Allowances/Wages
Wages are comprised of a base hourly rate and appropriate ODTA ADTA,some overtime and long range pay.Allowances received overseas are considered(for tax purposes) to be fully expended.As a result they do incur a less than 1%tax penalty...They are not wages.When applying for a mortgage they cannot be taken into account nor are they superannuable.You cannot consider them to be part of your salary.If you do you should pay the appropriate rate of tax.You cannot have it both ways.By highlighting the amount of allowance received in forums such as this puts them under scrutiny and perhaps a revision of applicable tax will occur.