Hello,
I am currently in the process of emigrating to Brisbane from the UK. I retired from the Royal Navy, after 23 years service, on a full Naval pension. I have read, in an Austrailian guide, that if I transfer it within 6 mnths of arriving in Aus it becomes tax free. Does anyone know if this is true?

Thanks in advance.

Brum.

That would be nice! Unfortunately MOD Pensions from UK are taxable in Australia - I speak from experience being the holder of an Army pension.

Thanx Hussar,
I need to chase it up with the tax office over here first. Have e-mailed the author of the book in question and he states it becomes tax free - thought it was too good to be true!
Brum

Just to complete the set and give the RAF point of view....I rang up and spoke to a bloke at the Aus tax office to query a paragraph on the Australian Tax Webpage that stated "certain military pensions were exempt from tax". Turns out that it applies to 'war' (and I'm talking 1939-1945 type war) pensions and stuff like that. What I haven''t sussed out yet is can you get your military pension paid direct into an Aus bank account?
I've spent 25 years in the mob, made it to WO only to find that I don't really enjoy it anymore..the higher up you get the more boring and frustrating it seems to be, so I applied for a job with Qantas based at Richmond, near Sydney, got selected, and start on 9th Jan 06....AND I CANNOT WAIT!!

Nice one Gaz,
Cant wait to move myself.

Would be interested to hear how you get on with transfering your pension direct to an Aus account.

Regards

Brum

No problems with getting your pension paid direct into an Oz bank account. You merely have to pass your bank details (BSB and account number) and it will happen automatically. The money tends to arrive in the first week of the month as opposed to the last day of the month, and the actual amount varies on a monthly basis depending on the prevailing rate of exchange. Hope this helps.

Cheers for that info Hussar, seems to be more tri-service co-operation on this forum than I generally see at work!
Hope your move is progressing well, Brum.

Progressing well ? more like slowly ! Still waiting on wifes nurses registration then it will be all systems go !

if you make sure you get your rn pension paid into an offshore account ie jersey before you migrate & then declare to pay aus tax on it you will only pay tax on the interest gained . take some financial advice from montfort international or alan collet. timing of transfer of pension funds is important. we declared ours but know many who haven't.

As an Aussie tax resident your worldwide income and capital gains are assessable ... where your pension income is paid has no bearing on whether it is taxable in Australia ...

Best regards.

quote:

Originally posted by cornish:
if you make sure you get your rn pension paid into an offshore account ie jersey before you migrate & then declare to pay aus tax on it you will only pay tax on the interest gained . take some financial advice from montfort international or alan collet. timing of transfer of pension funds is important. we declared ours but know many who haven't.