malaya Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 Hi, My partner and I are in the fortunate position of having our visas. I have now been offered a job in Hobart, Tasmania. We are renting our property in UK and I plan to keep my UK bank account and use a UK credit card and operate both of these online for a while until I have an Aus bank account. My salary in the Uk is £30K. I am in the process of negotiating with Tassie, but the minimum is £44K. My partner is worried about the cost of living in Aus, but I think things will balance out. We have some savings (not loads). My question is should I take this all of this over or leave it in the UK as the exchange rate is so poor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sids Dad Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Hi, I would leave it a while longer to transfer your money over. You can open an Australian bank account while in the UK online, I wouldn't use your UK credit cards or debit cards over in Oz as they charge you the earth, better to transfer some loot into an Aussie account, they will either send you the cards or have them waiting for you. I would also use a money transfer company such as Moneycorp where you will get a more favourable rate than with your bank. I too have our house money in a UK bank, fortunately I'm working here in Oz and don't need to grab the cash until I buy a house or decide I need it. Good luck with the move and luckily you have found an excellent source of info with PIO, you will find all the answers you need here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayBone Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 You can set up a NAB account, and Moneycorp facility before you leave the UK. We did this and had bank accounts ready for us with money in when we landed. Moneycorp and NAB have an agreement aswell, they dont charge for transfers, and also the NAB account has no monthly banking fee, happy days! Go on the links at the top of this page 'Money transfers' and 'Banking' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdobson Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 I am in the exact same position. Because the exchange rate is so poor for people in England - you want to transfer / spend as little GBP in oz as you can. I have decided to get 2k sent over - just to pay for deposit and first month rent - then pay for everything else in AUD as thats what i will be earning. Hi,My partner and I are in the fortunate position of having our visas. I have now been offered a job in Hobart, Tasmania. We are renting our property in UK and I plan to keep my UK bank account and use a UK credit card and operate both of these online for a while until I have an Aus bank account. My salary in the Uk is £30K. I am in the process of negotiating with Tassie, but the minimum is £44K. My partner is worried about the cost of living in Aus, but I think things will balance out. We have some savings (not loads). My question is should I take this all of this over or leave it in the UK as the exchange rate is so poor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malaya Posted January 17, 2011 Author Share Posted January 17, 2011 I am in the exact same position. Because the exchange rate is so poor for people in England - you want to transfer / spend as little GBP in oz as you can. I have decided to get 2k sent over - just to pay for deposit and first month rent - then pay for everything else in AUD as thats what i will be earning. Thanks for your advice, I have reached the same conclusion :biggrin: Just I am wondering where that leaves me tax wise.... but that is another question! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdobson Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 You mean tax wise if you take it to Oz? in the UK as you have already been taxed on it when you earnt it - you wont need to do anything - might be tax on the interest though. As for oz - i think as long as you dont enter the country with wads of cash then its all good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest onabox Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 I too am worried about the tax implications of leaving money in the uk - reason being that i believe oz will tax you on any profit you make from fluctuations in the exchange rate. ie. if, when you arrived in oz the exchange rate was 1.5 and you waited until it was 2 before you transferred it, you will liable to pay tax on the 0.5 gain you have made at 30%. the only way around this is to leave the money in a nominated (to the tax office) transaction account/ or forex exchange account - you need to research balance election accounts on Foreign exchange (forex): the $250,000 balance election Of course, then you don't earn the same interest that you could do if it was in an interest account so its the devil and the deep blue sea.. Please note that i am NOT an expert on this matter - just an ordinary person trying to get my head around all the same pitfalls as you! - so anything that i have mentioned could be entirely wrong. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Count Zero Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 Hi,My partner and I are in the fortunate position of having our visas. I have now been offered a job in Hobart, Tasmania. We are renting our property in UK and I plan to keep my UK bank account and use a UK credit card and operate both of these online for a while until I have an Aus bank account. My salary in the Uk is £30K. I am in the process of negotiating with Tassie, but the minimum is £44K. My partner is worried about the cost of living in Aus, but I think things will balance out. We have some savings (not loads). My question is should I take this all of this over or leave it in the UK as the exchange rate is so poor? I suspect the pound will improve against the dollar a bit this year. I would leave it a few months. The pound is more likely to rise and the dollar is at its peak anyway. I doubt OZ could live with it any higher than it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tomwhite Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Its always a gamble, but I think the pounds will get stronger but it will take a while. If you can wait, I would suggest holding off a bit - you'll get stung with fees if you drip feed each time though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Stevebel Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Thanks for posting that link, Onabox. I've often seen people alluding to the fact that the Australian government will look to tax people on foreign currency gains, but that's the first time I've seen a credible reference. That might just be a show-stopper for me for as long as Sterling is as weak as it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junellew Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 I'm so confused now!! :eek: sorry to jump on your thread but same situtaion really. We have opened a money transfer account with commonwealth and plan to send our money over that way. We were going to do a couple of transfers though as we only want to take bare minimum in may when we go and try wait till the exchange is 2 to 1 for the rest, but scared of this talk of getting taxed on it in Oz though? (couldnt find the link? although i am useless!). Our transfer account seemed a real good deal. We can leave it in there for up to 6 weeks and then tell them the day we want to transfer and the fee is only £10 or something per transfer. However seeing stuff about Moneycorp now I wonder if we are doing the right thing? :arghh: Thought I had it all sussed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Avalook Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Thanks for posting that link, Onabox. I've often seen people alluding to the fact that the Australian government will look to tax people on foreign currency gains, but that's the first time I've seen a credible reference. That might just be a show-stopper for me for as long as Sterling is as weak as it is. I am sorry but I just can't agree that the link is a 'credible reference'. :wubclub: I think we are looking for problems when none exist, the example in the thread refers to a manufacture not an individual, we Poms are not manufactures or currency traders, our movement of money will be one way. If you leave money in the UK you declare the interest earned each year as income and bring the money out to Oz when you feel the time is right, as an individual there should be no further tax to pay and if the rate has fallen further you cannot claim tax relief from a currency loss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 I am sorry but I just can't agree that the link is a 'credible reference'. :wubclub: I think we are looking for problems when none exist, the example in the thread refers to a manufacture not an individual, we Poms are not manufactures or currency traders, our movement of money will be one way. If you leave money in the UK you declare the interest earned each year as income and bring the money out to Oz when you feel the time is right, as an individual there should be no further tax to pay and if the rate has fallen further you cannot claim tax relief from a currency loss. Yes, that's right, only people running a business trading currencies will be charged tax on gains - as private people, you are not running a business trying to make money out of currency transfers. Tax is charged in the UK and Aus on income and capital gains - ie earned bank interest, income from employment, sale of investment property (but not your main house), shares etc. The only thing to add to Les's comment is that once you are resident in Aus, your income is taxed on all sources, wherever it is earned, ie your UK bank interest should be declared over here. But you get a tax credit for the amount that you paid in the UK against your Aus liability. Hope that makes sense!! Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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