Lammie

Thank you, that's good to know. I knew our super would be taxable by the UK government if we accessed it while we were living there. I don't intend to, but it's just in case I had to stop working at some point to look after my dad. I remember reading on a previous post that if we rented out our home here we'd get stung for 32.5% as foreign residents, so I didn't want to find out that was going to happen to our super too.

Hi PiO, very quick question if anyone can help. Hubby and I are both Aus citizens (me originally a Pom) who are planning to move to the UK for 2-3 years later this year for family reasons. We will both turn 60 while we're over there and were wondering what would happen if either of us accessed our Aus Super funds while in the UK. I know it's completely tax free here in Aus, and if we access it while we're UK tax residents then we'll have to pay tax over there. I just wanted to clarify what happens with the ATO. As we would be classed as foreign residents for tax purposes, does this mean that we'd have to pay 32.5% Australian tax on any super withdrawals? Clearly if that's the case then we won't touch it until we return to Aus. Thanks in advance.

It seems a bit vague but my understanding of domicile is that it's the place you'd normally consider to be home, or have a strong connection with. We own a property in Australia that is currently our home and we also have family ties here (our son and my husband's family), so that seems like a pretty strong connection. The question of domicile seems to have more to do with whether you're going to live permanently in the same place overseas than it does with what you do with your home while you're away.

Thanks again for all the helpful advice previously. Here's a bit of an update since my original post for anyone interested. In September we had our first trip back to the UK in seven years. We got lucky with the weather which was fab, as everyone had said what a rotten summer it'd been this year. We told them we'd brought the sun with us from Oz! It was great being back and see everyone, especially my father who I'd been worrying about. He's got carers coming in daily so I'm less concerned than before, but there'd been a big decline in his mobility since I last saw him. It was quite heart-breaking really, but that wasn't the only decline we saw if I'm being honest. The UK seems to be in a shocking state, with so many business closed down and homeless people everywhere. At times it was hard to believe we were back in England. Even my friends, who've always been such a very positive bunch, seemed fed up with a lot things since covid. The countryside was as beautiful as ever though, and we enjoyed some lovely walks and days out. Despite having a few more doubts, our plan is still to move over there for a few years. We don't anticipate it being anywhere as long as we'd originally thought (2-3 years max) because I don't think my dad will manage too much longer before he needs to go into residential care. We discussed that with him and he said he wouldn't mind when the time comes, which was reassuring because we thought he might be resistant to the idea. That said, I'd like to spend some quality time with him before it comes to that. One thing that hubby and I now agree on is that we aren't going to sell our home here in Australia, so we're going to rent it out while we're away. I know it's probably going to cost us more money in the long run, but it will be reassuring to know that in future we'll be able to return to Australia without too many dramas. The question I now have is whether we will be able to remain Australian resident for tax purposes because that's definitely going to work to our financial advantage when renting the house out? I did a bit of research on-line and it seems that if our permanent home or domicile remains in Australia then we would meet the 'Domicile Test', even though we would be resident in Australia for less than 183 days. In fact it seems quite difficult not to be classed as an Australian resident by the ATO unless you sell up and move overseas permanently. I'm guessing at some point we'll need to speak to a tax professional, but any helpful thoughts in the meantime would be really appreciated. Ta in advance x

Thanks to everyone for their helpful replies. Plenty of food for thought there. We shall definitely seek professional advice regarding tax as suggested, although it seems like selling is going to be our best bet financially. We have the equivalent of £250k in equity so that should buy us something pretty reasonable near Worcester, where dad lives. I had a look on Rightmove and rents are around £800/month so that would be 50k down the plughole in 5 years, as was pointed out. I didn't know about zero stamp duty up to £250k so that's good to know because that happens to be our budget, and it's another point in favour of buying not renting. Hard to know if there's going to be a property crash in the UK but from what I heard on the news recently they're doing a better job of getting inflation under control than Australia at the moment, so maybe not a huge concern. Secretly I'm looking forward to moving back, reconnecting with old friends and familiar places, and enjoying some traditional British things I've missed out on over the years. However, we've been back every 4-5 years since we emigrated and witnessed the not-so-good changes that have taken place, so it's not all rose-tinted spectacles.

Thank you both for sharing your stories. Wow, that's really old. You must have good genes! My dad downsized to a two-bedroom bungalow after mum passed on and it's pretty small, so we won't be stopping with him except when we first arrive. I'd say he's got at least 5 good years left as he's in reasonably good health apart from his arthritis, has still got all his marbles, and maintains an active social life. Of course he might only last 2 or 3 year (you never know). Our plan is to retire when we returned to Australia and yes, it would probably be on the SC. We definitely intend to downsize and hubs wants to hang on to the house because he thinks it'll be worth a lot more money by then, what with the Olympics happening and the new rail link from Brisbane. Then we can sell up, move into an apartment, and have some left over to fund our retirement. He's also a bit more attached to the house than I am having done some work on it himself, and partly working from home he's been able to enjoy it more than I have. One thing you mentioned that I don't understand is that we would have to pay 32% tax on 'every dollar of rent'. I thought we'd only have to pay tax on whatever the profit was after deducting mortgage interest and other allowable expenses, which as I mentioned would pretty much reduce our net income to zero? We haven't done a depreciation report on the place yet (I don't know what that is, if I'm being honest). The house was built mid-90s.

After 20 years we've decided to return to the UK for what's likely to be a few years to support my father, who's just turned 83 and on his own. He's bright as a button mentally but struggling physically, and has just hung up his car keys. Not sure how much longer he'll be around to be honest, and I just want to be there for him at the end. My husband's on board as we always agreed we'd do it if the need arose, and he's a bit of a boffin who loves UK and European history. His parents in Brisbane are much younger and in good health so fortunately that isn't an issue, and the plan is to return to Australia once my dad is no longer with us. My husband is a lecturer and I'm a nurse, so we don't foresee any work issues once he's got his partner visa. Our son finished uni a couple of years ago and has a good job in Melbourne, a girlfriend, and is making a life for himself down there. He's also supportive of the move and is looking forward to visiting us once we're settled. 4 years ago we bought a place on the Sunny Coast, just before house prices went bananas. We still have quite a big mortgage which has got a lot bigger recently due to interest rates going up. We've had the property assessed and the rental income should just about cover the interest payments and all other expenses, but not the principal. We would need to convert to an interest-only mortgage so the house would be paying for itself while we're away, which is what my husband wants to do, but that means we'll need to rent the whole time we're living in the UK. I would prefer to sell the house as we should make a decent profit and then buy somewhere outright in the UK. I appreciate that we'd incur buying and selling costs but then we won't have to pay rent, deal with landlords, or worry about what's happening with our Aussie home in our absence. Given his flexibility over the whole situation I feel I should go with him on this one, but financially it doesn't make sense. Having only recently got on to the property ladder, I feel adversed at going back to paying rent. This seems to be our only stumbling block at the moment, so I'm looking for some insight from anyone who's done similar and how it worked out for them. All replies welcome and thanks in advance, L x