Returning expats and families coming home
Just moved back to Australia? Let's get your tax sorted.
Coming home is a big move, and tax is usually the last thing on the list. Then the first return arrives with questions nobody prepared you for. I'll work through them with you, in plain English.
One fixed fee, agreed in writing before I start.
- "My employer used to pay for my tax, and that's stopped."
- You still have a property, accounts or shares overseas.
- You're not sure what counts from overseas, or from when.
- You've never needed a tax adviser of your own before.
"My employer used to pay for my tax, and that's stopped."
Overseas, a big firm probably did your returns as part of the package. You filled in a questionnaire, someone else worried about it, and you never needed an adviser of your own.
Now you do, and the first year back matters most, because it sets up how everything you brought home is treated from here on. You'll deal with me directly. I'll ask the right questions once, and explain the answers in plain English.
Your first year back
If you're an Australian resident for tax purposes, you declare all the income you earn in Australia and overseas on your Australian return, even if you've already paid tax on it overseas.
The year you come back is often a part year, and that changes how the year is worked out. Exactly when your residency started isn't always obvious: the ATO uses four tests, and the answer depends on your facts. I work through it with you, rather than assuming.
Income and money still overseas
Rent from a property you kept, interest on an overseas bank account, dividends, and pensions or annuities from overseas funds can all be foreign income you need to declare.
If you've paid tax overseas on it, you may be able to claim a foreign income tax offset, as long as you have records showing the tax was paid. Everything has to be converted to Australian dollars, and because most countries' tax years don't end on 30 June, foreign income can need reporting across more than one Australian return.
Overseas retirement accounts have their own rules, and I check each one on its own facts rather than lumping them together.
Shares and property you brought home
If you bought an overseas asset before you became an Australian resident, you generally treat it as if you acquired it on the day you became a resident. That's why the ATO says to keep a record of what it was worth at that point, and it notes this is a complex area where exemptions may apply.
In plain English: what your overseas shares and property were worth around the day you came back can matter a lot when you sell, possibly years from now. Getting it on file in your first year is far easier than rebuilding it later.
Shares from an overseas employer that keep vesting after you're home are their own topic: see how restricted stock units (RSUs) and employee shares are taxed.
How I work with you
- You send an enquiry: when you came back, where from, and what you still hold overseas.
- I reply personally with a short list of what I need. One list, not a drip feed.
- You get a fixed fee in writing before I start.
- I prepare your return, explain what each overseas item did to it, and you approve it before I lodge.
- If you'd like, I keep looking after it each year, with a planning session before 30 June.
Moving back to Australia: questions
It depends on your residency and your income in those years, and it's worth checking rather than assuming. Send me what you know and I'll tell you where you stand.
Not necessarily. Tax paid overseas on foreign income may entitle you to a foreign income tax offset, if you have records showing it was paid. The offset isn't always the same as the tax you paid, so I work out what you can actually claim.
If you're an Australian resident for tax purposes, generally yes. Interest from overseas bank deposits is on the ATO's list of foreign income to declare.
Yes. This is a large part of what I do, and you deal with the CPA preparing your return, not a team you never meet.
Just home, and not sure where to start?
Tell me when you came back and what you still hold overseas. I'll reply personally with what I'd suggest and a fixed fee.
Send me an enquiry