hevs

I wasn't trying to ignore a tax issue, just trying to cut down on the seemingly endless, massive pile of paperwork that i have to do already before leaving the country. I am self employed and have had to do end of year, and cessation and all other forms you could think of. Hence sorting out the transfer of a crappy, money loosing pension is not priority! But thanks for the advice, as ever

cruisey

I read somewhere that if your family's combined pensions are worth less than a certain amount, or they are company sponsored you are exempt from the FIF tax implications. Is that true???

Cheers,

C.

Alan Collett

Yes, if the value of your and your "associates" (as defined) FIFs plus Australian resident unit trust holdings is less than A$50,000 you can qualify for the small investor exemption.

There is also an exemption from the FIF Rules for employer sponsored superannuation funds.

What is unclear is which exemption applies first. For example, if you have employer sponsored super funds with a value of A$40,000 and (say) an endowment policy with a value of A$20,000, is the endowment policy exempt from the FIF Rules?

I have sent a letter to the ATO asking for guidance on this issue, and I will put a news item on the Go Matilda site in due course.

Note also that the FIF Rules are separate from section 27CAA - the former can affect you if you leave your pension funds and investments outside Australia while the latter only affects pension transfers into Australia.

Best regards.

cruisey

Cheers Alan. I'd be really interested to know what the ATO say. If you let us know I'd be really grateful.

Thanks for your help.

C.