Becoming A Non-Resident Of Australia For Tax Purposes - Any Disadvantages?

[telstrareg]

I spend about 9 months of the year in Thailand, travelling back to Australia every 3 months to help out my mother and don't work in Australia anymore. Since my circumstances qualify me (I've checked), I'm considering changing my status to that of a non-resident in Australia for tax purposes.

Obviously there are some benefits to doing this (e.g. not having to do annual tax returns). However, I'm trying to find out what other consequences, if any, follow on automatically from this change in status. For example do I lose my Medicare benefits or in the future will it mean I will not qualify for the old age pension (I'm only 45)?

I thought I'd check in here first for some first hand experiences before digging through various government websites.

[kurnell]

How do you change your status? I left 13 years ago and never went back.

[telstrareg]

My

How do you change your status? I left 13 years ago and never went back.

My accountant told me you just select the option when doing your tax return. Obviously the ATO would run certain checks from time to time..

[kurnell]

My

How do you change your status? I left 13 years ago and never went back.

My accountant told me you just select the option when doing your tax return. Obviously the ATO would run certain checks from time to time..

Yep. Haven't done a tax return since I left

[Phronesis]

The most important issue is whether or not you have a self managed super fund. You are not allowed to be a non resident trustee of SMS in Australia.

So, if you do have an SMS you must wind it up prior to becoming a non resident.

Winding up the SMS can be very problematic as assets must be sold and capital gains tax paid.

Edited May 1, 2013 by Phronesis

[kkerry]

If you're non-resident for tax purposes then as far as I know you are no longer entitled to Medicare benefits but it also means you no longer pay the Medicare levy. There have been previous topics about Medicare and living overseas and while some posters say they still get all the benefits, I believe they have had to be less than honest in advising Medicare on where they live as if they did then they would no longer be getting a Medicare card.

Do you still have any income from Australia e.g rental or investment? If you do then I believe you still need to submit an annual tax return and as non-resident you are no longer entitled to the tax free threshold. Have a chat to an accountant to see what applies in your personal situation.

There is a topic here that includes Medicare and pensions.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/548307-can-i-still-get-free-health-treatment-in-australia/?hl=%20kkerry%20%20medicare

[expatdreamer]

Do you have any term deposits in Oz / money in Oz banks?

Non resident for tax purposes pays 10% tax on interest.

Say you have $200k Oz paying 5% interest, thats $10,000 per year. You would need to pay $1000 tax (bank withholds it and send to ATO)

If you are resident for tax, and thats your only income, then that would come under the tax free threshold and you would not pay any tax.

As someone else says, you wont have to pay medicare levy if you are non resident. As for losing medicare benefits, given you come back to Oz, as long as you maintain your medicare card and an address in Oz (your Mums?) you might still be able to use the card when you are in Oz.

Your worried about the age pension at 67? (22 years away!!). With the way the country is being run, you will be lucky if there is anything left to pay the old age folk. By that time, they will have made sure people are forced to rely on super (eg cannot take as lump sum, maximum widthrdrawal amount per year from super)

If you have rental income in Oz, there is no tax free threshold as a non resident for tax, and all income would be taxed at 30% I think it is (minus expenses)

[telstrareg]

Do you have any term deposits in Oz / money in Oz banks?

Non resident for tax purposes pays 10% tax on interest.

Say you have $200k Oz paying 5% interest, thats $10,000 per year. You would need to pay $1000 tax (bank withholds it and send to ATO)

If you are resident for tax, and thats your only income, then that would come under the tax free threshold and you would not pay any tax.

As someone else says, you wont have to pay medicare levy if you are non resident. As for losing medicare benefits, given you come back to Oz, as long as you maintain your medicare card and an address in Oz (your Mums?) you might still be able to use the card when you are in Oz.

Your worried about the age pension at 67? (22 years away!!). With the way the country is being run, you will be lucky if there is anything left to pay the old age folk. By that time, they will have made sure people are forced to rely on super (eg cannot take as lump sum, maximum widthrdrawal amount per year from super)

If you have rental income in Oz, there is no tax free threshold as a non resident for tax, and all income would be taxed at 30% I think it is (minus expenses)

Are you sure the tax free threshold still applies for interest income? I thought the 10% was a straight withholding tax deducted by the bank.

As for pension, it's something to consider. Precisely because it's more than 20 years away I should be mindful of preserving it. Anything could happen in the next 20 years to wipe me out financially and it may be all I have to fall back on.

[Phronesis]

Do you have any term deposits in Oz / money in Oz banks?

Non resident for tax purposes pays 10% tax on interest.

Say you have $200k Oz paying 5% interest, thats $10,000 per year. You would need to pay $1000 tax (bank withholds it and send to ATO)

If you are resident for tax, and thats your only income, then that would come under the tax free threshold and you would not pay any tax.

As someone else says, you wont have to pay medicare levy if you are non resident. As for losing medicare benefits, given you come back to Oz, as long as you maintain your medicare card and an address in Oz (your Mums?) you might still be able to use the card when you are in Oz.

Your worried about the age pension at 67? (22 years away!!). With the way the country is being run, you will be lucky if there is anything left to pay the old age folk. By that time, they will have made sure people are forced to rely on super (eg cannot take as lump sum, maximum widthrdrawal amount per year from super)

If you have rental income in Oz, there is no tax free threshold as a non resident for tax, and all income would be taxed at 30% I think it is (minus expenses)

Are you sure the tax free threshold still applies for interest income? I thought the 10% was a straight withholding tax deducted by the bank.

As for pension, it's something to consider. Precisely because it's more than 20 years away I should be mindful of preserving it. Anything could happen in the next 20 years to wipe me out financially and it may be all I have to fall back on.

Preserve what. Anyone who thinks they will get an aged pension from the Australian government 20 years from now is deluded.

[mickjn]

You would loose your Medicare but the day you return to Australia full time you get that back.If you are earning less than $18000 a year you do not have to put a tax return in.I think by the time you get your pension the age will be 67.You just cannot go back and get the pension you have to be living in Australia 2 years before.

[Litlos]

The most important issue is whether or not you have a self managed super fund. You are not allowed to be a non resident trustee of SMS in Australia.

So, if you do have an SMS you must wind it up prior to becoming a non resident.

Winding up the SMS can be very problematic as assets must be sold and capital gains tax paid.

Sorry incorrect. I have been non resident for 3 years and still maintained my SMSF with yearly tax returns for both SMSF and myself. As a non-resident you can no longer make contributions to super though. There is a lot of semi accurate information around on becoming non-resident of Oz, some of it being perpetuated by "Tax professionals?". I still have to do Oz tax returns for myself as have investments in Oz.

Cheers

[Litlos]

Official information on the Medicare card:

http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/enablers/medicare/medicare-card/eligibility-for-medicare-card

For the OP the usual reason people become non resident is so that the ATO does not get their hooks into overseas income/savings. If no O/S income then probably better to stay as Oz resident and have the benefit of $18,000 tax free threshold, medicare card, possible (?) pension etc.

On a side note the capital gains on shares sales are non taxable for non residents in case that makes a difference.

Cheers

[machans88]

I became an automatic non resident of australia this year,if you have spent the last two years outside the country for more than 186 days of each year it is enforced.

My accountant in oz says benefits are no medicare levy(but no entitlemement to medicare)

only 10% tax on interest in banks

No tax on fully franked dividends

any foriegn income is not taxed in australia,so can have shares/investments outside of oz and only have to comply with local tax laws.

disadvantages are no tax threshold, its a flat tax of 39% on all income up to $80 000

this includes rental income from houses

no medicare,if i get sick i am not entitled to medicare for 12months on return,

She told me the departments do talk and anyone who does not abide by this can be caught and heavily fined

I would suggest anyone living here who thinks they can go home for free medical better look into the laws.

[Litlos]

I became an automatic non resident of australia this year,if you have spent the last two years outside the country for more than 186 days of each year it is enforced.

My accountant in oz says benefits are no medicare levy(but no entitlemement to medicare)

only 10% tax on interest in banks

No tax on fully franked dividends

any foriegn income is not taxed in australia,so can have shares/investments outside of oz and only have to comply with local tax laws.

disadvantages are no tax threshold, its a flat tax of 39% on all income up to $80 000

this includes rental income from houses

no medicare,if i get sick i am not entitled to medicare for 12months on return,

She told me the departments do talk and anyone who does not abide by this can be caught and heavily fined

I would suggest anyone living here who thinks they can go home for free medical better look into the laws.

I have never heard of automatic non-resident status as described. There is a rule where after 183 days in Oz foreign residents may be declared residents for tax purposes. http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content.aspx?doc=/content/36280.htm If you have any links on the subject I would love to see and not being sarcastic here. My accountant has advised that the ATO is making it as difficult as possible to get non-resident status and I am one of few who actually 100%qualify. The ATO are gradually working through all the others and changing status back to resident status, with appropriate (?) back taxes and penalties.

The tax on fully franked dividends has already been paid at 30%, so not actually tax free, just no extra tax, note not sure if they go after the extra 2.5% on dividends though. May be to hard so effective tax is "Only" 30% at business rates.

The tax for non residents is 32.5% for the first $80,000, not 39% then as per http://www.ato.gov.au/content/12333.htm rates for 2012-2013.

Found this on leaving the country for Medicare http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/enablers/change-of-circumstances When I asked at the local office 3 1/2 years ago was told no problem, do nothing. Of course that advice would be worth the paper it is not written on if things go pear shaped

Be wary about any information that cannot be substantiated. Prior to and since becoming non resident I have been keeping an eye on things and some of the things I have been told as gospel have just not been correct. The average accountant actually has very little idea on non resident unless they have a lot of direct dealings with this class of person. One of the best was that if I had a car in Oz I could not be non resident, utter BS of course. Hence the needing to see substantiation of rules for non resident before believing.

Cheers

[machans88]

I became an automatic non resident of australia this year,if you have spent the last two years outside the country for more than 186 days of each year it is enforced.

My accountant in oz says benefits are no medicare levy(but no entitlemement to medicare)

only 10% tax on interest in banks

No tax on fully franked dividends

any foriegn income is not taxed in australia,so can have shares/investments outside of oz and only have to comply with local tax laws.

disadvantages are no tax threshold, its a flat tax of 39% on all income up to $80 000

this includes rental income from houses

no medicare,if i get sick i am not entitled to medicare for 12months on return,

She told me the departments do talk and anyone who does not abide by this can be caught and heavily fined

I would suggest anyone living here who thinks they can go home for free medical better look into the laws.

I have never heard of automatic non-resident status as described. There is a rule where after 183 days in Oz foreign residents may be declared residents for tax purposes. http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content.aspx?doc=/content/36280.htm If you have any links on the subject I would love to see and not being sarcastic here. My accountant has advised that the ATO is making it as difficult as possible to get non-resident status and I am one of few who actually 100%qualify. The ATO are gradually working through all the others and changing status back to resident status, with appropriate (?) back taxes and penalties.

The tax on fully franked dividends has already been paid at 30%, so not actually tax free, just no extra tax, note not sure if they go after the extra 2.5% on dividends though. May be to hard so effective tax is "Only" 30% at business rates.

The tax for non residents is 32.5% for the first $80,000, not 39% then as per http://www.ato.gov.au/content/12333.htm rates for 2012-2013.

Found this on leaving the country for Medicare http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/enablers/change-of-circumstances When I asked at the local office 3 1/2 years ago was told no problem, do nothing. Of course that advice would be worth the paper it is not written on if things go pear shaped

Be wary about any information that cannot be substantiated. Prior to and since becoming non resident I have been keeping an eye on things and some of the things I have been told as gospel have just not been correct. The average accountant actually has very little idea on non resident unless they have a lot of direct dealings with this class of person. One of the best was that if I had a car in Oz I could not be non resident, utter BS of course. Hence the needing to see substantiation of rules for non resident before believing.

Cheers

posted by machans88

here are the up to date tax laws regarding non residents,whether you apply for it or not is automatic if you remain out of country for longer than 2years

http://www.bantacs.com.au/booklets/Overseas_Booklet.pdf

Edited May 2, 2013 by machans88

[ghworker2010]

I was just back in the nanny state for a month and paid my accountant $100 for his 5min opinion on this exact subject matter. I simply asked him to estimate my tax bill for the end of this fin yr- in both circumstances .... i.e. leaving my tax status as a resident and then as a non resident. As a non resident my tax bill increases nearly 10 fold.

I then decided that I would not change my status to be a non resident !

Moral to story. If you have investments in oz then dont change it otherwise your tax bill increases substantially

[Litlos]

I became an automatic non resident of australia this year,if you have spent the last two years outside the country for more than 186 days of each year it is enforced.

My accountant in oz says benefits are no medicare levy(but no entitlemement to medicare)

only 10% tax on interest in banks

No tax on fully franked dividends

any foriegn income is not taxed in australia,so can have shares/investments outside of oz and only have to comply with local tax laws.

disadvantages are no tax threshold, its a flat tax of 39% on all income up to $80 000

this includes rental income from houses

no medicare,if i get sick i am not entitled to medicare for 12months on return,

She told me the departments do talk and anyone who does not abide by this can be caught and heavily fined

I would suggest anyone living here who thinks they can go home for free medical better look into the laws.

I have never heard of automatic non-resident status as described. There is a rule where after 183 days in Oz foreign residents may be declared residents for tax purposes. http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content.aspx?doc=/content/36280.htm If you have any links on the subject I would love to see and not being sarcastic here. My accountant has advised that the ATO is making it as difficult as possible to get non-resident status and I am one of few who actually 100%qualify. The ATO are gradually working through all the others and changing status back to resident status, with appropriate (?) back taxes and penalties.

The tax on fully franked dividends has already been paid at 30%, so not actually tax free, just no extra tax, note not sure if they go after the extra 2.5% on dividends though. May be to hard so effective tax is "Only" 30% at business rates.

The tax for non residents is 32.5% for the first $80,000, not 39% then as per http://www.ato.gov.au/content/12333.htm rates for 2012-2013.

Found this on leaving the country for Medicare http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/enablers/change-of-circumstances When I asked at the local office 3 1/2 years ago was told no problem, do nothing. Of course that advice would be worth the paper it is not written on if things go pear shaped

Be wary about any information that cannot be substantiated. Prior to and since becoming non resident I have been keeping an eye on things and some of the things I have been told as gospel have just not been correct. The average accountant actually has very little idea on non resident unless they have a lot of direct dealings with this class of person. One of the best was that if I had a car in Oz I could not be non resident, utter BS of course. Hence the needing to see substantiation of rules for non resident before believing.

Cheers

posted by machans88

here are the up to date tax laws regarding non residents,whether you apply for it or not is automatic if you remain out of country for longer than 2years

http://www.bantacs.com.au/booklets/Overseas_Booklet.pdf

Interesting reading, but as is a collection of articles you have to start at the end and read up and so some are out of date. The links to the ATO give very specific information on when they deem a non resident to be a resident, just not so clear on the resident to non resident question. They have lots of may, could and possibly type statements in their documentation. Even the "Calculator" has wriggle words after it. The document also has some misleading articles which were opinions on events expected to occur that did not eg Non Residents and Capital gains Tax at page 4. Refers to a 2006 ruling change when from the ATO we have

http://www.ato.gov.au/taxprofessionals/content.aspx?doc=/content/00325402.htm&pc=001/005/054/002/008&mnu=0&mfp=&st=&cy=

Not wanting to sound to negative or a smarty pants on this, just I have learned to be very sceptical and I am pretty good on the using google search to validate results, also I do not trust the ATO at all and as soon as I see wriggle words know they will be interpreted to the benefit of the ATO unless you have an expensive lawyer. I am now going to back check some of those other items on page 4 for my own interest as I have rental properties in Oz.

It seems like there is a sort of thing at the two years point for claiming non resident successfully, but even that is suspect if you follow the examples given. My experience was I moved fulltime to Thailand in Jan 2010, for the 2009-2010 tax return I showed 6 months each resident/non resident. With investment write offs and an extended period off work no tax was payable on the resident 6 months, though I got a bill for $265 for medicare levy. I have continued on since then showing non resident on my tax, no problems so far.

Something I have found using the ATO website is if you search inside the website you will be very lucky to find what you are looking for, the way I do it is from Google Aust put in say "ato capital gains tax non residents" and this brings up the reference in the ATO website straight away.

Cheers

[kkerry]

I was just back in the nanny state for a month and paid my accountant $100 for his 5min opinion on this exact subject matter. I simply asked him to estimate my tax bill for the end of this fin yr- in both circumstances .... i.e. leaving my tax status as a resident and then as a non resident. As a non resident my tax bill increases nearly 10 fold.

I then decided that I would not change my status to be a non resident !

Moral to story. If you have investments in oz then dont change it otherwise your tax bill increases substantially

I'm no accountant but the problem I see here is ultimately it is the ATO who decide if you are non-resident, which could happen for example if you were ever audited by the ATO.

The link provided earlier is good http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content.aspx?doc=/content/64131.htm and I would suggest everyone reads through the table of contents to see what the ATO say constitutes residency. My situation was my accountant was not prepared to continue lodging my returns knowing I had not been living in Australia for a few years. For him it wasn't a case of what was best for me financially, more a case of him being able to justify signing off on my returns if my status was ever questioned by the ATO.

[Phronesis]

The most important issue is whether or not you have a self managed super fund. You are not allowed to be a non resident trustee of SMS in Australia.

So, if you do have an SMS you must wind it up prior to becoming a non resident.

Winding up the SMS can be very problematic as assets must be sold and capital gains tax paid.

Sorry incorrect. I have been non resident for 3 years and still maintained my SMSF with yearly tax returns for both SMSF and myself. As a non-resident you can no longer make contributions to super though. There is a lot of semi accurate information around on becoming non-resident of Oz, some of it being perpetuated by "Tax professionals?". I still have to do Oz tax returns for my

[expatdreamer]

Do you have any term deposits in Oz / money in Oz banks?

Non resident for tax purposes pays 10% tax on interest.

Say you have $200k Oz paying 5% interest, thats $10,000 per year. You would need to pay $1000 tax (bank withholds it and send to ATO)

If you are resident for tax, and thats your only income, then that would come under the tax free threshold and you would not pay any tax.

As someone else says, you wont have to pay medicare levy if you are non resident. As for losing medicare benefits, given you come back to Oz, as long as you maintain your medicare card and an address in Oz (your Mums?) you might still be able to use the card when you are in Oz.

Your worried about the age pension at 67? (22 years away!!). With the way the country is being run, you will be lucky if there is anything left to pay the old age folk. By that time, they will have made sure people are forced to rely on super (eg cannot take as lump sum, maximum widthrdrawal amount per year from super)

If you have rental income in Oz, there is no tax free threshold as a non resident for tax, and all income would be taxed at 30% I think it is (minus expenses)

Are you sure the tax free threshold still applies for interest income? I thought the 10% was a straight withholding tax deducted by the bank.

As for pension, it's something to consider. Precisely because it's more than 20 years away I should be mindful of preserving it. Anything could happen in the next 20 years to wipe me out financially and it may be all I have to fall back on.

No tax free threshold if non resident for tax purposes, you only get the tax free threshold if resident for tax purposes

If you are non resident for tax purposes, you must inform your bank including your overseas address and as far as I know the bank automatically withhold the 10% tax from the interest ou earn and send to ATO. You cannot claim that tax back or try to get it back.

[expatdreamer]

I was just back in the nanny state for a month and paid my accountant $100 for his 5min opinion on this exact subject matter. I simply asked him to estimate my tax bill for the end of this fin yr- in both circumstances .... i.e. leaving my tax status as a resident and then as a non resident. As a non resident my tax bill increases nearly 10 fold.

I then decided that I would not change my status to be a non resident !

Moral to story. If you have investments in oz then dont change it otherwise your tax bill increases substantially

Actually depends what type of investments you have.

If you have $1M Oz in the bank earning 5% interest, ie $50,000 per year

Non resident for tax purposes: You would have $5,000 tax withheld (10%) and be left with $45,000 cash to spend

Resident for tax purposes: You would need to pay $7,992 in tax (that includes taking into account the tax free threshold). So $3,000 approx less in your hand.

Split the $1M four ways ($250k each) in four different banks and you are covered by the Govt guarantee. For those saying who has $1M in the bank, spend a lifetime paying off a house and you could easily end up with that if you sold at the end of your career,banked the money and retired to LOS

Situation changes completely if your Oz income is from rental property - then you are far worse off as a non-resident

[expatdreamer]

Official information on the Medicare card:

http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/enablers/medicare/medicare-card/eligibility-for-medicare-card

For the OP the usual reason people become non resident is so that the ATO does not get their hooks into overseas income/savings. If no O/S income then probably better to stay as Oz resident and have the benefit of $18,000 tax free threshold, medicare card, possible (?) pension etc.

On a side note the capital gains on shares sales are non taxable for non residents in case that makes a difference.

Cheers

Highly doubt that capital gains from share sales (or sale of investment property for that matter) would be non taxable for non residents. Capital gains tax must still apply surely.

Granted there would be no tax on fully franked dividends from shares as a non resident

[expatdreamer]

I became an automatic non resident of australia this year,if you have spent the last two years outside the country for more than 186 days of each year it is enforced.

My accountant in oz says benefits are no medicare levy(but no entitlemement to medicare)

only 10% tax on interest in banks

No tax on fully franked dividends

any foriegn income is not taxed in australia,so can have shares/investments outside of oz and only have to comply with local tax laws.

disadvantages are no tax threshold, its a flat tax of 39% on all income up to $80 000

this includes rental income from houses

no medicare,if i get sick i am not entitled to medicare for 12months on return,

She told me the departments do talk and anyone who does not abide by this can be caught and heavily fined

I would suggest anyone living here who thinks they can go home for free medical better look into the laws.

believe this is the best summary, although the flat tax is 32.5% on all income up to $80k, then 37% for all income between $80,001 and $180k

And I also believe that eventually it is likely you will get caught out if you claim to be one of the types (resident or non resident) when quite clearly you are the other

[machans88]

Official information on the Medicare card:

http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/enablers/medicare/medicare-card/eligibility-for-medicare-card

For the OP the usual reason people become non resident is so that the ATO does not get their hooks into overseas income/savings. If no O/S income then probably better to stay as Oz resident and have the benefit of $18,000 tax free threshold, medicare card, possible (?) pension etc.

On a side note the capital gains on shares sales are non taxable for non residents in case that makes a difference.

Cheers

Highly doubt that capital gains from share sales (or sale of investment property for that matter) would be non taxable for non residents. Capital gains tax must still apply surely.

Granted there would be no tax on fully franked dividends from shares as a non resident

From what i have been told as long as you have less than a 10% interest in a business,as in share,s you pay no capital gains on sale of shares,this would of course apply to 99.9% of share holders,unless you have a huge stake in a single company.This only applies if shares are in a company name

http://www.bantacs.com.au/booklets/Overseas_Booklet.pdf

Edited May 2, 2013 by machans88

[Litlos]

Official information on the Medicare card:

http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/enablers/medicare/medicare-card/eligibility-for-medicare-card

For the OP the usual reason people become non resident is so that the ATO does not get their hooks into overseas income/savings. If no O/S income then probably better to stay as Oz resident and have the benefit of $18,000 tax free threshold, medicare card, possible (?) pension etc.

On a side note the capital gains on shares sales are non taxable for non residents in case that makes a difference.

Cheers

Highly doubt that capital gains from share sales (or sale of investment property for that matter) would be non taxable for non residents. Capital gains tax must still apply surely.

Granted there would be no tax on fully franked dividends from shares as a non resident

Does seem a bit strange I admit. However I back checked this with my accountant last year as a specific question, the answer was yes no CGT on shares.

This extract from ATO page "On or after 12 December 2006, a foreign resident makes capital gains only on the disposal of taxable Australian property".

Page here http://www.ato.gov.au/businesses/content/64155.htm

The other interesting one for Oz tax is operating losses can be carried forward, so my losses on rental properties can be carried forward until used.

Cheers

[samran]

Not sure why people are saying you lost medicare. The rules say that after 5 years away you lose eligibility. The flip side is, the second you decide to return, it is yours again.

Paying/not paying the medicare levy has nothing to do with it. It is an entitlement of all Australian citizens and PR's and some foreigners who are in OZ from countries with whom Australia has reciprocal arrangements.

[machans88]

Not sure why people are saying you lost medicare. The rules say that after 5 years away you lose eligibility. The flip side is, the second you decide to return, it is yours again.

Paying/not paying the medicare levy has nothing to do with it. It is an entitlement of all Australian citizens and PR's and some foreigners who are in OZ from countries with whom Australia has reciprocal arrangements.

Actually it seems you may be right i was getting confused with having private health care in oz,i had to cancel it because i no longer pay the medicare levy,which helps offset private health 75% medicare paid 25% insurance company pays,

It does seem after doing some online research that i can still access free treatment if needed and save on the levy..

[Litlos]

I did not cancel my private health insurance in Aust as may go back one day (and have my property insurance through HBF). What I did was put it in suspension as no longer in Aust. This was the recommended action from HBF and costs me nothing per annum, but maintains my private health insurance coverage date back to original in case I go back. Hence avoiding the high charges on restarting health insurance.

This thread is bringing out some good information on Aust tax considerations. Anyone else up for asking George about maintaining a pinned topic on Aust tax rules?

Cheers

[ghworker2010]

I did not cancel my private health insurance in Aust as may go back one day (and have my property insurance through HBF). What I did was put it in suspension as no longer in Aust. This was the recommended action from HBF and costs me nothing per annum, but maintains my private health insurance coverage date back to original in case I go back. Hence avoiding the high charges on restarting health insurance.

This thread is bringing out some good information on Aust tax considerations. Anyone else up for asking George about maintaining a pinned topic on Aust tax rules?

Cheers

I suspended my health ins like this many yrs ago and tried to re-instate it a few months ago when returning. they wanted to see a record of my immigration movements- 3 hours waiting at immigration in syd. Then they basically said that because I did not re-instate the insurance the last time I visited oz (2 yrs ago) that I could not simply re-instate the insurance now. all of the waiting periods would be applied to me.

[machans88]

I did not cancel my private health insurance in Aust as may go back one day (and have my property insurance through HBF). What I did was put it in suspension as no longer in Aust. This was the recommended action from HBF and costs me nothing per annum, but maintains my private health insurance coverage date back to original in case I go back. Hence avoiding the high charges on restarting health insurance.

This thread is bringing out some good information on Aust tax considerations. Anyone else up for asking George about maintaining a pinned topic on Aust tax rules?

Cheers

i suspended mine as well for three years ,thats where a bit of my confusion came in

,12months wait for a claim after i re join,

i assumed not paying the levy meant loss of medicare,but everything i have read tonight doesn't support my assumption