. Is anyone on here, maybe Fisher1, able to give any insight into how quickly or slowly the 103 queue tends to move?
  17. Ruth7862
    My son is an Australian citizen and has lived in Australia for 7 years. He hasn't suggested we consider emigrating but we plan to when we retire in about a decade spending chunks of time in Australia and the U.K. while we are hopefully fit enough to travel (our daughter has no desire to leave the UK). We see it as our last great adventure and it might not work out but we would like to try. We make no assumptions and might not even end up living very near our son. Children have their own lives to live as we do but seeing more of him would be a lovely bonus. I guess what I am trying to do is dispel the stereotypes and put an alternative view. We are a close but healthily independent family.
  18. Ruth7862
    We rent a house out in the Midlands and both my children, including son in Melbourne, have a property each that they rent out here. Although when advertised we put 'no pets' we were happy to consider them. Just didn't want someone with ten dogs applying. I think landlords look at the whole picture generally when deciding on whether to accept a tenant.
  19. Ruth7862
    Hi all, we are waiting to be assessed for the queue for the 103 visa. I have been looking on the Immi site and it seems to be stuck on 1st June 2014 for weeks now. Has anyone else who has applied for the 103 and has been tracking progress any guidance as to whether this is usual? I know the visa was closed for a while about that time last year so wondered if they have suspended assessing for a while which could account for this :-(
  20. Ruth7862
    We have applied for a 103 visa which obviously won't be granted for many a year! The issue is that I was hoping to open a bank account to transfer money over whilst the rates are good and to use when we visit but with NAB it seems you can only open an account if you are within 12 months of migrating on a visa of at least 6 months duration. Has anyone opened an account, possibly with another bank? If not we are thinking of getting our son to open an account in his name (we can trust him) any ideas please?
  21. Ruth7862
    Thanks Pat and Bill and Val too. I will have a look at the form and remember to keep hold of the expired passport too. I have just found out that my new passport has been sent to the wrong address even though my husband's has been delivered here okay!
  22. Ruth7862
    Hi, we have applied for 103 visas and don't have a queue date yet. We have just had to renew our passports and I am unsure whether to advise the Immigration Centre at Perth now or at a later date. If now how do I do it please? I saw something about emailing your case officer using a code for change of passport details but we don't have a case officer yet.
  23. Ruth7862
    If I were you I would start working towards going to Australia with an open mind. Try it for 12 months and then decide to stay or return. It will cost but you will have given it a go instead of continual deliberation. It will be the only way to find out. However I wouldn't have any children until you are sure where you want to live on a more permanent basis.
  24. Ruth7862
    My son emigrated to Melbourne six plus years ago aged 22 with a one way ticket and a week booked in a hostel. I was heartbroken but supported him and didn't show my pain. He loves Melbourne, now has citizenship and it was the right thing for him. We visit when we can and are so glad he is making the most of his life. Thank goodness for Skype,
  25. Ruth7862
    We stayed at the YHA at the Rocks and can't recommend it enough. It was really excellent.
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