AJRussell

Taxable Government Payments, this is Australian Income right, I dont have to declare my Salary income from the UK before moving to Australia?

There is a foreign income section - but I am reading into this to be income from foreign sources such as rentals..

Confusing..

denzil73

You are correct. If you live/reside in country A yet work in country B then you have to pay taxes only to country A as this is where you live. Hence if you have foreign investments like property then technically you have to declare this to the tax office of the country you live in. Altho, you can quite easily not declare the overseas income but that's another matter entirely

As you weren't a resident of Australia when drawing salary in the UK then you do not have to declare the monies earnt there.

If you declare UK savings to Centrelink then they will not give you payment until you have spent most of your savings. Same as if you had savings in Oz. If, however, you live off credit then Centrelink will help you out straight away

AJRussell

Thanks, I had assumed that was the case, as I was earning that money when I was not a resident. I read it to be if I was still earning whilst a resident!

There are other questions as well as if this is my partners first job since giving birth, technically no, but Yes in Australia? I'm not trying to play the system.. but she's not working and if were technically entitled to it, I'd take the chance to get what I can towards a deposit!

No Savings, most has been spent during the move! So very little to declare

I'm going to call CentreLink tomorrow about some of the grey areas..

denzil73

Use a landline to call them and hopefully a handsfree set with speaker phone cos you can be on hold for over an hour easy.

Be careful how you answer things like the wifes job question tho as this is something they can easily check, unlike overseas earnings etc, and as such if they find you gave false imformation then you will be done for fraud.

KJCherokee

Not sure this is totally correct. I have worked overseas (Bangladesh, Myanmar, Philippines, Saudi Arabia) for local subsidiaries of an Australian company and in all cases I was paid in the country I worked in with local tax taken out: the after tax amount was paid directly into my Australian bank account and no Australian tax was payable on it as it had been taxed at source (except in Saudi where there is no income tax: in that case the project was Austrade approved which meant the ATO didn't get involved!).

Mind you, this was between 1997 and 2000: the rules may have changed by now.

AJRussell

I became a PR and landed in Australia 9th January 2014.

So I dont believe I have to declare earnings from other countries whilst not being and before being a Australian resident for tax purposes?

ABCD......

It is not totally straightforward

On assessing SOME benefits, Centrelink do take account of your Income for the FULL financial year, whether overseas or not, even for new arrivals. I have mentioned the unfairness of this before, as they use your prior overseas income to assess estimated annual income, (specifically for FTB), as opposed to averaging out your Australian income for the year. This was valid a couple of years ago, but may have changed, although I doubt it.

Also note:

How to estimate your income
The income you need to tell us about is your and your partner’s (if you have one) adjusted taxable income. Adjusted taxable income for family assistance purposes is:

taxable income,etc... PLUS

any foreign income that is not taxable in Australia
any tax-exempt foreign income under section 23AF and 23AG of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936
http://www.humanservices.gov.au/cust...ncome-estimate

denzil73

The whole thing does get rather grey with the words live and reside. All countries view this differently for tax purposes. I was simplifying things for the OP and his situation.

You are right in a manner of speaking as WHV people get taxed here and get none of it back unless they become a resident under ATO definitions which are different to Immi in some respects so it does get rather confusing.

If you are paid in local currency then generally you have to pay the local taxes and may or may not get them back upon leaving said country and depending on this you'll either have to pay Oz tax or not. If you worked overseas but were paid in your main place of residence currency into your normal bank account then you'd only pay tax in place of residence and not place of work.

Simple but confusing at the same time

KJCherokee

When working overseas I was paid in US$ paid into my Australian account. My employment contract guaranteed me an after-tax amount: local income tax was paid on top of this by my employer. The money that went into my Australian account was not taxed by the ATO.

ABCD......

It might have been if you had declared it Depending on residency status..

If you remain an Australian resident while working overseas, you must declare your worldwide income in your Australian tax return, even if tax was taken out in the country where you earned the income.

As an Australian resident you are taxed on your worldwide income, including your income from interests in foreign entities, renting overseas properties, and selling overseas assets. If you have paid tax on this income in another country, you can claim a foreign income tax offset in Australia.

northernbird

That has changed now. If you are resident for tax purposes then all overseas earnings are taxable in Australia.

ABCD......

The one thing with the Australian tax system is:

if you do NOT declare the income, you do NOT pay tax..

BUT...

If the ATO find out later.... they come after you for: tax, penalties, fines and anything else they can think of.

gregster10217

Hope you don't mind me jumping on this thread.

My wife and I landed in Australia on 9th March, 2014 and have now applied to Centrelink for FTB (and maybe rent assistance if deemed suitable). When completing the form, I have estimated all of our income for the financial year 1st July 2013, to 30th June, 2014 including UK income. Have I done the right thing?
I was not a resident of Australia for tax purposes before 9th March, and paid income tax on our earnings in the UK to HMRC. Should I have just estimated my earnings (wife is not working in Australia currently and won't be before the end of the financial year) between 9th March and 30th June 2014?
Don't know if I can change it now, it might seem like we're tying to deceive them if we do.
Thanks

ABCD......

What you did is correct according to Centrelink (Dept of Human Services) rules.
All income for the financial year 1st July 2013, to 30th June, 2014, including income earned while living overseas, is needed for FTB claims.

gregster10217

Thanks ABCD