Philhowe

Hi,

I guess many of us with plans to move to Australia in the short term are viewing the currency markets with interest and a little foreboding.

I know there are tax implications in the form of capital gains taxes to be paid, however I am not sure when these apply. I have a couple of questions based on the following scenario.

We plan to move to Queensland sometime soon, house sold, exchange date to be agreed. We will rent initially to get settled and then look to buy a property or have one built. The full proceeds from the house in the UK do not need to be exchanged into AUS $ straight away, given the dropping rate I would prefer to wait. I have looked into forward contracts, but not at the current rate. I can wait a while to see how things go.

Here are my questions:

1. Is there a time period where the UK transfer can take place without CGT being applied (a bit like the pension transfer window)

2. What have you done to maximise the value of your UK pound


Thanks in advance,

Phil

GinaUK

In the scenario you outlined above, there is no CGT payable.

Bought a forward contract a few weeks ago when the rate briefly went up to $2.5.

Get registered with a couple of reputable companies (HiFX, OzForex) and ask them to get in touch with you as soon as the rate hits $x (whatever you'd be happy with). Then buy a forward contract. Although the contract will obviously have a date when you pay over the money, we were told if we don't have the money on that date (if house sale falls through) we can just roll forward the contract at no extra cost and still get $2.5.

Gina

Philhowe

Hi Gina,

Thanks for the info, do you have any idea how long the forward contracts allow before the balance is paid?

Phil

lindy_thom

Hi everyone,

I truly can not stress enough how much currency finder helped me. No disrespect to anyone on BE but it all seems to be one track minds on here! We see the same questions being asked over and over again with the same answers being HIFX or OZForex- has anyone else actually spoke to any other company?

Do yourself a favour and shop around, www.currencyfinder.co.uk search everyone and find you the VERY best rate! Don't get me wrong stick with the 2 companies that people have mentioned, but I like saving money- DO YOU?

quercus

Thanks for the link, i've bookmarked it. Q

steve`o

we used the commonwealth bank and with them its six months

http://www.migrantbanking.co.uk/movi...eign_exchange/

Philhowe

Cheers, very handy....

Phil

GinaUK

You decide when you set it up. But as I said if you can't pay on the date, you just roll it forward.

In our case, we decided to set it for 16 October because we hope to have the money from the house sale by then. But if the house sale gets delayed, we can roll the contract forward. There is no charge for it and we've been told the exchange rate stays the same.

Gina