dedmeet

Hi,

I am moving to Australia (application pending on a 138 visa), and have reported this fact to the company I work for in the UK.

As it happens, the company wants to expand business into Australia (already selling our products on their version of QVC), and the news of my move was actually taken as a plus by the company.

They now want to plan their move into Australia to coincide with my move, and have me work at or manage (not clear on that one yet) the new branch in Australia.

So, my worry is about the rules concerning living in Australia, but being paid/employed by an offshore uk based company (My salary will be paid from the UK based company, in pounds)

Anyone done this, and what would the pitfalls be? Do I need to do any additional paperwork, or application to have this done ?

Looking at the pound - australian dollar conversion, I figure if I get paid in pounds, I would be better off (had a look at comparative salaries for my type of work in australia, and the pound based salary is way higher), but what about tax, etc etc.

Anyone be able to point me to some information on the web about this type of scenario, or better yet, someone on this list do this ?

Any suggestions/help would be highly appreciated.

If it matters, I am in the IT sector, and work as a Systems Programmer. Might the ACS have an issue with this being paid from abroad ?

So many questions, hope someone can help.

Discovery

Get an Australian Business Number (ABN). You will need to declare your earnings to the Australian Tax Office at end of the financial year. I have a contract with ex UK employer to provide Financial IT services. I bill the company monthly and get paid in pounds to my UK Bank account.

dedmeet

Great, thank you.

That seems pretty straight forward then. Off to research the ABN details.

koalakim

Hi Dedmeet

What a great opportunity!

It's no problem, I work freelance for a couple of people in the UK so all they do is pay into my UK account. Then you have the option of transferring it over to an Oz one.

As far as the ACS is concerned they are just concerned with your skill set, not who's employing you or how you are getting paid.

As far as tax is concerned, for anyone in the ATO's eyes all worldwide income has to be declared in Oz. So finish up your tax situation in the UK and then just do all your earnings and tax via Oz. If you did end up paying tax in the UK (i.e. on the account your wages goes into) then the UK and Aus have an agreement so you don't pay tax twice.

Hope this helps and good luck!
Kim

gidxg03

Were en route to Ox at the moment (in Singapore, leaving for Melbourne tonight). My wife works for an Irish company and will be keeping her job, working from home. Weve been put in touch with a tax specialist in Melbourne and they tell us that as Oz has a tax treaty with Ireland (and I'm sure they do with the UK as well) if the tax paid in Ireland is the same or more she will pay no tax in Oz. Only if she would pay more in Oz will it be an issue, in which case she will pay the difference in Australian tax. Hope this helps.

Trevski

Hi
As long as you pay tax in either country then you are doing the correct thing by any tax man, we pay our tax in the uk on any income and that way we pay less tax and the ATO in oz are ok with that
all the best with your new life down under

dedmeet

Hi,

Thank you for the answers to all (sorry - the list had not actually notified me about posts (or I just forgot to subscribe )

All your answers cleared up any doubt about the tax rules.

2 weeks to go