Hi,
We will have about £25,000 to invest in a high interest account over in Oz.If we put it all in my name and I don't work and don't pay tax,will it be tax free as it is over here?

As I understand it, until you get a tax number over there, you lose 10% of interest in tax

Dont know about the tax, but I did see that the ING bank in Oz gives over 5.8% !! on internet savings accounts.

Might be worth looking at. I was planning on doing the same for emergency back up.

www.ingdirect.com.au

Earning a high fixed interest rate is straight forward with ING DIRECT term deposits.

There are no bank fees to pay (apart from the usual government charges), so you get to keep every dollar of interest your money earns. Plus, there's no minimum deposit needed to receive the high fixed interest rates.

savings maximizer
1 year: 6.20% p.a.
2 year: 6.20% p.a.
3 year: 6.20% p.a.
4 year: 6.25% p.a.
5 year: 6.25% p.a.

Rates as at 1 September 2006.

Bank of Western Australia - 6.6%.

Best savings account on the market. Works the same as ING in UK/Aus, just a much better rate.

http://www.abetterdeal.com.au/TeleNet_Saver/index.asp

Opened ours last week, very easy.....

your location says sheffield and i know you're not there any more

Commonwealth Netbank Saver is giving 5.85%. As long as you have a TFN then the interest is not taxed at source, but if the yearly total takes you over the tax free threshold then you will need to pay tax. If you do not have a TFN the interest is taxed at source.

thanks everyone!

Tax rates 2006-07

$0 – $6,000
Nil

$6,001 – $25,000
15c for each $1 over $6,000

$25,001 – $75,000
$2,850 plus 30c for each $1 over $25,000

$75,001 – $150,000
$17,850 plus 40c for each $1 over $75,000

Over $150,000
$47,850 plus 45c for each $1 over $150,000


So - if you stick your £25000 ($62500 assuming 2.5 exchange rate) in BankWest at 6.6% (for the first year) you will earn interest of $4125 i.e under the tax threshold. If you re-invest your interest back into the same account obviously it will earn slightly more than this.

Netta

These interest rates make a mockery of the interest applied to AoS Bonds for 138 visa holders. The Commonwealth (the only bank that deals with AoS Bonds...) apply an interest rate of approx 2%.

Just enough interest is gained to cover the costs of the $AUD150 'admin fee' they charge to set up the account.....

Unless your lucky enough to not have a mortgage then (IMO) there's no point having a high interest account, anyone with a mortgage would be much better to have this savings amount offset against the mortgage, it would then effectively earn the same rate as your mortgage rate (which is likely to be higher than any high interest account) plus theres no tax element to worry about as it effects you by reducing your monthly mortgage payment rather than give you a lump in interest.

we have ours with Westpac, theres a couple of variants, Rocket Repay Home loan with offset I think ours is called.