Judy

1 hour ago, Ausvisitor said:

Yes but the question was about the UK tax code not the treatment of the income in Australia 

Why is the OP getting a tax code from HMRC? He states that he hasn't had a rise in his state pension in the five years since he's been in Australia. (which we don't). So you would assume he is tax resident in Australia. I don't think we have the full facts and he may need advice from a tax agent. 

14 minutes ago, Ausvisitor said:

It's the private pension most likely as that's UK derived income

All UK pensions whether state or private are taxed in Australia. 

15 hours ago, Stev143 said:

Dear friends, as usual we received our UK tax coding last month. I have a question. As we all know our state pension is frozen. It has had significant increases in the last 5 years since we came to Australia. When you receive your new coding, is this reflecting the new 2024 state pension amount, or is it based on the frozen amount. And if its based on the 2024 amount are we being over taxed..?? I hope I've explained that ok.

Thanks in anticipation.

Steve S

Shouldn't your tax code be NT (no tax) as tax is paid on all world income in Australia if that is where you are living. 

This won't help with paying bills now! He's only giving back the $1500 he took from us last year. 

23 minutes ago, InnerVoice said:

Your dentist sounds a tad expensive if you don't mind me saying. The Toowoomba hospital sounds like the way forward - do they do treatment too?

I thought the prices I was quoted in the original post were a bit expensive too, so I shopped around and found another dentist.

He did the 5-surfaces filling for $295 as opposed to $420.

The scale and clean was $130 as opposed to $156.

I didn't want the topical application, but as the dental assistant had made it up anyway they just gave me it for free.

He said that two fillings at the bottom of the quote ($235 each) weren't urgent, and as they were a little difficult to repair he suggested holding off unless they started giving me some trouble.

So I ended up paying $425 instead $1083 and walked feeling confident that the necessary work had been done. I will add that he was extremely nice, professional, and at no time did it feel like it was 'just about the money'. Just goes to show that it's worth shopping around.

Yes I agree he is a tad expensive and the funny thing is that it was supposed to be cheaper due to my health card! He said that they no longer give discounts to seniors (only students) but would give me one this time. 

I think you need to like your dentist and although he is better than my previous aussie dentist I am not sure if I want to keep him long term so will definitely be shopping around. 

Here is a list of treatments from the hospital website 

• dental check ups
• x-rays
• fillings
• taking out damaged or decayed teeth (extractions)
• false teeth
• advice on the best ways to keep your mouth, teeth and gums healthy
• emergency treatment
• referral to specialist services.

I've heard that if they can't provide the treatment you need they will pay someone else to do it. 

Here is my invoice for my last check up in September. Up $23 in 6 months. 

I've previously paid out $$$$$ for 2 crowns and removal of wisdom teeth. I do have an extras policy so do get some cost back. 

When my next check is due in March I intend to ask for a quote beforehand. 

As I now have a commonwealth seniors health card I can get a free check up at Toowoomba hospital so that might be the route I take. 

I couldn't upload the invoice but the costs were 012 $97 oral exam, 114 $180 removal of calculas, 121 $52 topical appl remin agent. 

Have a look for Movecube ala Tetris posted on 17 July 2015 by Kevsan. (In shipping and removals). I can remember that we found it useful before we used the movecube in 2019.

49 minutes ago, ramot said:

Is the seniors Health Card income dependant? 

We have to pay the PBS rate, until we hit the combined safety net, then we get the $6 rate for the rest of the year on all our scripts that certainly helps.

This link gives you the income limits. They have just been increased and are quite generous. 

https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/income-test-for-commonwealth-seniors-health-card?context=21966

Thanks for your reply. At the moment I don't take any medications, my husband takes a couple so it may save him something. 

Hello everyone. We have been here for just over 4 years and loving it. It was worth the wait for our 143 visa as we wouldn't want to be without our grandchildren now. 

I would like to know anyone's thoughts on the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card. 

Also wondering if it might be worth going for the Low Income Health Care Card. Not sure if our income would fit the criteria as our pensions are paid in the UK so we will have to convert to AUD and it may be a bit tight. Would it be worth giving it a go? 

Can anyone share their experiences, thanks in advance. 

Ps we already hold seniors cards in Queensland so get a discount on rego and electricity. 

On 14/12/2019 at 15:22, Juditta said:

I live in Queensland, in a village not far from Warwick, not seen any pork pies but fingers crossed, soon will 

If you are ever in Toowoomba check out Andrews Meats at Grand Central shopping centre for pork pies. 

27 minutes ago, Greece said:

@Jellybean T  Request you to please mention Visa type applied 143 or 173 applied in your Timeline.

AOS submitted so must be 143.

15 hours ago, Lauraloz said:

Hey Sarah, we are moving to Adelaide in October from Leicestershire and using robinsons relocation, fingers crossed they will work out ok, have all the right accreditations and good reviews. 

We are wrapping & packing ourselves to save money,  although struggling a little now to get insurance sorted because of this and the fact we will have to load from a storage yard. @vickyplum who did you do insurance with??

 

Try Letton Percival. They are used by quite a few on this site we used them for cover for our Movecube earlier in the year. 

2 hours ago, Tychen said:

Ok thanks, that makes me think it won't be worth the effort of hunting down someone to do the attestation...

Hi we applied online on 7 March when we arrived in Australia. We got the acknowledgement email that said it would be passed to Sheffield City Council but haven't heard anything back from them and decided not to follow it up. 

3 hours ago, Wishfull said:

Hi Marilyn where did you see a post from michaelsmum saying that she had received a request for medical and police clearance? I cannot find one. Hope you are correct and we have finally moved on to Sept 2015.

Hi its under the heading Request for medical etc. Posted 10 hours ago in Family /Partner visas. 

37 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

Yes, if you're travelling the other way, it's easy.  Australia allows foreigners to open bank accounts without proof of residence, whereas the UK doesn't any more.

Why would HSBC Australia give her wrong information? Its all done through their international division. They will get fined if they do not follow the rules. 

Hi we bank with HSBC in fact I was employed by them for 40 years. We opened our account with HSBC Australia last September in readiness for our move. Bank cards and cheque book were sent out to the UK. We could start using the account straight away and transferred funds from UK to Australia and then from Australia to our son who paid assurance of Support bond and visa fee. Really easy now to transfer funds from our UK account to Australia account you can see the funds straight away so no messing with third party just keep watching the rate. 

Hi so we have been here for just over 3 months and I think we have everything sorted apart from private medical insurance. We registered with medicare straight away and have managed to find a bulk billed doctor in our area so now have to decide whether to take out insurance. Does anyone have any thoughts on this please. 

10 hours ago, Rosiejaq said:

Someone mentioned previously they had a number for the Aos team direct.  Does anyone have this?  Thanks 

Just managed to find it for you as we had used it previously. 1800 571 922. See page 722 for more information input on 10 August 2018. 

On 18/05/2019 at 06:37, Jellica said:

Just wanted to update this to add that we got the same response today from Singapore Airlines regarding the 40kg migrant baggage allowance.

They also confirmed for me that both of our flights are operated by Singapore Airlines and not codeshares.

now we just have to haul it all to the airport

Don't forget the weight restrictions of 32 kg on individual items due to health and safety 

1 hour ago, Mel.b said:

How much was the customs? Is it just 10% gst?

We valued the golf clubs at $2040 on the unaccompanied personal effects statement and the charge for duty and taxes was $189.72

Our Movecube is being delivered back to us tomorrow. It left the UK on 21 January. No problems in Australia but my husband had to pay customs duty on his new set of golf clubs. It will be nice to see some familiar things but we didn't ship any furniture. 

2 hours ago, Sharpeys said:

Dear friends, We are reaching the point near time to move and think we have covered most bases. When it comes to pensions, I have a private pension from my work as a police officer and enquiries seem to show this will just be a case of supplying our Aussie bank details and it will go straight in there. We are getting very confused as to how to address the State pension payments. Having read this thread, is it just a case of keeping the account open which the pension gets paid into and transferring it down via moneycorp, or can you set it up to go straight into your Oz account.

Confused of Kendal.

We have just arrived in Australia. My husband gets his state pension and called the international pension centre last week to let them know we were moving. He was advised that the payment can continue to be paid to his UK bank or they can pay it to an overseas account. The only problem with that is you will have no control over the exchange rate. Hope this helps. 

2 hours ago, martyfenwick said:

That is disappointing to here. I was also under the impression the 864 had a reasonable processing time because the price of the visa is high and worth processing for the Australian government.

Do you mind me asking if you have paid the first instalment and what the terms are on that? Considering the timeframes involved - are the instalments refundable?

What are the other options for bringing parents into Australia?

Why don't you have a free initial consultation with an agent. I can recommend Alan Collett at go matilda, details on their website. 

18 minutes ago, Rachel Overton said:

They charged £2000 + VAT to send my qualifications off to be checked and approved for skilled sponsor visa, advice in CV,  then they were supposed to do recruitment and gain me employment. The recruitment turned out to just send my cv and covering letter to potential employers which is a waste of time. Difficulty is now fighting them for a refund as I imagine their contract will be water tight. 

Did you pay on a credit card? If you did is there the chance of a claim under section 75 of the consumer credit act if they have not provided the service you expected.