Ozzie Expats Tax
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Ozzie Expats Tax
Was wondering if anyone, who is currently working abroad and paying tax in that country and who still has an abode and family in Australia, has had an official determination of their residency for tax purposes.. .. .I am considering doing same soon and would like to know where one stands with regard to tax, ie if one in that situation is or isn't a tax resident.
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I work overseas in a situation like you are describing. Email me for the full run down on how my situation works.. .. [email protected]. .. .Stunty
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Oz tax depends on wether your a resident or not for tax purposes. As a non-resident I havent paid Oz tax for 13 years and never intend to in the future. I dont know if the old 183-day rule still applys.. .. .All loot gained OS from a country without a tax-treatey with Oz will be subject to full taxation if your silly enough to bring it in. Best leave it away from Oz shores.. .. .Recommend you talk to a good tax-lawyer. There are good tax-free property investments to be had in Oz as long as your @rse stays put off-shore.
Moderate, Modest & Mild.
Ivan Urge asks an interesting question here when he raises the "and who still has an abode and family in Australia" issue. Apparently the ATO in Oz and N.Z. consider the "1 day more than 6 months out of the country" as only one of several factors in determining your eligibilty/exemption from paying tax.. .. .Ownership of an investment property is a separate issue from that of having a home and/or family being maintained in Oz or Kiwi Land.. .. .However, as Slasher has recommended seek out the services of an established taxation accountant.. .. .Be careful!
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Ivan Urge, My father is a financial advisor based in Brisbane who specialises in the area your enquiring about. Email me and I'll pass on his contact details. . . . <small>[ 24 March 2002, 00:49: Message edited by: OzPax1 ]</small>
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Interesting topic. I recently rang the legal department of the ATO to clarify the situation. What i was told goes something like this. With the current self assessment rules for filing tax returns, you can put whatever you like on your return. I, for instance live in UAE, have no tax liability here and pay no tax in OZ, but i am a resident of the UAE and I have declared myself a non resident Australian. When i eventually return to OZ and fill out my first tax return, i will have to declare all of the above. Should i be audited, i have to prove to the ATO that i was in fact a non resident. Here is the catch. At the moment there is no guide as to what constitutes a non resident. I reckon I am OK because to get a UAE resident visa, you have to live here. So i think it is fairly cut and dried, however if i was to own property in OZ, or my family moved back there, the waters get fairly muddied. The fact is the ATO can reject your claim if they have sufficient grounds (they would not give me any guidlines in this area), and you could be liable for some significant back tax. On the other hand, they told me that when i do return, i could bring as much money as i wanted to back into OZ on a one off basis without being taxed. Once i was resident again, anything i bought back would be taxed. If you think you are marginal in this area, it would be worth getting some good professional advice.
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lads,. .. .in life you can be sure of two things, thats certain " thats death and taxes" . its up to you to manage then both and enjoy what you have.. .. .seek advice as no two people have the same level of assest and portfolio.. .. .remember keep the blue side up!
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Section 23AG of the Taxation Assessment Act is the key.. .. .If you earn the income overseas it is exempt from Oztax. . .. .You can have a house and family here and it makes no difference. Ask the CX Aus based pilots.
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Busconductor is correct, Cathay are not the only pilots that are in this bracket, a few more expats with work visa's and non resident status with overseas airlines: Singair, Korean, Eva, China Airlines, Silkair, Royal Brunie, Air New Guinea, and ANA that I know of.
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Thanks for all the replies.. .. .Busconductor, I have just read 23AG and it appears that one would need to be absent from Oz for a continuous period of not less than 91 days in order for there to be no tax liability on the income earned overseas. Is that your understanding, and if so 23AG would not apply to a pilot that is commuting back and forth on a monthly basis?. .. .There are clearly two different issues here though. Section 23AG applies to a 'Tax Resident', whereas I am curious as to whether one is in fact an Oz tax resident if they work overseas, pay tax on that income overseas, have a house overseas and only visit Oz where their family resides. . .. .Any experts out there?
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My situation is that I am still employed off shore and besides maintaining a residence in Oz I have recently purchased an established business.. .My first Tax return after many years was no problem. Whats offshore stays there and was not counted, only onshore activities were accounted for on the return. The tax office had no problems with this. The only off shore thing that was required was that I had to name my employer and country of residence.. .. .But I do recommend that you do get and pay for a good tax agent for your return and not the H & R block or similar in the corner store to take care of this. . .. .Have a nice day
Moderate, Modest & Mild.
This sounds as though it is a very complex issue, and that perhaps each one is an individual case that needs to be assessed as such.. .. .With so many Ozzies working o/s now, there is a variety of categories, eg.. . i) Those who have left Australia for more than 6 months , taking their family with them, having sold all real estate, and taken up residence in a foreign country, paying that country's income tax;. .. .ii) Those who leave Australia for more than 6 months each fiscal year, pay tax offshore, but leave their family back in Oz;. .. .iii) Those who have a resident's visa to live and work overseas, pay tax on their income offshore, and commute back to Oz regularly, eg. every month or two;. .. .iv) Those who work overseas for less than 6 months, leave their family in Oz, and don't pay tax anywhere:. .. .v) Those who commute to a job overseas, returning home regularly to their family, eg. every month or two, and don't pay tax anywhere.. .. .IMHO (iv) and (v) might be risking punitive financial penalties from the ATO unless someone can advise that they have been told they are exempt from paying tax.. .. .How about (iii), has anyone had a definitive ruling on that scenario?
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I have heard that the double taxation act covers (iii), if you pay tax in a Country that has an agreement with Australia you are OK.. .. .This the the loophole that Most large Corporations use to reduce their Tax in this Country, so you are safe with this one! The Pollies won't touch it, as donations to their election campaigns might suffer.. .. . <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="smile.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="smile.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="smile.gif" />
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As Rabbit says, it really does appear to be simple, and I am not aware of any complex alternative arrangements. . .. .If you are required to lodge a tax return by virtue of the amount of locally derived income you have, or if you elect to anyway, you declare the overseas income as exempt overseas income, along with the details of your employer. They even insisted, despite my protestations, on giving me a low income rebate on the tax I did have to pay, despite an obscene number of exempt dollars declared!!. .. .The 91 days is to say you can't do this on a one month short term contract, but if you are continuosly employed offshore you can spend any amount of time, effectively on R&R, back here in Oz.. .. .It got interesting when we considered the domestic sectors operated by CX in Oz, but the interpretation was that this was a required duty as part of the overseas employment, and therefore did not affect the tax situation.. .. .Finding a tax expert in this area is not easy but they do exist.
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Druck ME. .. .You can also do what most of us that have earnt $US o/s can do, Set up a bank account with any number of organisations some where between the Engish & French coast lines.. .. .You are issued with an ATM and Credit card of your choice. You travel globally with said cards using CC for everyting which is dirctly debited from your account monthly and you can get cash from ATMs when needed. . .. .Yes there are cost involved but they far out weigh the negatives.. .. .First thing the tax man has to do is prove that you were earning money. (usually difficult). .. .Second is prove that you still have it, (very difficult with my wife).. .. .Third prove that you are a non resident for tax purposes (easy).. .. .Thats the way to work the system, the only time I have paid tax in OZ is when I have actually been earning a living here, what they dont know wont hurt them. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="biggrin.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" />
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Busconductor, as you say it is not easy to find real experts. Can you suggest one?. .. .OZpax, thanks for the lead.. .. .Hogdriver, been in your locales for years. We may know each other. GV once upon a time perhaps? Yeh and got said bank account already.
