By the time we head back to the UK in 2008/9 my husband will have been contributing to a pension scheme here for 8 or 9 years. We don't know whether it is better to leave the funds here in Oz or move them back to the UK in some form.

He'll be 45 years old when we move back & had worked in the UK building up a pension (for a variety of employers) for 15 years or so prior to moving here. Also - what impact (if any) will Peter Costello's new tax break for pensioners have on the wisdom of taking funds out of Australia ?
We'll be dual citizens by then & will be keeping a house here in the medium term(if that makes any difference).

Anyone have any thoughts on this - layman's terms as much as possible as pleases as I'm bit of a financial dimwit - though OH may understand slightly more technical stuff !

I am no expert on this but am moving back as well so have read a few posts on this subject. I am under the impression that if you are a citizen you are not able to move your super out of Aus. Maybe there is someone out there who has already investigated this?

not an expert either, but I was under the impression that if you moved your pension to Australia, then you couldn't move it back. Hopefully someone in the know would be able to clarify this.

We never moved our UK pension over here so my question only really concerns the Australian portion (ie 8/9 years worth - although at a time when my husband has been more senior in his employment & therefore the contributions of a larger amount).

Pretty certain you can't take it out of Australia.

Once you become a citizen you will not be able to transfer your Aus pension to the U.K. I know this because we are moving back to the U.K. and have tried to do the same.

However if you are not yet a citizen you are allowed to transfer it to the U.K. altho' I think the tax implications are costly. It is worth getting in touch with your pensions agency to clarify.

We will continue to contribute to our Aus pensions from the U.K. since we don't have a choice in the matter.

We were allowed to move our superannuation funds to the UK as we were only ever temporary residents in Oz and we were able to prove that we were permanently relocating back to the UK (employer references). The total fund was taxed at 40% though, so it was a costly exercise. I dont believe that a citizen can transfer their pension fund, but I'm no expert and have picked this up from hearsay rather than research. I'm sure it can't be that difficult to find the answers online.

As far as I am aware, you cannot take your pension out of Australia if you are an Australian citzen, PR or New Zealand citizen.

Any Temp visa like working Holiday temp spouse or temp skills or like you can get all your super paid back to you. On the back of the boarding card when you depart Australia there is an web address and you can leave your e mail for the government to contact you to claim back your super.

If your an Australian Citizen no chance but I think if your a Perm res and you can prove your never come back you can get a refund. so people who take out citizenship then never come back to Australia like the going trend is. Is hard to prove that you need the money to fill the gap in the years missing from your UK pension.

Permanent residents *cannot* transfer their pension funds out of Australia. Please provide a reference from the ATO website if you want to suggest otherwise, as if people are deterred from taking citizenship for this reason, it could be serious misinformation.

I was told this question when i did a tax return a few years ago i will get the info when i see him in July. All i no is if you live outside Australia for more than 5 years your no longer a Perm res. and i think its a case of proving your no longer a perm res of Australia to get your money.

The internet is not the only source of information ATO dont put all the loop holes on its web site.

The problem is that as I understand it the legislation is phrased in terms of did you hold a "qualifying visa" while in Australia, and permanent visas are not qualifying.

Telling people that if they don't take citizenship they can have their pension is a pretty serious thing if it turns out to be untrue, so please try to show a reference (officially) that clearly demonstrates that what's on the ATO website is wrong.

Otherwise it's just hearsay.