ABCDiamond

With the Australian system, you are almost certain to get a refund each year, as they overtax you each week !!

It's mainly correct about the tax agent, however they are covered by the tax payers signature confirming that all information on the return is correct.
So, technically, you have to check that he has filled it all in correctly !!
But then the agent has insurance to cover him if the ATO goes after him for his errors.

bob and ginnie

I can't disagree with jjonboy.
If your return isn't straightforward you either have the choice of seeing a tax agent for a hundred dollars or so, and get everything you're entitled to "claim" back in one big cheque . . .
. . . . or you do the bloody thing yourself, stuff it up, get the Australian Tax Office boys breathing down your neck and cop a nice hefty fine for non declaration of all income . . . if you're lucky!
At worse, you'll be paying heaps more to the Taxman for not getting everything you can "claim" for legally on your return because you didn't know about it!
The choice is simple!

Ceri

I use a chartered accountant , - Leggett and leggett ( what a name for an accountant eh? lol) at cannon hill .. been with them for years. I'ts well worth the money. There is less likely to be any mistakes than doing it yourself, plus I don't think it's worth the hassle of doing it yourself when there are thousands of tax agents/accountants in nearly every shopping centre here with competitive/reasonable prices.

cheers
P.s it's your responsibility - I had a letter off the state revenue saying pay this xxxx figure immediately - I did not declare one of my bank accounts interest ( high interest account) to my accountant ( damn they caught me out! ) - In the letter they said as I had no previous "convictions of this, they would not take any further action this time, but pay up in other words. So it will be you they prosecute if you do not declare things to your agent/accountant.

RichS

I asked my accountant about the UK rental situation last year.

the position is this.

Yes you will be asked to do a UK tax return for the IR and yes they will tax it as a business. The good news is that given the way it is taxed in the UK you should be able to pay 0 tax. At least thats how it worked out for me.

The bad news is that Australia will tax any profit you make at your marginal rate here (likely to be 40% +), so take advice and tread carefully.

Kiwipaul

Cannot help you with UK tax but if you are renting out your property in the UK you cannot claim it as a buisness unless it is owned by a company.

It's entered on the Sup Taxpack 2004 at question 19 as other foreign income source.
BEWARE at question 19 E you have to declare the total foreign income without any deductions (I got that wrong for the first 2 years and had to change my first 2 tax returns).

Any income not remitted you have to use the July 1 exchange rate.

One thing though if your income from the property exceeds your costs (rates, loan payments) can you use Australian depreciation rates on a UK property even though you cannot depreciate a house in the UK to reduce your Oz tax liability.

Beware I'm no tax expert just lots of experience.

cookies

It was somewhere in the stuff from Centrelink. We get some Family Tax Benefit Type B and they assessed our amount we get fortnightly on estimated worldwide income to 30 Jun 04. At the end of the tax year they want to see how much you actually earnt and they will either give us more or take some back!

Steve

ABCDiamond

The info I have is that your FBT payment is checked at the end of the year against your Income from your tax return, and this does not include your income prior to arriving in this country.

A new migrants tax year starts from the date they arrive, or become tax resident.

I agree that they will take worldwide income into account, but only from the date you become tax resident, as far as I am advised.

The problem is that unless it is clearly defined in writing, then it is unclear and open to different interpretations, even by different Centrelink staff.

Alan Collett

- Using a tax agent will give you more time to complete and lodge your Tax Return: if you lodge the Return on your own it must be with the ATO by 31st October following the end of the tax year. A tax agent will have more time to lodge the Return, which might be worth considering if you have a balance of tax to pay.

- A taxpayer with routine tax affairs (eg employed and with some interest income) probably doesn't need an accountant/tax agent. If he/she is looking for an accountant a "routine" High Street accountant (such as H & R Block) will probably provide all that is needed.

- A taxpayer that has more involved tax affairs (such as retained UK investments - meaning possible Foreign Investment Fund considersations - and real estate in the UK) should probably be looking for an accountant that has experience of the tax affairs of newly arrived migrants. I'm not certain that most High Street tax accountants have that knowledge.

Best regards.

Pollyana

Well, with no income from the UK coming in, and no investments or anything, I figure that I should be able to have a go at the online tax form. If I have a look now that gives me time to change my mind! The Bloke has always paid someone, but I object to paying till I've proved I can't do it myself!!

Next query then - I've got the year-end income thing from my present employers (group certificate I think they called it?). But before I went to them I worked for a temping agency. Is it correct that they send me a certificate of income as well? Do I need to contact them or does it just get sent?

DagBoy

The ATO is interested in your earnings from the moment you became a resident for tax purposes, so for the Aus return you can forget about the UK. Remember that you will almost certainly count as a UK tax resident for the whole of the UK tax year in which you left, though if you left early enough in the year then you can get split year treatment. There is a hideous form from the inland revenue that asks all sorts of questions to determine your residency/ordinary residency and domicile. If you paid tax in the UK for the last few months you were there and it was the start of the UK tax year, then you will almost certainly be due a refund.

Cheers,

DagBoy

(none of this is proper advice etc. yadda yadda ask someone who knows)

darkless

Income from a property in the UK has been mentioned, but how do the UK IR and the ATO view earnings from a) the ongoing sale of a software product in the uk when resident in OZ and b) Ongoing web development work for UK customers but again resident in OZ.

I really hope that some double taxation scenario isnt going to be appropriate.

Anyone any experience / knowledge of this.

When I am in OZ I will get a taxation agent, but just trying to find out the situation myself first

Cheers
Dave

Pollyana

I claimed the UK tax refund when I left - they were very quick too. Thats how we paid for our inexpensive little wedding! Good to know I can forget all about the Inland Revenue now.

RichS

darkless - it will and it does. The ATO will be limbering up to slam you for 48.5% from the day you start off as "Resident in Australia for tax purposes".

There will be ways round this...or at least ways to limit your exposure. I suggest getting advice prior to arrival. You might even want to shift the company offshore.

Alan Collett

- You don't pay tax at 48.5% on all your income

- As a general rule, if a company is managed and controlled by an Australian resident the profits are taxed in Australia

- The use of family trusts by those involved in businesses is prevalent in Australia as a means of sheltering profits at lower rates of tax

Best regards.

ABCDiamond

If you set it up correctly, then no tax will be paid in the UK. All tax will then be assessed in Australia.

Australian Tax rates

If it's a profitable business, then a good accountant may be able to help you.

A "standard" Australian Taxation agent "may" not be much use, if your business is more complex than "salary and wages"