Hot Dog

Hi there. Does anyone know of a financial advisor who has experience or specialises in emigration financial matters, e.g savings, taxation, allowances and money transfers to Oz.
Many thanks
Steve

Fardell

Depends which side of the (very large) ditch you are talking about. If you are talking about the UK, then have a search on the forums - one name that came up recently was Prism Expat (www.prismxpat). They advertise as having both UK and Australian tax experience - ask about fees up front though, they seemed a little pricy in terms of pension transfers.

If you are looking at Australian advice - have a look at www.exfin.com - you can make inquiries on line to financial planners, tax advers etc., etc.,. In any event, they provide quite a lot of information on Australian superannuation, transfers etc., which might be useful. Also ask about fees upfront, but I do get the impression that Aussie advisers are cheaper than there UK compadres (wouldn't be too difficult).

Alan Collett

Steve,

This may be of interest:
www.collettandco.com

Best regards.

Hot Dog

Thank you both! This has given me a few avenues to explore.
ATB
Steve

kellyjs

[QUOTE=Fardell]Depends which side of the (very large) ditch you are talking about. If you are talking about the UK, then have a search on the forums - one name that came up recently was Prism Expat (www.prismxpat). They advertise as having both UK and Australian tax experience - ask about fees up front though, they seemed a little pricy in terms of pension transfers.

PRICEY IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT!!!! Contacted these guys yesterday and they sent me a big long form to fill out..and charge £595 to offer advice!!!
Anyone know any other advisors they coudl reccomend?

Fardell

OK, good to know ... are you sure that's the total charge? Someone later mentioned (somewhere) that they charge a % of the amount transferred, which I find very hard to swallow ... whether it's 10K or 500K I would have thought the hours needed to process it would be the same!! If you are only transferring a pension, try an inquiry through www.exfin.com and ask them for an "all up" cost and see what the difference is. I have the distinct impression that Oz is cheaper for these sorts of things ... London is still not cheap :-)

Alternatively, you could wait till you got here and have a discussion with whatever superannuation fund you end up with.

Cheers

kellyjs

Thanks for the tips. My main worry is what to do with the proceeds from the sale of my house. I keep hearing about people being charged tax here, then tax again there. Someone said that the best way to do it is to leave your money in the UK account?

Fardell

Hi

If you have already sold your house in the UK prior to arriving then any capital gains tax will be payable in the UK - not in Australia. Basically, once you are resident in Australia you are liable for tax on your world wide income, with very few exceptions. Therefore, any interest or income derived in the UK will be taxable in Australia. However, you get a credit on your Australian tax for any tax paid in the Uk on income earnt there - not too tricky.

The tricky bit is the Australian tax treatment of things called "foreign investment funds" (FIF's). It's diabolical and can have you being taxed on unrealised capital gains made - some UK personal pensions, I believe, and certainly some investment and insurance bonds fall within the definition of FIF's. Equities and interest earning deposits don't. Worth looking into if you hold any unusual investments or personal pensions.