PJK

Moving to Aus on a three year secondment but being employed by a UK company but with an Australian PR visa.

While I am working for a UK company do I need to pay Aussie tax or UK tax

Any help would be appreciated

PJK

melbournehelp

Ask your company.
It is my understanding that any income you earn in Oz is taxable.

Don

Assuming you're a UK citizen but tax resident in Aus:

You pay Aus tax on your worldwide income;

You pay UK tax on your UK income (eg rental income, bank interest etc).

The fact that you'll be employed by a UK company is pretty much irrelevant. But get them to pay your NI contributions up to date whilst you're in Aus. Learn about tax treaty.

JAJ

The fact he's a UK citizen is fairly irrelevant for tax purposes. He can keep the UK personal allowance which normally means there is little or no UK tax to pay unless income there is significant.

If going on a three year secondment, it's definitely worth looking at Australian citizenship after two years residence.

Jeremy

ABCDiamond

A secondment sounds like you are being transferred to the Australian Branch. Will this branch be paying your wages locally in A$ ? If so - Australian Tax only applies.

or,
Will you be paid in £ into a UK bank account ? UK tax will probably then apply, but, as a Resident, the Australian Tax office will be interested in your Total Worldwide income. They should however, offset the UK tax against tax due here, with you just paying the difference.

bondipom

What about pounds into an Jersey/Guernsey account? Only Oz tax would be applicable then. I guess someone like Alan would have to confirm that.

Alan Collett

What does your contract of employment say about where duties are to be performed? My feeling is that if you are working in Australia for a prolonged period you will be considered to be tax resident in Australia and therefore your income from the UK will be assessable in Australia.

In this scenario your employer should liaise with the PAYE section at the Inland Revenue to obtain their agreement that the duties are performed outside the UK so that a suitable No Tax Coding applies to the salary you are being paid.

If you (or your employer) need any more formal assistance please let me know ...

Best regards.

PJK

Hi Alan

Thanks for your reply. My employers make no mention of where I should pay tax in my contract. I am being seconded to Asia but said I would rather base myself in Perth for family reasons however I will be leaving Perth often to fly to Asia particularly Singapore and occasisonally UK and Germany for meetings. The family will stay almost the whole time in Perth but most of my actual work i.e. seeing customers etc. will be outside Australia. However by coincidence I also have an Australian PR visa (so do the family) so should I not be paying Australia?

It seems the Australian tax is much higher than the UK tax

Any info you have would be much appreciated

PJK

Alan Collett

PJK,

I doubt the contract would say where you will pay tax, but where your duties are required to be performed will be important in determining whether you have a liability to UK PAYE.

I'd be asking your employer to ask the company's accountants for their considered view as to how they should be dealing with your salary under UK tax law.

In Australia I remain of the view (based on what I've read thus far), that you would be tax resident in Australia, and therefore your salaried income would be assessable in Australia. I would also recommend that you discuss this more fully with an Aussie accountant, and if you want the name of one of my business partners who deals with such matters please send me an email.

Best regards.