selling a house in the UK from Australia

[Rawkus]

Hi

Is there anyone here who has experience in selling their UK home while living in Australia?

It the opportunity comes, I'd like to sell but everything would need to be done from Australia.

My brother lives close to the property so can decorate etc and meet the real estate agent at the property but after that would like them to do viewings etc.

I know this would cost more but don't have many options when I'm living here. Can't ask too many favours from people. Just wondering if anyone can share their experiences and give advice.

 

Thanks

[Plentymech]

We’re going to be doing exactly this within 18 months. I’d heavily suggest contacting an account skilled in both country’s tax laws such as Alan Collet who’s frequently mentioned on here and will be handling my CGT submission when the time comes.

[Rawkus]

I've looked at CGT and see its unlikely il pay any in UK as I paid 95k for the property and would be doing well to get 120k. As it is owned by two of us our tax free allowance would cover it.

If I declared it in Australia I'd likely owe tax to the ATO though.

[Rawkus]

16 hours ago, Plentymech said:

We’re going to be doing exactly this within 18 months. I’d heavily suggest contacting an account skilled in both country’s tax laws such as Alan Collet who’s frequently mentioned on here and will be handling my CGT submission when the time comes.

It does look a bit complex. We used to live in it but has been rented out for a while now.

[Marisawright]

19 hours ago, Rawkus said:

I've looked at CGT and see its unlikely il pay any in UK as I paid 95k for the property and would be doing well to get 120k. As it is owned by two of us our tax free allowance would cover it.

If I declared it in Australia I'd likely owe tax to the ATO though.

It would be illegal not to declare it in Australia, if you are resident here. 

Note that if it's rented out, you must also declare the rental income on your Australian tax return.  It's illegal not to, and if you get caught (and you will be, because the two countries are sharing information more nowadays than they used to), it's a massive fine. 

I agree that you need a tax agent who understands the tax system in both countries because it gets complicated. 

[Rawkus]

4 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

It would be illegal not to declare it in Australia, if you are resident here. 

Note that if it's rented out, you must also declare the rental income on your Australian tax return.  It's illegal not to, and if you get caught (and you will be, because the two countries are sharing information more nowadays than they used to), it's a massive fine. 

I agree that you need a tax agent who understands the tax system in both countries because it gets complicated. 

Yes, I will declare it if I sell it and it is being rented out now and I do declare the rental income on my Australian tax return. I also do a UK tax return for this too.

Its more advice on actually selling it from here that I'm looking for just now.

Edited October 4, 2020 by Rawkus

[Ken]

23 hours ago, Rawkus said:

If I declared it in Australia I'd likely owe tax to the ATO though.

Not necessarily. There's an exemption for your Principal Place of Residence which can last for up to 6 years after you ceased to live there.

[Grabri]

On 04/10/2020 at 13:00, Rawkus said:

Yes, I will declare it if I sell it and it is being rented out now and I do declare the rental income on my Australian tax return. I also do a UK tax return for this too.

Its more advice on actually selling it from here that I'm looking for just now.

Hi,

we sold our Uk home a couple of years ago and it was handled all by our estate agent. We also used their conveyancer.

We did need to sign contract in front of a lawyer here in Australia from memory.

 

It was not complicated (even though we had a buyer pulling out)

Edited October 28, 2020 by Grabri