Edwards family

I am keeping a couple of bank accounts open in the UK for rental income etc. Do you find it easy to manage your finances from the other side of the worlk ie. move money etc. This is one of my panics at the moment. We go in 3weeks and I am a nervous reck with all the things I have to do.

brissydeb

We will be doing the same but going to get my parents to be power of attorney. You could always use internet banking for transferring money.

Debbie

Red_V_Roger

Natwest & Abbey changed the account addresses to Oz no problems and send the statements to us here.

We changed everything to online banking and set up Ozforex exchange system. All works great no problems at all.

Much easier than speaking to somebody in India!

Pollyana

Manage the account over the internet, and use some lile www.tranzfers.com to move money between the countries if necessary. Very easy, been doing it that way for years
I'm with Lloyds and they have no problem with an Aussie address being on their files.

muffinoz

I've kept a UK account with Alliance & Leicester ... which I manage over the net ... they don't appear to have any probs with an Oz address ... and I've kept a UK credit card and reduced the limit ... it's useful for making online purchases from UK sites ... like M&S / Amazon as I've done for some Xmas pressies for UK folks this year ... obviously you don't get stung for exchange

Two other points

I did hear at one time that keeping a UK bank account was a sign that you were not committed to Aussie Citizenship and that it counted against you - I can't personally comment as we'll be going for C'ship next year ... no doubt someone else has experience here ...

If you keep a UK bank account and get interest on it ... you should declare it to the tax authorites here ... they take a dim view of tax evasion particularly if you are applying for C'ship

Cheers ... David

annqldau

If you had a UK bank account or not never cropped up in relation to citizenship rather how long you'd been here and what visa you were on and how that related to your application.

vgenburgos

Only issue I have had is online banking introducing card reader things required for certain transactions (in addition to the 4 different passwords required) and that being delivered to my parents as hadn't changed the address at that point - so had to wait for the card reader to be posted over here.

keijei

I've been here almost 6 years and been a Citizen since January this year and still have an account over there. I manage the account over there via online banking and wish I'd known about Ozforex and Transfez years ago, would have saved a small fortune with transaction fees.

Live and learn I guess.

Cheers, Kevin

SonicBird

I have a Barclays Current Account in the UK... it's easy to manage over the net... i have used ozforex to transfer money - and you can transfer upto 5000 quid over the phone with barclays into your aussie account as long as both accounts are in your name... easy.

I don't agree with people saying you're not committed if you keep a UK account - it's just convenient.. for UK purchases and if people wanna send you money for birthdays/xmas etc.. just dump it in the UK account!

Good luck with the move
Sonic

Centurion

You made that bit up didn't you.

You would have to a lot more than not declare a pitiful amount of interest on a tax return and even then get caught by some complete fluke and miracle. Its a civil debt and the likelihood of you having criminal charges brought against you is nil to nothing.

GaryKristensen

Tax evasion is tax evasion, regardless of the amount, and is a crime which could prevent you achieving citizenship.

The ATO are very efficient at looking into expat declarations, so I have been told, so it is best to be whiter than white.

Why chance a lost citizenship application for a few pence (cents) in interest declarations?

Alternatively, apply to the UK Tax Office to become exempt paying tax on UK income/savings/equities, so you only pay it in Oz, under their dual taxation agreement. This simplifies things.

It's all on the UK Tax Office website under dual taxation Australia (if you put that in as a search query).

Alternatively, speak to any good tax advisor or ato themselves.

Vanessa

We bank with St James Bank in the UK - however, it will not allow us to use internet banking if we change our address to Australia so we therefore use the OH's parent's address.

JAJ

Obviously every taxpayer has to decide how he or she is going to comply with taxation requirements but there is such a thing as "materiality" and realistically the ATO are not going to waste time and effort looking to see if your tax is wrong by a "few cents".

At the same time there is a threshold where they will look into things in more detail.

Do you think large corporations get their tax right down to the last dollar? Impossible to do so even if they try. Small errors may favour the taxpayer or the ATO, but they can't be engineered out.

JAJ

I've not heard of that bank before - maybe find a new one?

Caroline B

Have been here a year operating a LLoyds TSB account. Main issue is I cannot get interest paid gross of tax in UK (am on 457 Visa) despite being eligible as I earn under the tax threshold. Have to complete a UK tax return as I have a rental property in UK. But bank A/C is no problem and invaluable. Easy over the net to operate.
One thing I did do before I left is got visa debit cards renewed - they won't post them out here.