gavbut

Hello, Had a worrying thought about the possibility of the money I hope to take over to NZ from the sale of my house in England being taxed by NZ Govt. This would alter plans a little bit. Can someone give me the facts? Thanks..

Don

There's no capital gains tax for NZ residents.

If you sell your principal personal residence just before leaving UK, there's no CGT to pay in UK either. If you sell it after you become non-resident, and if you stay away 5 complete UK tax years there is no UK CGT.

If you rent it for a while before selling it, best read the UK rules - you can probably still manage to avoid CGT if you time it right (within 3 years of going non-resident or after 5 complete tax years is the rule of thumb).

St George Six

HI,
If you bring your money to NZ and buy a house you pay no tax. If you bring your money over and put it in the bank, you will be taxed on the interest. If you are non resident and don't stay more than 180 days you pay a flat 10%, however if you go over 180 or are resident you will be taxed at 39% on intrest at source and you would have to claim any tax owed back from IRD.
Remember you can still use off- shore banking tax free.

Chers Kev.

GetMeOutOfHere

Kev could you explain this offshore banking lark?

Are there any risks involved?

Thanks in advance.

PS. How you settling into the NZ lifestyle?

St George Six

Hi Darren,

Anyone can open up a off-shore account, Jersey is a good option, it takes a couple of weeks and if you use someone like Abbey, you can go through you local branch. Most accounts are for sterling, US Dollar or Euro. Advantage no tax paid on savings, although UK interest rate not good, you would be lucky to get 3 %. But it is a good place to hold money until you decide to change some all all to NZ Dollars or buy house etc or if you rent house in UK put your money Off Shore.
As for NZ we have been here since October, the family has settled well, we have house, car, live in a very nice area but we are all very home sick, we have no family in NZ and it was very hard over Xmas (probably not a good time to come). Anyway we have decided to give ourselves a year to see how we feel and enjoy our time here. NZ is a beautiful place, but at the moment it is not home and you can feel very isolated 12000 miles from home as e-mail and telephone calls are not the same although help. I hope your move is going well.

Cheers Kev.

theguitardoctor

Hi Kev,

As you know we gave up in the end after hitting too many NZIS rules....I'm in Pittsburgh with my brother, and the wife has gone back to the UK. She suffered from exactly what you are suffering from which made our intention to stay more one sided as I wanted to remain in NZ whilst she missed her family too much. Happy to say she is a lot more settled back home. We arrived at the same time as you, but after the hospitalisation of my wife, the loss of a job ofer and the problems I came up against with my LTBV, we decided to can the whole thing and just do a tour. Christmas was miserable and I agree, nothing can replace your friends and family at this time. I'd definitely give it a year if you can hold out though as you may come back and think "what if......"

all the best, Rich.

St George Six

Hi Rich,
I hope things are more settled for you now, yes we will give it a year, at least we would have lived in another country and seen things that the children and us will have never got to see. We have found NZ to be very friendly and a great place for the children. We will make the most of our time here, and decide later this year. I agree with you my wife is more home sick and I would probably give it longer. It also dosn't help that I have a well paid job to go back to in the UK, we lived in a pretty part of England and life was good, so the draw to go back is strong. However we do not regret for one moment the adventure we have undertaken and feel very privileged to have had the oportunity to have done it. Who knows we may stay and its not a bad place to make a decision, watch this space.

All the Best Kev.

theguitardoctor

Definitely get to see places like the Coromandel, Napier and Hastings, New Plymouth and acroos the water to Kapiti Island...when they say choose a track to climb to the top of the island...beware, the steep track is steep !!! We saw many a person give up on the way to the top. It's worth the effort though if you go on a clear day....from the top you can see Mt Taranaki and the South Island. It was a different way to spend my 35th birthday for sure.

If you do come back, at least you can say you gave it a shot.

all the best, Rich