joho

We have recently sold our house in the UK, 1 year after arriving in OZ and 1 year since buying it (we bought our buyers house as the chain collapsed, it was smaller and cheaper than ours and reeased £50k funds to come). It is our only house and we didn't make any money on it which was not our intention anyway. We rented it our for the year and made approx $600 profit for the year which we have declared. The money is due to hit our oz account tomorrow $137k. Will someone contact us to find out where the money came from. Or do we need to let someone know. Any help appreciated.

Jo

Bix

This thread is sinking too low without response.

Jo, I am not sure but will give you my opinion so hopefully someone else can confirm.

You were in the UK when you bought the house so that date has no relevance.

I think you have 6 months from selling the house to bring over the money free of any Australian tax.

marco121068

I'd say the safest bet is to contact an accountant.

Bix

That would cost money.
May as well contact the ATO for free.

marco121068

True.

Just re-reading it - my gut feeling is that there MAY be some form of CGT to pay as it wasn't their 'main' residence (unless you can nominate it retrospectively).

As such - there could be tax to pay on the difference between what they paid for it (converted to AUD on the day they landed in Oz) and what they got for it (again in AUD).

As Bix said - www.ato.gov.au

spalen

Its actually - the difference between the value of the asset on the day you became tax resident in Aus - to the time of realising that asset (selling it).

Since UK House market has been rpetty stagnant for 6mths this should be little if any.

tax_bloke

Jo

All Australian authorised deposit taking financial institutions are obliged to report any monetary transaction above $10k. You do not have to do anything.

As the funds are from investment sources there may be forex currency implications.

As the property was never a residence for you there may also be capital gains tax implications. Unfortunately tax law is not so straight-forward that you can simply nominate a property retrospectively as a main residence - certain factors have to be satisfied.

Best see an accountant.

TB

marco121068

That's what my brain told me to write - no idea why my fingers didn't hit the right keys!

joho

Thanks for the replies, we did live in it for 1 week . It was not bought as an investment, merely a way to get over quicker in a fragile market. We paid £172k for it in April 05, we spent £1500 putting in a new kitchen in that week (i know it was hard work) knowing it would make life easier to sell later on and sold it in April 06 for £175k. No profit at all but a loss if you take into account the kitchen, fees and stamp duty so I am not concerned about the CGT, just want to do the right thing. We dont own a property in Oz.

Jo

MartinLuther

If you have got proof that you lived in it and it was your main residence then:
- From a UK point of view there would be no CGT as you sold within the last 3 years (even though it was rented).
- If you are renting in Aus then there is no CGT again as Aus gives you 6 years after you move out.
- If you bought in Aus then there may be CGT to pay - but contact the ATO and get a private ruling.

I would do this yourself - with my experience of accountants here (and in the UK) you are unlikely to find one that knows what s/he's doing in this area. (Why pay someone to screw it up for you when you can screw it up yourself for free )

The 6 months mentioned above is a myth and applies only to pension transfers (sorry Bix - not trying to be rude ).

Bix

Absolutely no problem ML.

Thanks for the correction and the valuable info