The Buzzards

After reading several forums it appears that the 457 visa has a bad reputation!! Can anyone advise me why as that's what we will be applying for. Also where can i find details out about tax issues - concerned about the amount of tax I will pay on the equity from house sale?

JAJ

Read post #7 on this thread:
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=399509

What kind of tax? Income tax or capital gains tax? And in which country - UK or Australia?

The Buzzards

Capital Gains I guess - going to sell house in Uk to move to Perth and just wondered if I transfer the money to Oz bank account how do i get taxed. thanks

JAJ

Why would Capital Gains Tax be levied on transferring your own money from one place to another? That's a capital transfer.

The capital gain arises in the UK (if you sell before you leave) but the principal private residence is normally exempt.

Are you sure about selling your house in the UK if you are going to Australia on a temporary visa? If you can't get permanent residence you will have to go home.

The Buzzards

NO NOT SURE!! Have a gorgeous house in a lovely part of the UK although since having our 1st child have outgrown the house a tad so would be looking to move to somewhere bigger anyway. Thought that if we rented it for 12 months but loved Oz and decided to stay it would be nightmare trying to sell the place from the other side of the world so would probably be best to sell up and use the interest to pay rent in oz to start off with. If we decided to return to UK would just buy somewhere else. Don't know much about tax just read on another forum that you can lose up to 48% of your equity when transferring to Oz which panicked me slightly! Thanks for your advice. At very early stages at the moment so investigating the 457 visa as ambulance service say after 2 years they would support us in gaining residency but not sure how easy this is.

JAJ

Be careful. A job offer in itself isn't enough for permanent residence. And often, it's possible to get permanent residence straight away if employer is willing to sponsor (which is often a problem itself).

Download and read migration booklet 5.

Bix

Here
http://www.dimia.gov.au/allforms/booklets/1131.pdf