Australian Tax Shock!

[trigz]

I am an Australian and have resided in Thailand for 6 years on Non-Immig O Retirement Visa...and have each year lodged my tax return via an online tax agent to the Austn Taxation Office. My status has always been lodged as a Resident for Tax Purposes.

I have just received this message from the tax agent dealing with my tax return this year :

"Thank you for your information, based on your situation, you are not a resident for the taxation purposes. your estimated tax owed to the ATO is $4,714.13. Please note, the ATO calculation may differ from our estimate because they may have information on file that we are unaware of."

No, I don't own any property in Australia. I am an ex-government employee and receive superannuation payments from ComSuper . They will not pay funds into an overseas account.

Have any Aussie retirees been faced with this situation and if there is a way around this ? Thoughts & advice appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[steveromagnino]

I am an Australian and have resided in Thailand for 6 years on Non-Immig O Retirement Visa...and have each year lodged my tax return via an online tax agent to the Austn Taxation Office. My status has always been lodged as a Resident for Tax Purposes.

I have just received this message from the tax agent dealing with my tax return this year :

"Thank you for your information, based on your situation, you are not a resident for the taxation purposes. your estimated tax owed to the ATO is $4,714.13. Please note, the ATO calculation may differ from our estimate because they may have information on file that we are unaware of."

No, I don't own any property in Australia. I am an ex-government employee and receive superannuation payments from ComSuper . They will not pay funds into an overseas account.

Have any Aussie retirees been faced with this situation and if there is a way around this ? Thoughts & advice appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

I receive income from a family trust in Australia as a nonresident for tax purposes. It could be to do with resident withholding tax which as a resident you can claim back AFAIK for dividend income but in my case I cannot; however the lack of income tax at the Aussie rates makes up for it. I think I have this right, an accountant takes care of it (I hope).

As a non tax resident (which you aren't since the test for Aussie and Kiwi is AFAIK 180 days in the country per year period) you are not able to get refunds, but you also don't have to pay tax on income. As a superannuitant, you might be able to fill a tax return here, and claim back tax under the thai system, as the two countries AFAIK have a tax treaty, but to be honest, this has me stumped as I am almost 30 years too young to have to worry about it.

And of course...have to mention...well done with the womens' basketball, pity your lads aren't any good at rugby!

Edited September 26, 2006 by steveromagnino

[samran]

there's a test on the ATO website you can do to determine your status. That'd be a good starting point.

[Crushdepth]

Whether or not you are a resident (for Australian tax purposes) is determined by how long you spent in Australia in the financial year, you can't 'choose'. I think 180 days in Oz = you pay them tax. There is a taxation treaty with Thailand so if you are liable to pay tax to the Thai government you don't have to pay Oz (ie. you don't get double taxed).

However, even if you are a non-resident for Oz taxation purposes, you still have to pay tax on income earned in Australia (eg. if you have investments or draw some other income there). You also don't get the benefit of the sliding tax scale. I think they make you pay a minimum of 33% on any income you earn there starting from the first dollar. Basically the Oz system is designed such that you cannot win

What really shits me is that I've been out of the country for so long I can't even vote anymore, so I don't even get a say in how they spend the money. So much for democracy!

[think_too_mut]

I have been in Japan for over 3 years now and never had to pay a cent in taxes to ATO.

Since year 1 I have been relieved of submitting my tax returns. A colleague of mine engaged an agent to sort his tax out, the guy was wrong, advised that tax return must be submitted, charged for it but it was not needed.

Until....I moved a chunk of money to an Oz bank into a 5.8% interest account. Every month, knowing that my residence is outside of Oz, the bank witholds 10% of the due interst and sends it to ATO.

[Farma]

I was under the impression you had to apply to the Tax department for “non resident for taxation purposes” status. If the ATO department agreed, you would then change to non resident status for tax purposes.

Have the rules changed to allow a Tax agent decide this on your behalf? My accountant doesn’t seem to think so.

[simcity]

trigz

sorry for your bad news :

link for :

http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content....ntent/64131.htm