Tax Advice - Split Year Treatment UK/AUS

[PerthLondonGirl89]

Hi All!

Can anyone recommend any companies / accountants who can provide tax advice on UK / Aus split year treatment, particularly for self employed? Although it is not due yet I have no idea how I will need to lodge my tax return(s) for 2021/22 - which country if it is one or both etc. I am moving from England to Australia in September - if we don't get bumped again that is!! So I will be resident in Aus for longer in relation to the tax year dates. I am asking now to be prepared in case I need to register as a sole trader in the UK whilst I am still here (I have only recently started doing freelancing work, previously was employed full time).

I have googled and contacted many companies online, some charging an arm and a leg! Obviously I will pay for proper advice as I want to ensure I comply and action all my taxes correctly, but I feel some fees are very extravagant! If it just is what it is I will suck it up, but wanted to do more research first.

So considering this site is for UK / Aus expats I thought I would also ask the question on here. Has anyone had to deal with similar?

Any advice would be welcome - recommendations or ballpark figures of what I can expect to pay for this service etc. 

Thank you

[Jon the Hat]

1 hour ago, PerthLondonGirl89 said:

Hi All!

Can anyone recommend any companies / accountants who can provide tax advice on UK / Aus split year treatment, particularly for self employed? Although it is not due yet I have no idea how I will need to lodge my tax return(s) for 2021/22 - which country if it is one or both etc. I am moving from England to Australia in September - if we don't get bumped again that is!! So I will be resident in Aus for longer in relation to the tax year dates. I am asking now to be prepared in case I need to register as a sole trader in the UK whilst I am still here (I have only recently started doing freelancing work, previously was employed full time).

I have googled and contacted many companies online, some charging an arm and a leg! Obviously I will pay for proper advice as I want to ensure I comply and action all my taxes correctly, but I feel some fees are very extravagant! If it just is what it is I will suck it up, but wanted to do more research first.

So considering this site is for UK / Aus expats I thought I would also ask the question on here. Has anyone had to deal with similar?

Any advice would be welcome - recommendations or ballpark figures of what I can expect to pay for this service etc. 

Thank you

@Alan Collett is a expat tax adviser - see About Us - BDH Tax

[Ken]

2 hours ago, PerthLondonGirl89 said:

Hi All!

Can anyone recommend any companies / accountants who can provide tax advice on UK / Aus split year treatment, particularly for self employed? Although it is not due yet I have no idea how I will need to lodge my tax return(s) for 2021/22 - which country if it is one or both etc. I am moving from England to Australia in September - if we don't get bumped again that is!! So I will be resident in Aus for longer in relation to the tax year dates. I am asking now to be prepared in case I need to register as a sole trader in the UK whilst I am still here (I have only recently started doing freelancing work, previously was employed full time).

I have googled and contacted many companies online, some charging an arm and a leg! Obviously I will pay for proper advice as I want to ensure I comply and action all my taxes correctly, but I feel some fees are very extravagant! If it just is what it is I will suck it up, but wanted to do more research first.

So considering this site is for UK / Aus expats I thought I would also ask the question on here. Has anyone had to deal with similar?

Any advice would be welcome - recommendations or ballpark figures of what I can expect to pay for this service etc. 

Thank you

 

I've sent you a PM with my contact details but there's a long time before you need to do your 2021/22 tax returns. Split year is not complicated. What will need to do as soon as you arrive is to become legally self-employed. For that you need to obtain an ABN (Australian Business Number). The closest equivalent in the UK is a VAT registration number but it does a bit more than that because you need an ABN to be self-employed - anyone paying you must withhold tax if you don't have an ABN.

If you expect your turnover to be over $75,000 (which isn't that much these days) you will need not only an ABN but for it to be GST registered (that's VAT in Australian) note that you'll only need to charge GST on Sales to your Australian clients, if your freelance work is with clients back in the UK those will be export sales. 

As I tried to explain in my PM a simple tax return isn't expensive (even with split year) it's getting properly set up as self-employed (even without a company or trust structure) that can be complicated.

PS: Sorry missed a question that you asked - Yes, you will need to do a self-assessment return to HMRC for what you earned in the UK up to September (or whenever it is you leave).

Edited June 2, 2021 by Ken

[PerthLondonGirl89]

Thanks @Jon the Hat for letting me know!

@Alan Collett I was actually in touch with BDH Tax earlier in the year with a slightly different enquiry. I didn't end up proceeding with the initial call as I was then linked in with a "friend of a friend" but that didn't eventuate. Your personal assistant in the UK was lovely and I have just sent another email to her to see if I can schedule in a call.

@Ken thanks so much for your informative reply. I have responded to your PM 

[ngophotographer]

I have just arrived in Australia (Sydney) from the UK (London), and have some similar questions to this. In the UK, I was a limited company director (no other employees) and paying myself a £736 monthly salary and the rest in dividends (of which there were none in the last year owing to Covid). In Australia, I have set myself up as a sole trader and already have my TFN and ABN. I am wondering how I can ensure I register a 'full year' for National Insurance purposes (to protect my State Pension in case I return to the UK one day). HMRC told me I can continue the £736/month arrangement even after emigrating, but this would seem tax inefficient to me because I would then get taxed on that amount in Australia (unlike in the UK, where that amount came under my personal allowance). If I strike off the company now, could I pay voluntary NI for the rest of the year and ensure a full year? If I do that, would I get into a complex 'split year' situation? Any pointers would be warmly received! Thanks in advance.

[PerthLondonGirl89]

3 hours ago, ngophotographer said:

I have just arrived in Australia (Sydney) from the UK (London), and have some similar questions to this. In the UK, I was a limited company director (no other employees) and paying myself a £736 monthly salary and the rest in dividends (of which there were none in the last year owing to Covid). In Australia, I have set myself up as a sole trader and already have my TFN and ABN. I am wondering how I can ensure I register a 'full year' for National Insurance purposes (to protect my State Pension in case I return to the UK one day). HMRC told me I can continue the £736/month arrangement even after emigrating, but this would seem tax inefficient to me because I would then get taxed on that amount in Australia (unlike in the UK, where that amount came under my personal allowance). If I strike off the company now, could I pay voluntary NI for the rest of the year and ensure a full year? If I do that, would I get into a complex 'split year' situation? Any pointers would be warmly received! Thanks in advance.

@Alan Collett is able to assist with both UK & Aus tax information so I would recommend speaking with him

[Ken]

On 06/09/2021 at 21:24, ngophotographer said:

I have just arrived in Australia (Sydney) from the UK (London), and have some similar questions to this. In the UK, I was a limited company director (no other employees) and paying myself a £736 monthly salary and the rest in dividends (of which there were none in the last year owing to Covid). In Australia, I have set myself up as a sole trader and already have my TFN and ABN. I am wondering how I can ensure I register a 'full year' for National Insurance purposes (to protect my State Pension in case I return to the UK one day). HMRC told me I can continue the £736/month arrangement even after emigrating, but this would seem tax inefficient to me because I would then get taxed on that amount in Australia (unlike in the UK, where that amount came under my personal allowance). If I strike off the company now, could I pay voluntary NI for the rest of the year and ensure a full year? If I do that, would I get into a complex 'split year' situation? Any pointers would be warmly received! Thanks in advance.

Australia has a Tax Free allowance just as the UK does so you wouldn't be taxed in Australia on only £736/month either. You can however make voluntary contributions to top-up incomplete years of NI contributions and don't even have to do this immediately as you can go back 6 years.