Alan Collett

Some might be interested:
http://www.gomatilda.com.au/news/art...?articleid=302

Best regards.

seang

certainly food for thought Alan. Was unaware that this could happen.

yvsie

hi alan,

just a quickie....we arrived here in sept 03.exchange rate approx 2.4.
we now have been given £5,000...money still in uk..most of which my mum owed us and some which she gave us..due to brothers death 2002.

our earnings since arrival have been minimal...less than $20,000 anyway....

i just presumed that the tax office want to know of these funds that we are bringing over before end june anyway..and count them as income??...is this right???..if so would we owe some tax on the money we bring over????

does that make sense??

thanks again

ps...i dont understand jargon....if you answer can you put it in lay mans terms...bit thick when it somes to all this!!!

Alan Collett

Nope, the funds received (ie the £5,000) aren't assessable income - they are a gift of capital. It is the increase in the value of the £5k in A$ terms that is assessable.

Best regards.

Ozbound7

Who has to be notified in advance and how?

Cheers

OzTennis

Alan

I think I know the answer to this!

Hypothetical situation - should the exchange rate have moved in the other direction, would the ATO 'compensate' those affected eg by allowing losses due to E/R movements to be set off against income?

BTW The Cats are doing a lot better this year, alas to the detriment of the Bulldogs last Sunday!

OzTennis

Salli

Alan,
thanks for that info...I wonder if you could offer a bit more detail.

My husband and I are going to validate our visas in November and then move to Oz in Feb next year. We are just about to set up Oz bank accounts now.

My questions are:

1) If we move money now but don't move to Oz until Feb, are we ok as far as tax goes or could we end up paying some?

2) Does it make a difference if we get our tax file number in November or February? Does it make a difference in respect of tax that would be paid on money, but also on anything else....just not sure if we should get it in November or wait til Feb.

Thanks for your help,

Salli

yvsie

thanks alan.

..so now that the exchange rate is 2.6 ish and was 2.4 ish when we came..its the difference...ie 5,000x 0.2 = 1,000
...so we would be assessed on that amount..what would the tax rate be?????....30% ish???


just trying to work it out thats all...i know i know..we need to get an accountant maybe for this yr...seeing as its our first year end here!!!!........:scared:

Alan Collett

No-one needs to be notified (I assume you are referring to the election to disregard balances totalling less than A$250k).

You prepare an election in the prescribed form and retain it with your tax records in case of future need (ie a tax audit).

Best regards.

Alan Collett

Actually ... if there is an exchange loss the new rules allow you to claim it as a tax deduction - which is a change from the old rules when exchange gains and losses were dealt with under the CGT regime.

And it's good to see you acknowledging the Cats win over the Doggies last weekend OzT! Looks like we might make the 8 this year ...

Best wishes.

Alan Collett

I'm sure you're not alone - which is one reason why I was surprised at the result of the poll I posted last week:
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...hreadid=233155

Best regards.

Alan Collett

This is an issue of your tax residency Salli, as until you are tax resident in Australia you aren't affected by these provisions.

Based on your email I would expect you to become tax resident when you make the move to Australia, and not on your validation trip.

I would defer obtaining a TFN until you move to Australia, as doing so earlier infers that you consider you are assessable to Aussie tax from that earlier date.

Best regards.

Alan Collett

That looks about right yvsie, save only to say that the rate of tax will depend on what we accountants call your marginal rate of tax - in other words the rate of tax you pay on your next $1 of assessable income. This will be 30% if the $1,000 is considered to be the top slice of your income and falls into the 30% tax band.

Best regards.

brisnick

well that's just great. the rate was closer to 2.9 when i became a tax resident, but i doubt i could claim the difference as an offset now.

i left money (albeit less than au$40,000) in the uk so i had money there for when i went back for visits, etc.

but i was looking at bringing it all over here so i can put it down as deposit on a house. but now the bloody howard government are going to penalise me even though i've lost money by not bringing it all over when i became a tax resident.

b*stards!

Alan Collett

Errr ... no, I think you'll find that you can claim a tax deduction if you have lost money in A$ terms. Talk to your accountant, or to my CA colleague in Brisbane John Griffiths on 07 3833 3999 or john - at - gmga - dot - com - dot - au

Best regards.