Living abroad for travel, career or family is still the norm, for 310,000 Aussies. However, with coronavirus sweeping the globe, expats are flocking back home to Australia from Europe, US, the UK and Asia to a relatively normal lifestyle despite the pandemic. 

 

While Covid-19 restricted Australian residents from returning during the height of the outbreak, around 398,000 Australians have returned since mid-March 2020 [2] and numbers of residents have been steadily increasing since October 2020.[1]  Australia continues to have one of the lowest worldwide infection and mortality rates from the virus and the Australian Government has invested more than $3.3 billion into four separate agreements for the supply of proven, safe and effective vaccines. At the time of print, Australia has already received over 25,000,000 does of Covid-19 vaccines, sufficient for 50% of the population to receive a 2 dose regime with more on the way. [3]

 

It seems the vaccine rollout is spurring on confidence in the Australian property market as well as gleaning interest from overseas buyers. Sean Hughes, director of one of Australia’s top performing real estate offices, Realmark Coastal, recently reported a dramatic increase in the number of buyers bidding on unseen properties in an effort to beat future price hikes. “Quality Perth properties are still in high demand and people are increasingly comfortable with buying homes they’ve only inspected online and we’re still seeing offers above market price and fielding multiple offers on residences.” Sean says. [4]  

 

According to a survey undertaken by Knight Frank[5] 64% of expats, said the global lockdown had influenced their decision to buy a property in their home country. With real estate prices set to rise over the next year and property demand only increasing, many may even consider a return to the land down under to prepare for a more secure future in a post-Covid world. 

 

Full Story: https://expatlifeinthailand.com/travel-and-leisure/i-still-call-australia-home/

 

-- © Copyright Expat Life in Thailand 2021-05-20

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What a surprise that was the conclusion Knight Frank came to. Totally impartial of course. Thankfully forecasting massive gains on financial products have strict regulations.

Tax implications of ex pats buying houses in Australia need to be considered in the future as the government are changing the rules again.

Anyone buying property in Australia from a non-resident point of view is nuts.

 

The taxes, e.g. land taxes and Capital Gains Taxes are unbelievably high, so unless they have a cool 5 million and qualify to become citizens, they will find out the hard way.

 

On 1 July 2019 the Australian government even hit it's own expats who are non residents because of the way they make up their laws, e.g. if you are an Australian Citizen and you reside overseas and are a non resident for tax purposes and own a property in Australia, let's say it's your principal place of residence, they will make you pay Capital Gains Tax all the way back to when you purchased it, at around 42% tax payable, YES, not when you moved overseas, that is how it used to be prior to 1 July 2019, now it's from the date you purchased it, so it you purchased it in 1980 for say $200,000 and sold it today for $1,000,000 which you can't buy a dogs box for that, they will take 42% of the sale price less the purchase price, e.g. $336,000, how unfair is that, and they don't give a rats a$$ because non residents cannot vote. 

 

The market is hot, and it's the low interest rates and 1st home buyers trying to get into the market competing with investors to buy which is pushing it up (applies to land/houses) only, as the unit market isn't moving much, that said, watch out for the hard landing when interest rates do eventually go up because the loan sizes are huge, no doubt the government will do what it usually does and manipulate the market so that it doesn't crash, but I think it's time is almost up.

The usual Aussie obsession with buying real estate, the measure of wealth & well-being.

15 minutes ago, mfd101 said:

The usual Aussie obsession with buying real estate, the measure of wealth & well-being.

 

Don't forget, and having huge mortgages in today's environment.

 

I wonder what would happen if they pulled the plug on negative gearing, hmmm, that wouldn't happen because it fuels the market for investors, but what else could they do that would dampen it.......we will see in the future, maybe a sharp rise in interest rates due to a catastrophic even will do what it will do, ad the government will say it was a natural event that crashed the market ?

The real reason noone pulls the plug on negative gearing is that any political party that proposes that loses the next election. (As I think the ALP has discovered on at least 1 maybe 2 occasions.)

I did the reverse and am in Oz getting paid in baht from a Bangkok condo. zero tax and great currency conversion on the weaker dollar. 

On the gold coast here both rent and property prices are through the roof as southerners flock here. 

It's impossible to find a condo to rent without 20 applicants and many offering over and above asking prices 

There is zero covid here and life is completely normal like pre covid. 

 

It's completely understandable why ozzies are  desperate to come home and away from the chaos of the rest of the world. I need to get back to Thailand and have a government exemption but not particularly looking forward to it 

Australia (Noun)

Meaning :Giant real estate Ponzi scheme.

Origin: Old aboriginal word meaning Pyramid scheme

eg: I still call the Ponzi scheme home.

7 minutes ago, madmen said:

I did the reverse and am in Oz getting paid in baht from a Bangkok condo. zero tax and great currency conversion on the weaker dollar. 

On the gold coast here both rent and property prices are through the roof as southerners flock here. 

It's impossible to find a condo to rent without 20 applicants and many offering over and above asking prices 

There is zero covid here and life is completely normal like pre covid. 

 

It's completely understandable why ozzies are  desperate to come home and away from the chaos of the rest of the world. I need to get back to Thailand and have a government exemption but not particularly looking forward to it 

With the dollar nudging 24 baht, its not exactly a weaker dollar.

You would be 20% down from a year ago (20 baht)

1 hour ago, madmen said:

It's completely understandable why ozzies are  desperate to come home

Speak for yourself there pal. You couldnt pay me to live in that nanny state. Odd ball people and culture. Best thing was leaving that place

There's plenty of sun.An expensive place to live on a state pension,Most people are obsessed with money,jealous of other peoples perceived wealth,always complaining about "their lot" in life.

 

No thanks,I like it here just fine.

3 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

On 1 July 2019 the Australian government even hit it's own expats who are non residents because of the way they make up their laws, e.g. if you are an Australian Citizen and you reside overseas and are a non resident for tax purposes and own a property in Australia, let's say it's your principal place of residence, they will make you pay Capital Gains Tax all the way back to when you purchased it, at around 42% tax payable,

Its the reason why I sold my 2 IPs prior to this. I could see the writing on the walls. 

 

Look at the way that bogan redneck commie leader premier in queensland is treating expats. Shes a shocker. 

 

Its outrageous that I pay big taxes all my life and then they bring in taxes as you say above. Their mentality is that we are disloyal to the country for wanting to live abroad. Glad that I left that nanny state for good. No regrets

3 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

With the dollar nudging 24 baht, its not exactly a weaker dollar.

You would be 20% down from a year ago (20 baht)

Its still weak against the Thai baht and way down from its high above the greenback. Maybe at 26 to 27 baht will be a better average but let's see it tends to fluctuate as lot 

 

2 hours ago, charliechoc said:

Speak for yourself there pal. You couldnt pay me to live in that nanny state. Odd ball people and culture. Best thing was leaving that place

I should have said excluding expats living near a jungle in Thailand. ????

 I'll use Australia for free medical care when I am there, and to chow down on a decent eye filet steak. But that's about it.

My registration and maintenance costs of the vehicles I have here are about one-sixth what it would cost me in Australia, rental costs about a quarter. A pub meal in Australia would cost me $25-$30, I can feed six people for that in Thailand.

Short-term or long-term relationships? Short-term, there are better looking freelancers here than $5000 a night hookers in Melbourne. Long-term, Thai women work hard at keeping their foreign partners/husbands happy. Entitlement rules in Australia.

In the unlikely event my Thai GF and I split, it is not going to cost me half my assets.

I don't call Australia home. It's OK for the occasional visit, but if COVID and policy maintain the country as a prison colony, I don't care if I never go back.

13 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

Anyone buying property in Australia from a non-resident point of view is nuts.

 

The taxes, e.g. land taxes and Capital Gains Taxes are unbelievably high, so unless they have a cool 5 million and qualify to become citizens, they will find out the hard way.

 

On 1 July 2019 the Australian government even hit it's own expats who are non residents because of the way they make up their laws, e.g. if you are an Australian Citizen and you reside overseas and are a non resident for tax purposes and own a property in Australia, let's say it's your principal place of residence, they will make you pay Capital Gains Tax all the way back to when you purchased it, at around 42% tax payable, YES, not when you moved overseas, that is how it used to be prior to 1 July 2019, now it's from the date you purchased it, so it you purchased it in 1980 for say $200,000 and sold it today for $1,000,000 which you can't buy a dogs box for that, they will take 42% of the sale price less the purchase price, e.g. $336,000, how unfair is that, and they don't give a rats a$$ because non residents cannot vote. 

 

The market is hot, and it's the low interest rates and 1st home buyers trying to get into the market competing with investors to buy which is pushing it up (applies to land/houses) only, as the unit market isn't moving much, that said, watch out for the hard landing when interest rates do eventually go up because the loan sizes are huge, no doubt the government will do what it usually does and manipulate the market so that it doesn't crash, but I think it's time is almost up.

Great post Thank you. Question can you change your status from non-resident (tax) to resident.? Is it a 6 month residency requirement?.

13 hours ago, madmen said:

I did the reverse and am in Oz getting paid in baht from a Bangkok condo. zero tax and great currency conversion on the weaker dollar. 

On the gold coast here both rent and property prices are through the roof as southerners flock here. 

It's impossible to find a condo to rent without 20 applicants and many offering over and above asking prices 

There is zero covid here and life is completely normal like pre covid. 

 

It's completely understandable why ozzies are  desperate to come home and away from the chaos of the rest of the world. I need to get back to Thailand and have a government exemption but not particularly looking forward to it 

How are you managing to pay zero tax, are you non resident for tax purposes in Oz ?

If you're tax resident, you should be paying tax on overseas property rental income !

I'm interested because I'm currently looking into buying a Villa in Samui, but have learned that as an Aussie, and resident for tax purposes in Oz, I will be liable to pay tax on the Thai income if I rent out the Samui Villa.

 

1 hour ago, kennw said:

Great post Thank you. Question can you change your status from non-resident (tax) to resident.? Is it a 6 month residency requirement?.

 

Cheers.

 

Changing back from non-resident to Australian resident would be a little tricky if your not in the country at the time, e.g. returning to Australia, I would imagine establishing residency again could take up to 6 months.

 

If your talking under Australian tax legislation, non-residency is usually changed by those who are moving away from Australia permanently, if you don't want to change your residency status, then when filing your tax returns, if your earning a crust away from Australia you tick the residency field and will pay tax as a resident of Australia.

 

Residency is tested and the ATO is the best place to start answering there residency tool which should give you some kind of example, but is not concrete.

 

 Here is the link with the tool to complete as well, as I said, it should provide you with a guide as to what your residency status is or will be: 

 

https://www.ato.gov.au/Calculators-and-tools/Work-out-your-tax-residency/

1 hour ago, Chill27 said:

How are you managing to pay zero tax, are you non resident for tax purposes in Oz ?

If you're tax resident, you should be paying tax on overseas property rental income !

I'm interested because I'm currently looking into buying a Villa in Samui, but have learned that as an Aussie, and resident for tax purposes in Oz, I will be liable to pay tax on the Thai income if I rent out the Samui Villa.

 

 

https://www.ato.gov.au/general/property/residential-rental-properties/Rental-income-from-overseas-property/

15 hours ago, mfd101 said:

The usual Aussie obsession with buying real estate, the measure of wealth & well-being.

Rubbish halve of Australian properties are owned by Chinese get your facts right

13 hours ago, thasoss said:

There's plenty of sun.An expensive place to live on a state pension,Most people are obsessed with money,jealous of other peoples perceived wealth,always complaining about "their lot" in life.

 

No thanks,I like it here just fine.

I live in OZ and on a state pension I do pay rent and have more money than I ever had in Thailand and still can afford 2 holidays per year the ones who are obsessed with money are Thais take you colored glasses off 

7 hours ago, Meat Pie 47 said:

Rubbish halve of Australian properties are owned by Chinese get your facts right

It's actually about 10% of real estate. However, if one wants to look at ownership of Australian ASSETS, the major player is America.

10 hours ago, Meat Pie 47 said:

I live in OZ and on a state pension I do pay rent and have more money than I ever had in Thailand and still can afford 2 holidays per year the ones who are obsessed with money are Thais take you colored glasses off 

I too lived in australia,albeit for one year,on the government pension and found it difficult to live off it,even with the supplementary benefit and rent reduction.So my experience was different to yours.Here in thailand I can live well even though it is now just the basic pension.So everyone is different...i'm happy you are doing well in OZ.

10 hours ago, Meat Pie 47 said:

Rubbish halve of Australian properties are owned by Chinese get your facts right

Any evidence for this statement or did you write this message from your bar stool?

1 hour ago, charliechoc said:

Any evidence for this statement or did you write this message from your bar stool?

Bar stool? I never been to a bar all my life and no I don't live in Lieland anymore

4 hours ago, Meat Pie 47 said:

Bar stool? I never been to a bar all my life and no I don't live in Lieland anymore

You sound like a bitter aussie

1 minute ago, charliechoc said:

You sound like a bitter aussie

Bitter?I could not be happier 

15 hours ago, Meat Pie 47 said:

Bitter?I could not be happier 

You're happier in Australia, I'm happier in Thailand. Each to his own, it's not a competition.

1 hour ago, Lacessit said:

You're happier in Australia, I'm happier in Thailand. Each to his own, it's not a competition.

I did not bring up that subject I was called a bitter Aussie and replied to that