Informing HM Government

[Piewie]

Hello Everyone

 

We have been in Auz nearly 4 years now. I was recently reading a post and there was mention of informing HM government that we had left.

 

Do you have to inform the Government that you are leaving? If so how can we correct this now and what are the implications if any? Especially if we were to return in March, which might happen. This would have been a little over the time of our original 457 work permit.

 

 

Any answers appreceiated.

[peterc1983]

When you leave the UK you are supposed to inform HMRC/Inland Revenue before you go.

 

http://search2.hmrc.gov.uk/kb5/hmrc/forms/view.page?record=5Ay4eloD0nw&formid=766

 

There may be tax implications.

[Quinkla]

There doesn't seem to be a single point at which you can notify the Government you have gone. Each department or point of contact with Govt seems to need separate notification. I notified the tax people when I wanted a tax refund. I suspect that if I want to top up NI contributions I would have to notify them again. I chose not to de-register from the NHS but that is also something you might be expected to do.

 

I work on the basis that there is little anyone can do to me once I have gone and it would be easier to ask for forgiveness than permission should I return.

 

Paragraph removed on edit as the post it was addressing has been deleted.

[TerryDXB]

I don't think there's any real issue with informing HMRC if you leave or return to the UK until you actually need to call on them. After being back in the UK for a year, and paying tax and NI, I tried to get a State Pension forecast only to be told that this couldn't be done over the web as I lived abroad - despite the monthly tax and NI deductions, the Pension department thought I was still away....easily put right though, once I'd found the right website.

 

What you really must do when you (or anyone else) returns to the UK is get back on the Electoral Roll as soon as possible. The Credit Rating agencies used by banks and building societies use the Electoral Roll to confirm that you actually exist - it doesn't matter how much money you have or how many bills you can produce to prove your address, you won't get a mortgage (or other finance) if they can't find you on the Electoral Roll.

[Piewie]

Thanks peterc1983 and Quinkla

 

I remember back then, that I looked at this form P85 but in my mind this was for claiming back tax. Because I did not believe I was due any tax relief I did not fill it in. When we arrived in Auz at the end of the UK financial year I completed my tax return online (because my mail from the UK was redirected for 6 months I received postal notification)and changed my address to my Auz address. Subsequent to that I had various tax stuff arrive at this Auz address. The following UK financial year I did the same when the notification that it was due arrived direct from the tax office. However I subsequently moved house and state and only redirected my mail for six months, so the next notification never arrived at my new address. So I never filled in a tax return. My thinking then and now still is that I had been out of the country for two years and not earning any UK pounds and only a couple of pounds in bank account interest.

 

Originally I was offered a contract for 3 years and a 457 visa for 4 years. I thought then that we would come have a look and return. After a year I was seriously cheesed off with the way I was being treated by my employer but was not ready to return so we applied for permanent residence which was granted within 6 months. We have now stayed the 4 years that was originally planned and I have a job offer back in England and the WA economy is in a definite downward spiral. So I am just checking out my options to clear the ground in case we decide to return in March.

 

I like Qunkla s statement "I work on the basis that there is little anyone can do to me once I have gone and it would be easier to ask for forgiveness than permission should I return."

 

I also spotted an advertisement outside our local Wespac Bank which said that the transfer of UK Public Sector pensions would be banned from April 2015. This got me thinking that if we stayed my better half would need to get on with transferring it here.

 

So hence that is why I am here now. Thanks for the responses so far and any other would be appreceiated.

[Piewie]

Thanks Terry

 

The electoral role is an important item and we used this last time.

 

Cheers

[Quinkla]

I also spotted an advertisement outside our local Wespac Bank which said that the transfer of UK Public Sector pensions would be banned from April 2015. This got me thinking that if we stayed my better half would need to get on with transferring it here.

Is it wise to transfer a public service pension that is index linked and put it into a super account? I had assumed not and left mine in place in the UK.

[MARYROSE02]

Apart from changing my tax status on my UK tax return, I did not notify anybody in the UK that I was leaving.

[Alaska]

When we left we phoned up and they said that the next tax return would take care of it. In the tax return we filed online we had to say where we lived, when we left the UK etc. Then we got a tax rebate. That's all we had to do.

 

The only issue that I forsee is that it looks like you didn't take yourself out of the self assessment system which can have financial implications even if you don't owe anything.

[Gbye grey sky]

The only issue that I forsee is that it looks like you didn't take yourself out of the self assessment system which can have financial implications even if you don't owe anything.

 

I see your point here and HMRC may well issue penalty notices for the returns that were not submitted but, if they do, your grounds for appeal would be that you were not UK resident for tax purposes and had no tax liability.

 

On the pension question don't assume that it would automatically make sense to move a UK public sector pension to Australian Super just because there is a potential deadline (which may have exemptions anyway - to be announced by UK government in November). The ad you saw is because financial institutions are promoting this as they make money out of you for transferring these pensions. There are some excellent threads on QROPS and transferring pensions.