As a temporary resident, when I worked here my employers still had to make super contributions on my behalf. Cool. Now I am departing Australia for good, it turns out I can reclaim all that super back as a cash payment, once I have left and my visa has expired!! Brilliant!! Then I find out it will be taxed at 35% to 45% before they send it to me. Thieving buggers!! I am sure I already paid tax on that money once! I have no idea how to reclaim my taxes once I return to the UK either. I have been using the online tax portal but it is getting rather complicated. My income for the first half of this year cam from multiple places. I was working as a sole trader with an ABN and TFN but also getting payments from a company I previously worked for as a temporary employee. And both stopped 3 or 4 months into the year. How am I supposed to account for a super refund? I have no idea!
Good job you can't roll it over into a Self Managed Super Fund and then invest in physical gold, otherwise all the immigrant workers would just take their gold to the UK and not pay any of the tax that is rightfully owed to the government.
You need specialist advice. Perhaps SS user Redwood might see this and comment? Or send him a PM. You're doing well in able to get some super back. I was told flat out when I returned from the UK that my National Insurance was not refundable or returnable.
Wow. I just spoke to the tax office. I can not claim the tax back from my super. When I do my final tax return I cannot include super repayments as part of my income, nor can I include tax withheld from my super refund as part of my tax paid calculation. In other words, it is just taxed. So I paid 15% on it as it was going in to my super, and I will pay 35% on it as it comes out again. So I am losing 50% of my earnings on this money, whilst only having a tax liability of a few hundred dollars. (I barely had any work this financial year) That is pretty ducked up people!!!!
Yes this is why you need specialist advice in terms of loopholes or somewhere you can park your super. The ATO won't provide advice like that, they just tell you the direction in the way thay want you to go to maximise the tax THEY collect. Super is not included in assessable income or your tax already paid as it is not strictly, technically, your money until you retire and reach the assessable age. It is held in trust and those rules are there to prevent super disappearing from the system. It's not perfect, far from it. Whatever you do don't let it just sit in an account when you go home. After 2 years innactive the government seizes it and spends it.
Hi Shamatti, sorry to hear you are departing Australia! I worked in the states for acouple of years and could not access my employer benefits until I stayed in the US for 5 years, so it is a benefit in order to access your super. The treatment is different for a temporary and permanent resident, and as mentioned above, you may be taxed on your contributions in your fund. It is important to seek advice on your personal situation to find a tax effective strategy. The key is to act quickly as if you dont act within 6 months of leaving Australia, you will be forfeiting the money to the govt. Heres the application http://www.ato.gov.au/Forms/Applying-for-a-Departing-Australia-super-payment/ Hope that helps Cheers, Ivan Filipovic
Nah its not ducked up its governments doing what governments do. Bending you over and driving it home :/ Rather than getting angry or getting mad learn from the experience and return the volley ten fold. I'm not talking about doing anything illegal I'm suggesting that you learn to hoist them on their own petard. Drop me a line and lets chat about your situation. Kind Regards non recourse
