Ken

As someone with an English accent I'll always support the underdog. That means if I think England is going to win I'll support Australia, but if I think Australia is going to win I'll support England.

Based on the circumstances you've described then yes the CGT exemption should apply (for Australian Tax). You shouldn't be able to claim the house in Australia as a primary residence prior to December since you hadn't lived in it (if you'd lived in it first and then rented it out that would be different). Furthermore there are special rule surrounding moving house. Basically if you've lived in a house for at least 3 months in the year before you sold it, you can treat both your old house and your new house as your primary residence for the purpose of the exemption for up to six months. Unfortunately it doesn't apply where a house is rented out so you should still expect to be stung for the Capital gain between August 2019 and December 2019 when you eventually sell your new house. As the rules currently stand you would however be taxed on only 50% of that gain.

I've been living in Australia for nearly 9 years and have had citizenship for more than 5 years now, but I lived in the UK for over 4 decades before the first time I even visited Australia and I had only British citizenship for the first 5 decades of my life so it's hard to feel as Australia as I feel British. Which makes sense. I've been Australia citizen for 5 years and a British citizen for 55 years. Of course that overstates the ratio, it's not really 5:55 (1:11), if you compare time living in the country it's closer to 9:43 (1:4.8) and obviously there must be some loading to the more recent years so at some point in the next decade I think it should even out. I'll be very surprised if I still feel more British after another 30 years here!

Just had a look at that. Can't get my head around their pricing model. You've a choice between monthly and annual for a product you only need to use one day a year? Surely everyone would cancel after the first month?

We had double glazing installed when we had our house built (5 years ago now). The builders thought we were bonkers and even had an idiotic suggestion of putting it on one side of the house and not the other! The concept of insulation is clearly still in the dark ages. Well worth the expense. Good insulation (including double glazing) doesn't just save on heating bills in the winter, it saves on air-conditioning in the summer, and it's reduces any noise pollution from outside too.

Because they'll take quarantine spaces away from people who have been waiting longer. For whatever reason it's not a first come, first served system and anyone allowed to leave the country is going to push their way in to the re-entry queue.

Do you have to do what? Split year? You should unless you want to pay tax in the UK on everything you earned in the first part of the year. If you don't tell HMRC this year is a split year they'll come back to you about last year thinking they're due some tax from that year! The important thing to remember if you have a home in Australia is to sell it before you leave the country because the Capital gain on the sale of your home for an Australian resident is tax free (some exceptions if you have a huge amount of land or business use of part of your premises but that's the general case). Unfortunately foreign residents don't get any concessions on CGT in Australia so the whole amount is taxable so selling after you leave is very expensive. Yes you'll be able to withdraw all your Super without restriction (once you meet the requirements to do so) even if you are staying in Australia, but if you leave it in Super any further growth is also tax free whereas alternative investments (including just getting bank interest on it) are taxed. It is just your money but don't waste it.

You are right, a more dangerous strain getting out before vaccination could cause 20,000 deaths in Australia - but dangerous strains are already on the loose in the UK and you want to go there unvaccinated! It's clearly a huge risk travelling to the UK unvaccinated where you know Covid is on the loose and spending a minimum of 4 weeks unprotected from it (depending on how quickly you can get your two shots and how long they then need to take effect). Waiting in Australia where (while there's always a risk of an outbreak) it's not currently on the loose is far safer.

I don't have any experience of this but a quick google makes it appear that you are fully covered - Maternity Medicare Ineligible (westernhealth.org.au) This is from the website of Western Health (Hospital service in Western Melbourne). They make it clear that the only people who are ineligible for maternity care under Medicare "is someone who does not hold a valid Medicare card, is not an Asylum Seeker or is not a visitor from a country who has a Reciprocal Health Care Agreement with Australia." You might want to give them a call (or find the details of your local service) to double check they haven't got it wrong on their website but it looks clear cut, there's nothing to even show there's any difference between full Medicare and the reciprocal health care cover. One thing to watch for is that cover ends when your visa ends so you make sure you maintain a valid visa throughout your pregnancy and post-natal care! Secondly there may be out-of-pocket expenses to pay even though you have medicare, since medicare only covers the government mandated fee and the cost charged may be higher (they should tell you in advance).

Audited accounts are not required in Australia either unless turnover is over $50m (and in Australia they don't even need to be lodged with ASIC - the Australian equivalent of Companies House - unless they are public companies or meet some limited circumstance) so the fact they are asking for audited accounts may either mean they really want them or just that they have no idea. Actually it might help if you get your accountant to say that the accounts have been lodged.

The circumstances you describe are one where split year tax treatment should apply. Put an X in box 3 of your SA-109 (which you need to complete as part of your Self-assessment tax return) and the date you returned in box 6. Split year tax treatment can only apply when you are UK resident under the HMRC residence test so it's not a grey area. You are a foreign tax resident prior to returning and a UK tax resident from the date of return. Also to point out (although I think you are already aware) it's the date your funds leave your Super account that matters not the date you transfer it to the UK. Transfers from one bank account to another bank account are not taxable income or everyone would have to pay tax every time they took money in or out of their savings account!

Yes, it would be good to have some joined up thinking. The government talks about wanting "job ready" immigration. Perhaps they should stop using the current assessment boards for qualifications and use the licensing boards instead - although they'd have to require them to provide a route to registration or they'd just fail everybody!

The problem is that despite the educational levels being equivalent the detailed regulations are different in the two countries so you often need the Australian course to know the Australian rules. Immigration understand that you aren't Australian and so don't expect you to know Australian building regs (for example) just that you are capable of learning them, but the licensing boards need to know that you've already learned them.

I'm sure they will keep sending it as about every 6 months I get a letter from HSBC for me to complete - I always refuse to do it because I don't have an HSBC account (they've got my contact details from my son's Child Trust Fund account which obviously we can't do anything with until he turns 18).

Sorry, that was meant as general advice for someone still in the UK rather that for you.

I don't see why you can't. Covid has greatly extended the amount of course material that is available on line (although I've no idea if the whole of a cert IV in Telecommunications can be done that way). Some certificate issuing colleges are TAFEs and are only available to residents of the state they are funded by but most are private colleges and would likely be happy to help (there is of course a fee involved). I suggest you do some internet search to see if you can find a private college that offers a cert IV in Telecommunications and see if they are willing to help. RPL should reduce the amount of course you need to complete but you might still need to complete some units.

For licensing you need to actually obtain the Australian qualification. That can be done by a system called RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning) which if the UK qualification is equivalent can potentially cover the entire course. Obviously some trades have aspects that are peculiarly Australian and so no UK qualification will cover those sections but it's always worth talking to an Australian college to see what you've already covered.

No tax implications on gifts - unless they become "regular and systematic" e.g. if she was paying you this amount every fortnight. Note that if you are an Australian citizen or permanent resident it makes no difference to the taxable nature of the payment whether it is paid into an Australian or foreign bank account.

I suspect it all comes down to cost and convenience of the Super fund. Sending payments to international bank accounts takes the Super fund more time and effort even if the bank fees are passed on to you. If you have a Debit Card account with Wise they'll give you your own BSB and sort code just like any bank account which you can have the Super fund pay to and you can convert to pounds and transfer to your UK bank account. When you come to draw your super there'll probably be other providers to choose from that'll do the same.

So if the person is offshore you'd have no way of telling by looking in VEVO whether a first entry has been made or not? That seems a bit of a drawback - although I suppose if you need to do a VEVO check (e.g. to see if you can employ someone) they are bound to be onshore.

The timing might look odd especially if your partner (the secondary applicant) subsequently emigrates and you don't, but the process is that the DHA verifies the relationship before the visa is issued not afterwards. Inevitably some relationships will break down (in some cases it's the stress of emigrating that breaks them) and the DHA will not be phased by it. As you've already discovered (from the lack of a space on the form) you don't need to notify where a skilled permanent visa has already been granted.

I came across a number of firms that claimed to be able to help move your pension out of the UK (but not to Australia). None could satisfactorily explain the advantage of doing this (other than the obvious advantage to them that they would receive a fee) so I left in the UK until I turned 55. The intention being to transfer it then, but I'm not convinced of the benefit of either the one commercial fund that accepts transfers or the benefits of creating a SMSF. Consequently I've decided to leave in the UK and drawdown the funds gradually. I've now closed one of my UK pension funds having just turned 55 with the withdrawal split across 2 UK tax years so there is no UK tax bill (but only one Australian tax year meaning I get the tax exempt amount out in the same years as the Applicable Fund Earnings which are withdrawn first). A large amount is exempt from Australian Tax but the Applicable Fund Earnings (the amount the fund has grown since moving to Australia) are taxable but I'm looking at putting an equivalent amount into my Super Fund as a concessional super contribution which will make it tax free in my hands (although taxed at 15% within the Super fund). I was given advice to consolidate my UK pension funds in a single fund but I didn't because I was burned by Equitable Life years ago and consequently preferred to keep my pension funds diversified. It turns out that this was a wise move as I would have needed to take the hit on the Applicable Fund Earnings on the whole balance if they'd all been in one fund but being separate funds I can release them one at a time.

Apparently you can extend it:- If you currently hold a COVID-19 Pandemic event visa that is about to expire you may be eligible for another COVID-19 Pandemic event visa if: you wish to remain in Australia to continue working in a critical sector, or you are unable to depart Australia before the expiry of your visa due to COVID-19 travel restrictions Temporary Activity visa (subclass 408) Australian Government endorsed events (COVID-19 Pandemic event) (homeaffairs.gov.au)

No, up to the age of 67 it doesn't matter if you are working or not. Between 67 and 75 you have to be working. Over 75 you can't invest even if you are working (although your employer must still pay SGC contributions to your super account).

There are age restrictions on investing in Super (if that is part of the strategy).