Marisawright

Is that taking into account both the UK tax and the Australian tax?

I think the issue is that as soon as she gets the first tourist visa, she will lose the bridging visa. So then she will have to wait until the 804 visa is granted before she can settle in Australia.

When you say UK pensions, do you mean the government one or the private ones? For a private pension, I believe the portion that represents "personal contributions being returned to you", is either no tax or a reduced rate. But do'n't ask me how that's worked out. Otherwise, when you get a lump sum of any kind, it is simply added on to your income for the year, and then the tax is calculated on the whole amount. So, say your income was $30,000 but you got a lump sum of $100,000 from the sale of an investment. That means for that year, your income is $130,000 - which pushes you up into a high tax bracket. So it's impossible to give a general answer to "how much will a lump sum be taxed", because it depends what your normal income is in thta year, and how much the lump sum is

I didn't think she was looking for certainties, I thought she was talking about what they would and wouldn't be entitled to while living in Ausralia on a bridging visa.

That's a good question from Beffers. If you're coming on a temp visa then I would strongly advise against buying as you'll lose money overall - you'll be much better off renting.

In the OP's case, they would be living in Australia on a bridging visa (and if it's the 804, it would be many years), so they wouldn't be eligible for the Australian pension.

It may not be much of a problem in the first few years, but the longer you live, the more of a problem it will become. Let's say you're 65 now, and you hope you'll live till you're 85. That's 20 years. Every year, inflation will go up,but your pension won't. Let's say you had come to Australia 20 years ago, with a pension of $17,000 a year (for a couple). Imagine if it was still $17,000 today. Can you imagine trying to live on that? Bear in mind that you also don't get free travel on public transport.

That's a surprise to me. How can you advise a parent on the pitfalls of a bridging visa if you don't know what the pitfalls are?

I would be steering well clear of any such visa agents!

Unless you have friends in Australia whose opinion you trust 100%, I wouldn’t even consider it. You need time to find out which suburb suits you best, where you’ll be working, where the best schools are. Buying too quickly can be a very expensive mistake

If you mean they don't know what changes may result from the forthcoming elections, then it's not reasonable to expect the visa companies to know. Neither of the parties has made any clear announcements about their plans, so nobody knows. Alan is a reputable agent so worth taking advantage of his offer.

Indeed it is. Just to be clear, when you sell, you’ll be taxed by Australia on 100% of the capital gain in the property.

That's difficult to do in Sydney unless you're prepared for a very long commute. And you'd probably be commuting from inland, nowhere near a beach. If you feel more comfortable in a large city, then go for Newcastle, or the mining towns inland from there. You said you were hankering for Brisbane, and if that's the case then give Tweed Heads a look - you'll be almost there.

I don't think people are picking holes. They're just pointing out that Sydney is bloody expensive and it's also a very materialistic city, where everyone is focussed on buying a bigger car and a fancier house. Paul is right to say that if you can find the right town, you can have a laidback lifestyle - and if you work for yourself, whether it's as a carpenter or a software engineer, you can pick your own hours and make the most of that lifestyle. But that's not likely to happen in Sydney because you'll be working all hours to pay the rent (or the mortgage). I'd say you're lucky being a carpenter, because if you were an IT nerd, you'd stand no chance of finding work in a seaside haven like Coffs Harbour or Port Macquarie - but you could. It might be a bit harder to get started but the lifestyle would be as laidback as you could possibly wish for! The coast of NSW is over 1,300 kilometres from top to bottom...

Why do you think that? Australia has workplace laws so the hourly rate for a carpenter in Newcastle would be much the same as the hourly rate in Sydney. If you're working for yourself and pricing your own jobs, then what you charge will depend on how much competition there is for jobs. It's true that Sydney is a bigger place, but then you've also got more competition. You may even be able to charge more in a country town where there's a shortage of skilled labour. Also remember that in Sydney, your living costs will be much higher so you'll have less in your pocket at the end of the day. Renting (or buying) a place will cost you double in Sydney compared to some of the coastal towns, plus you'll be using a lot more petrol.

Sydney is a "big smoke city". If you've got plenty of money, then you can certainly have a laidback lifestyle with a nice house by the beach, in commutable distance to work - but it does take money. The average Sydneysider lives at least an hour from the beach and faces a long daily commute on clogged roads. There is no way around the state nomination but as a carpenter, I think you're being too pessimistic about finding work outside Sydney. That's like saying, "I'm moving to the South of England so I'll have to work in London". Newcastle is the second largest city and you should stand a good chance of work there - plus it's far more affordable, it's not a rat race and it's got even better beaches than Sydney (plus it's on the doorstep of the wineries).

The actual process is painless but paying double the Australian capital gains tax isn’t

Please do your calculations before you decide. You’ll get no tax-free threshold once you’ve left Australia, so you’ll be taxed on every single dollar

Both those visas have a wait of several years, so I assume you're planning to arrive on a tourist visa, pretending you're coming on holiday, then apply for the visa once you're in Australia? I strongly suggest you consult a reputable migration agent before you decide to go down that path. With the long wait times, more and more people are doing what you propose, but it's not something to be undertaken lightly. Here are a few of the possible downsides depending on which visa you go for - but bear in mind I'm not an expert and you should consult someone to understand exactly how it would affect you: You'll be on a "bridging visa" while you wait for your parent visa to come through. That means that although you're physically resident in Australia, you're not legally a resident. That has several implications. Firstly, you can't leave Australia. If you want to leave the country, you have to apply for a separate visa (a BVB) and you must have a good reason (like a funeral, wedding, family illness). You'll get the BVB for a specific period of weeks or months, and the next time you want to travel, you'll have to apply again. Of course, each time costs another application fee! You will have access to Medicare but only for "essential services", not elective surgery. That may not sound too bad - but consider, if you apply for the 804, you'll be stuck on the bridging visa for up to 30 years. What if you need a hip replacement? That's elective surgery. You can't hop back to the UK to get it done either, because if you're no longer resident in the UK, you'll lose access to the NHS. You can get private health insurance. Depending on your visa, you may be able to get the same private health insurance as Australian residents - but be aware that never covers the full cost of treatment. If you have elective surgery and you can't get Medicare, that would be expensive even with private insurance. To give you an idea, I had an op on my neck which cost $35,000. The insurance only paid for $25,000. If you're receiving the British aged pension, it will be frozen at whatever rate you're getting now. If you're not receiving it, you will claim it in future - and it will be frozen forever at the same rate. While you're on the bridging visa, you won't be entitled to any Australian pension, seniors benefits or aged care. If you want to buy a house, you'll be treated as a "foreign investor". You'll have to apply for permission to buy a place (for a fee of course), and then you'll have to pay extra stamp duty as well. We had someone post recently who had to pay an extra $45,000 for their home, so it can be a lot of money.

But since the 804 has a waiting time of 30 years, that doesn't mean much?

You don't want the assistance of a reputable expert like Raul, but you have posted on a forum asking ordinary people for advice? Does that makes sense?

Whew, that is a relief, I was really worried you had got caught up with one of the worst scammers. However, be aware that Go Study is NOT a properly licensed migration agent. They're just an educational consultant. Educational consultants make their money from commissions paid by the colleges. Even if they think a student visa isn't suitable for you, they're not going to say so, because then they'd earn nothing. Also, if you do the course and then find it's not helpful in getting a permanent visa, it's no skin off their nose - they promised to get you a student visa, they're not liable for anything else so you've got no comeback. You may already be aware of this, but just in case: To migrate to Australia, you MUST have an occupation that's on one of the Skilled lists. You MUST also have the qualification AND EXPERIENCE specified on the list. That rule applies even if you can find an employer to sponsor you. Employers can't just sponsor for any job, the occupation must be on the lists. It is possible to do a course, get the qualification, then you can apply for a 485 Visa, which lets you stay on in Australia for 18 months to gain the necessary experience. However, not all courses and qualifications are eligible so it's vital to check whether your course would count. If you pick a course that doesn't qualify you to apply for a 485 visa, there will be no way for you to stay in Australia after you've finished your course. You'll have to go home. Without the 485 visa, no employer would be able to employ you.

You will continue to be liable for Australian tax on your Australian investment property. You'll have to submit an Australian tax return every year. On the Aussie tax return, you'll still be able to claim your depreciation and expenses, exactly as you do now. When you complete your IOM tax return, you'll declare your income from the Australian property and also declare the Australian tax paid. They will deduct the Australian tax paid from the tax due to IOM.

https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa/partner-spouse

The problem is that you will pay double the capital gains tax because you’re an overseas investor, so that’s going to wipe out a big chunk of your long term growth.