Sharpy67

I will be opening a bank account as soon as I arrive in Brisbane and have a residential address. Does anyone know what I need paperwork/reference wise to open an account and roughly how long it will take? I will be starting a job as soon as I arrive and need to arrange an account for my wages to be paid into. Do I need to get a tax number before I open the account? I am under the impression that if I have an account before I have registered as a tax resident, the account will be hit quite heavily with regard tax.
Thanks in advance
regards
Nick

cherry6

We opened our bank account with Challenge Bank in 1997 whilst on holiday, we just showed our passports and something with our address on. We did not have TFNs at the time, and I dont think we have ever told the bank them.
The account was opened instantly if I remember rightly (it was a few years back mind).

PaulDClark

Had to do a 100 point check at my local HSBC, First Direct got the forms from HSBC london. We filled them in got a bankers draft and sent them to HSBC. This was Christmas eve, haven't heard anything back from them yet.

100 Point check was a combination of Passport, Drivers Lic and existing credit card but it must your full name. The forms explain in all. If you do this with HSBC a KYC is a Know Your Customer interview, and is completely irrelevant to the UK, it caused a lot of confusion at the time as its a checkbox an HSBC employee has to tick...

ABCDiamond

This web page 100 Point Check will tell you exactly what you need for all banks.

But briefly:
Passport = 70 points
Drivers Licence = 40 points (Overseas or OZ)
Credit Card = 25 points per bank. ie: Barclays card & HSBC card = 50 points


Tax on Interest will be deducted without a TFN, but it is offset at the end of tax year against tax payable and refunded if applicable.

Your employer will want your TFN anyway, so you will need to apply as soon as you can.

Jirrupin

We joined with HSBC, we tried to do it in Uk but it got very complcated. When we arrived we walked into the bank and all we needed was our passports they are valued at 100 points up to six weeks of your arrival in the country. We didn't have our TFN at the time but did need to give these to the bank as they would have had to deduct 48% tax on any interest if we didn't.

Philanthropist5

you can open an account whilst still in the uk with Commonwealth bank of Australia, contact them on 020 7710 3990. They will open you an account in Brisbane which you activate when you arrive.

bondipom

You will be lucky to find a transaction account that pays enough interest to be taxed on. The TFN can be handed over at a later date.

Elaine M

Do you know if there's a minimum amount you need to deposit in this account?

Also, can you nominate any branch in Australia as your branch for when you arrive?

I'm thinking about opening an account now to activate on my validation trip next month and would probably use my sister's local branch and give her home address as that's where I'll be staying, at least for a while, when I emigrate.

Can anyone foresee any problems with this?

Thanks,

Elaine

Philanthropist5

Having trawled the docs from CBA i cant find any ref to a min balance.

they do ask you to nominate a oz branch,in our case Queen st. Brisbane.

It is one more thing you can do before leaving as you are able to use your uk ID and credit history before you lose it and have to start again in oz.

If you give them a ring they will send you a migrant info pack including stuff on movers and flights.

I don't know how cba rank in oz against the other banks, i hear all banks charge for just about every kind of transaction, but its somewhere to start.

hope it helps

ABCDiamond

CBA were not very good for Mortgages for a new arrival a few years ago.