4MyEgo

I'm not reading into it at all TBH. I just raised some facts in my case when trying to get cover in Oz as a non resident and they told me that I had to be a resident of Oz, I argued that I was a Citizen and they said, yep, nah, resident, so make of that what you will. No point in waking the sleeping giant as they say, but for me, I would hate it, if all of a sudden they did ask a question, and I had to answer it, fraudulently because that could make the contract null and void as previously mentioned. Like you said, how would they check anyway, hey Mr So and So, can you provide us with copies of your passport pages please, and yes, fat chance that would happen, but what if Mr or Mrs Goody Two Shoes who's on the ball, picked it up and their policy stated you have to be a resident to be covered, yes, yes, I know fat chance, but, when I take out a contract, I want to know the fine print as that provides me with less exposure, a classic example is all these dipsticks who come here with travel insurance, but don't read the fine print, e.g. must have a current riders license and IDP, wear a helmet and ride no bigger than a 125cc motorcycle, or the policy doesn't allow for motorbikes. Contract null and void, I know it has nothing to do with residency, but fine prints are fine prints, and I will see if I can find an example and post it, just to clarify things, albeit it I remember couldn't fid anything when I did Google it years ago.

It's only my opinion, but suspending your insurance while stuck overseas until you landed back in Oz, makes sense as you wouldn't be able to access any hospitals in Oz with the COVID con, I mean lockdowns...LOL As for the residency thing, yes, don't wake the sleeping giant as they say.

Foreign debit card at an ATM shouldn't be a problem, providing you advised your bank back home that you will be overseas, as I believe it needs to be activated by them, so as to prevent fraud. You can certainly try it, you will get a lower exchange rate and the bank with the ATM you use will charge you about 200-220 baht per transaction, for your 200-220 baht fee, your limit is usually 20,000 baht per transaction, and you will find your bank back home will charge you about the same. So as they say, take some lube with you 🙂 Don't forget to take your card out as that usually comes out after the cash is dispensed.

We can dance around all day, but if we stick to what I was talking about, i.e. being covered by a private health insurer in Australia, i.e. if your residency status changes, will your private health provider in Australia still insure you ? I think not, based on the emails that I received from different insurers at the time that I enquired some years ago. Now we can all have private health insurance when we were in Australia and moved overseas, however not advising your private health insurer that your residency status changed, might make your contract null and void. Just saying, and don't really care, point !

My understanding is if those funds are savings, earned prior to 31 December 2023 and can be proven, then no tax is payable in any year thereafter, provided the "savings" were in the account prior to 1 January 2024. An example I will provide would be, I have a million $'s in my account back home, if I could be so lucky....LOL. I earned those funds from the sale of a property back in 2019 and those funds have been my savings since that date, and I have been remitting 1,000,000 baht per annum to Thailand to live off, those funds/savings are not taxable IMO.

A little contradiction there, e.g. 1st sentence, "can provide prove that the money is not personal income" 2nd sentence, "even if the income is transferred" Remember, income is assessable for tax if remitted to Thailand, regardless of when it is now remitted. Perhaps the 2nd line should have been replaced with, "even if the money is not personal income" The above said, I couldn't see this being an exclusive Elite Visa deal, but the 6. Taxation regulations in 2024 heading, I take to misleading, if anything. As far as I have read elsewhere, if you remit savings that were earned prior to 31 December 2023, and remit the savings into Thailand after that date, e.g. 2024/2025/2026 etc etc, you can remit them to Thailand every year without fear of paying any tax, that said, the proof is on the individual to show those savings were earned prior to 2023, any savings earned after that date and remitted, is taxable.

That's a good question, if you really want to know the answer to that, you could ring them, or email them and say; hey guys, I am thinking of moving to Thailand, would I still be able to renew my cover, because my residency status, might change to a non resident. Then you will have your answer, might not like what you hear ?

I remember at the time that I was looking to obtain private health insurance in Australia, with me living here, you know just in case I returned for treatment there, instead of here, and all were done by email to various insurers. All coming back to me saying that they cannot insure me as I am a non resident and would have to live in Australia as a resident to get private health insurance, which of course made no sense to me, however I am thinking on the lines, that if a non residents Medicare expires after 5 years, that might have something to do with it, I have no idea. They did however steer me in the direction of direction of global private heath care providers, I did go with one through a broker, and was with them for 4 years, and the premium kept going up and up and up every year, age was one, new age bracket and the last one was because the insurer changed an underwriter and at that point my insurance premium had doubled to 140k per annum, to which I kindly replied, no thank you. Since then I have put the premium amount and the families premium amount aside and save a million baht in premiums, no claims and yes not enough, but I have enough funds to keep us out of trouble, "I hope", that said, we all still have our Medicare cards and will return if it is a major concern if it's going to cost us a fortune here, if and when it comes, hopefully not.

LOL, that is so funny, was just thinking the same thing. Must be on heavier meds. We should think of a caption for the below: I will start...... I'm losing my mind, I need to go on Asean Now !!!

You beat me to it, yes, that would be a start for Georgie, then once they sort that out, everything else will go away miraculously, i.e. if I'm on the money.

What the Fark, no Wai and a 500 baht fine, she got off lighter than the Thai's do, IMO 🙂

Thanks you, so it's 3 then 2, what about 800k in a fixed account, can do, or cannot do ?

Your a brave man, I buy BTC as an ETF as it saves me the 1% fee to buy it and lower price when selling on the exchange, on top of the 1% fee for selling it.

Um UPDATE:

While on topic, I am looking at changing from marriage extension to retirement extension, due to immigration being *&^%$#, every year, so my question is, how long after approval can I access the 800k. I have in excess of that, but as a rule of thumb want to know for myself. (a) I heard that you can't touch the 800k for 3 months after approval, and (b) the balance cannot drop below 400k and (c) must be topped back up to 800k at least 3 months before reapplying and (d) I also heard that they won't accept 800k being in a fixed interest account, i.e. it has to be in an everyday account ? Does that sound right ? If I could put it into a fixed account, that would sort me having to remember not to access it and top it up as I get older. Thank you in advance.

6 months prior would re-establish your residency. Might be worth revisiting as I tried to get health insurance from Australia, for me to have in Australia, but as my residency was that of a Non Resident, no way Jose is what I was getting from them all. Not if there is a fine print in there saying, only if you are a resident. If out of the country for over 5 years, it's cancelled, that's why I see my Doc every time I return, between 2-3 years so it reactivates itself, I also renew my car online before it expires, ah, reason is, I lost it, new one in the mail, (Oz address), no questions asked.

OAP is those who didn't make it in the system, taxes have nothing to do with it, because you don't need to have worked to qualify. The reason the introduced Super is to take the burden off of the government paying out the OAP, compliments of those employers, 11% annually at the moment.

No disrespect, or seeking to burst your bubble, but your own answered your question: (a) resides in Australia The last two words in that sentence says it all in my opinion, i.e. "in Australia". You cannot reside in Australia if you are not physically present in the country for 8 months of the year, e.g. you can say you are a resident, but that is for tax purposes and they will accept that, but Centrelink on the other hand, won't in my opinion. Go in with the attitude that you will qualify for 26 years, if you get 33 years, your laughing. I hope to be proven wrong, because if it was that easy I will change my residency status ass-up.

Agree, however if he falsified his application, e.g. said that he lives in Australia or didn't advise them of his residency status changing while he continued to be covered, that's fraud and they could sue him, trying to get back their outlay, but that's anther matter.

If you read my post again, I said, "if the wording states" "lived in", I did not say the wording says "lived in", so it's a matter of finding out if it's residency or lived in. This extract says residency, but another might, say lived in, so it's a matter of finding out 110% by contacting Centrelink Hobart. They know, then you can let us know, your contribution 🙂 https://guides.dss.gov.au/social-security-guide/3/4/1/10

I know it's a little off the topic, but my understanding is, that if you are a Non Resident of Australia, you cannot get private health cover, (fine print). Did you retain your residency, or just haven't told anyone, which would be a gutsy move because if the insurer found out that you were or are a Non Resident at the time of surgery, decline you, and or seek to recoup any funds paid, same with Centrelink. If your a Non Resident and got away with it, Kudos to you.

I suppose that they could ask for your Passport ?

Some of us are up to speed, or at least think we are, we provide what information we can to assist, but any information on a forum, any forum, should be confirmed, whether by reading the actual legislation or as others, self included, suggested, one ring Centrelink Tasmania for the real deal.

Again, it is time living in Australia, I mean that would be like me saying, I have lived in Australia for 30 years, 10 of those years in Thailand as a resident of Australia. I am not physically present in Australia, therefore not "living" in Australia, but remain a resident of Australia. Remember what I said about government departments, having separate rules. They do this to keep there hands on our B...s, they know to squeeze them when they want, yes they have us by the short and curly's so to speak.

I believe that is even better as it makes your case more solid, i.e. you have been on an extended holiday. Don't not confuse residency and "life living in Australia, they are two separate matters. You may live overseas as a resident of Australia, but I doubt that that will be added to your "living life in Australia" to qualify for the full age pension as mentioned above. If you maintained your residency, I see no reason why you would considered as a Non Resident, so you shouldn't have to sit for the 2 year rule. Again, these are my opinions, based on my interpretations, and I am told Centrelink Tasmania are great in providing solid answers to these types of questions, but no other Centrelink branches, so you might want to reach out to them. If you are in a comfortable situation, other than owning your own place that isn't worth more than the XYZ threshold, and are earning some coins, if you haven't heard, there is a deeming rule which will reduce your pension amount. If you've retired, 'deeming' is a calculation used by Centrelink to make an estimate of what income you'll earn from your assessable financial assets. This includes (but isn't limited to) interest on bank accounts, shares, managed funds, and super. It is used to work out your eligibility for the Government Age Pension. https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/deeming?context=22526