Advice on taking cash back to the uk

[ginger]

Hi all,

 

with the dollar dropping against the pound almost on a daily basis it is really messing up my maths. We were planning on moving $20000 back to the UK when we return. The rates are that bad transferring money is like a minefiled.

 

If I transfer based on todays rates I'd get .57GBP per $.

 

What rate would I get if I took the cash back and changed it in the UK? would it work out better for me?

 

Thanks for any advice

 

ginger

[Guest GeorgeD]

Don't take cash at all. Always transfer electronically. If you walk in somewhere with a $20K of cash you will get a significantly worse rate than if you got a Forex provider to exchange it for you online. Plus you might lose it, have it stolen, etc. totally not worth the risk and cost.

 

I don't think it makes much difference which country you are in when you do the transaction, but use a Forex provider like MoneyCorp or HiFX, you will get the most amount of money at the far end and it will be completely safe.

[Guest]

money corp for UK - Oz

and ozforex for Oz - UK

 

if you use money corp oz-uk when you transfer you money to moneycorp it goes to a UK account so you get hit with charges, then they do the exchange for you so its the same as just transfering from your ozzy bank account to your UK one (not good).

[ginger]

thanks for the replies....won't be transferring for a couple of months so praying that the dollar at least stabilises.

 

ginger

[Guest Julz]

Try Ozforex, I have used them for years and you always seem to get a better deal than other companies.

[newjez]

Probably worse today. What spread are you being quoted? Are you using a bank? When I brought a sum like that back, I just got them to write a bankers draught in british pounds. Seemed like the best rate I could get.

 

Hi all,

 

with the dollar dropping against the pound almost on a daily basis it is really messing up my maths. We were planning on moving $20000 back to the UK when we return. The rates are that bad transferring money is like a minefiled.

 

If I transfer based on todays rates I'd get .57GBP per $.

 

What rate would I get if I took the cash back and changed it in the UK? would it work out better for me?

 

Thanks for any advice

 

ginger

[Rupert]

thanks for the replies....won't be transferring for a couple of months so praying that the dollar at least stabilises.

 

ginger

 

Why not just do it now?

[Thistle13]

Can anyone recommend a bank account I can open from Australia in preparation to move funds to UK

[le petit roi]

Can anyone recommend a bank account I can open from Australia in preparation to move funds to UK

I was told last year when I applied to a bank that I had to be a UK resident to open an interest account; something to do with Australian financial regulations, not UK. It may be different for a simple non-interest paying account or other banks but I didn't pursue it. I'll watch this closely to see if you get an interest paying account opened while being non-UK resident and not a UK taxpayer.

[srh82]

HiFX are fantastic, quick and hassle-free!! :-)

[ginger]

Thanks all

 

I'll look into that newjez and see what comes.

 

I don't have the cash yet Rupert it will mainly come from sales of cars/furniture etc....so won't have any cash till last minute.

 

ginger

[jay290901]

You would have to check restrictions on the amount of cash you can take out of Australia/bring into the UK if you decide to carry it rather than send electronically. We used HIFX both in UK and Australia for all our transfers and they were very good. You will need to set up an account with them. You can do this well before even thinking about doing a transfer.

[benthomas010]

You would have to check restrictions on the amount of cash you can take out of Australia/bring into the UK if you decide to carry it rather than send electronically. We used HIFX both in UK and Australia for all our transfers and they were very good. You will need to set up an account with them. You can do this well before even thinking about doing a transfer.

 

There is no restriction as such, its just if you are moving above $10,000 out of Australia, and more than €10,000 into the UK you need to declare this at customs. All you do is complete a form, and be ready to be prepared to answer where the money came from. IE - proof of savings account, or in this case sale of assets.

 

As for who to use, if you need the money immediately, use Oz-forex or one of the other advised agencies for a simple spot rate deal. If you have time, you can place a Limit Order - just incase you don't know what this is, as many don't I will explain.

 

A Limit Order is where you instruct an agent such as Oz-Forex to only transfer your funds once the exchange rate has reached a desired point. IE, if you want to get at least £0.65 per $1.00 this is the rate you would instruct. You also set a time period, of up to one year. As soon as the forex rate reaches that point, OZ-Forex will immediately enter into a binding contract with you to fulfill your transfer at that rate. You then send them the payment in dollars, and they will transfer funds to your UK account at the agreed rate, and the funds usually arrive within just a few days.

[Guest GeorgeD]

There is no restriction as such, its just if you are moving above $10,000 out of Australia, and more than €10,000 into the UK you need to declare this at customs. All you do is complete a form, and be ready to be prepared to answer where the money came from. IE - proof of savings account, or in this case sale of assets.

 

As for who to use, if you need the money immediately, use Oz-forex or one of the other advised agencies for a simple spot rate deal. If you have time, you can place a Limit Order - just incase you don't know what this is, as many don't I will explain.

 

A Limit Order is where you instruct an agent such as Oz-Forex to only transfer your funds once the exchange rate has reached a desired point. IE, if you want to get at least £0.65 per $1.00 this is the rate you would instruct. You also set a time period, of up to one year. As soon as the forex rate reaches that point, OZ-Forex will immediately enter into a binding contract with you to fulfill your transfer at that rate. You then send them the payment in dollars, and they will transfer funds to your UK account at the agreed rate, and the funds usually arrive within just a few days.

 

I haven't looked into the UK side, but this is 100% correct about taking money in and out of Oz. There is no limit but you have to declare it and possibly say where it came from. The same is true for any electronic transfer above this amount...it just happens automatically and you don't fill in a form. The Forex provider have a record that it came from this bank account at this time....so there is a trail of where it came from. There is also no tax for taking money (physically or electronically) in or out of Oz. You don't pay tax moving money...you pay tax when you earn money. For example, as a permanent resident, you need to declare all earnings worldwide anyway, so you would've paid tax earning it wherever it was, so moving it doesn't make any difference. If you are a Temp Resident, earnings overseas aren't taxable, so moving it across the border doesn't make it taxable because it matters where/when it was earned.

[jen85]

Try transferring using XE.com you can setup an account and transfer for free into a UK bank account. HSBC do international banking for setting up accounts from Aus.

[Parley]

You talk about "we" returning, so of course you could each carry 10000 cash without declaring.

[Guest]

One last point as I'm looking to do similar.

If you have the money in your bank here in Oz you will be earning interest, if you transfer it over now you may get a better rate than in a few weeks as its only going to go down.

However what you loose out on the exchange or gain by transferring it now. You will earn interest on your money here while you keep it here which may be less than what you may loose in a few weeks time.

 

When you have your cash in the UK, the money wont earn anything due to the low payout of banks in the UK. As a result even a falling dollar may be fine if you have $200K in an Ozzy account.

You must be getting over $400 per month off that amount. % drop in exchange rate is less than % interest earned. does that make sense?

[Guest GeorgeD]

You talk about "we" returning, so of course you could each carry 10000 cash without declaring.

 

Remember that declaring it is just a formality...if you withdrew $20,000 from a bank account that the sale of a house went into then there's plenty proof where it came from and you'll be allowed to take it out the country freely at no cost...Australia is only concerned about cash moving across its border from an international money laundering/proceeds of crime perspective. You are free to move your money anywhere you want.

 

If the money was from a bank raid or the proceeds from your meth lab then you're best to take under $10K a time...otherwise, take what you want and declare if it's more than $10K

[Sydney]

Try Ozforex, I have used them for years and you always seem to get a better deal than other companies.

Have used them also and found them competitive.