# Taxation laws australians moving to Dubai



## grinding (May 30, 2008)

I have heard a few things regarding investment properties for Australians moving to Dubai and one of those is that you are not permitted to own any investment houses if you move to Dubai. Does anyone know anymore about this? Also is it true you are not permitted to work in Australia for at least 6 months on your return? Is there a guide you can buy that will cover all these types of questions?? Any help would be appreciated!!!


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## flossie (Jun 9, 2008)

Not true on both counts.

We have two investment properties in Australia. You cannot maintain a home in Australia. So if you move you would either have to sell the house you are living in (presuming you own it) or rent it out or have it available to rent for the whole time you are living overseas.

You have to INTEND to reside outside of Australia for a minimum of two years. You are generally not allowed to have any dependants living in Australia to be considered a non-resident for tax purposes. 

You should limit your travel to Australia to a maximum of 4 trips a year.

You have to notify all banks, super funds, investment funds etc that you will be a non-resident for tax purposes. You will be taxed on any dividends or interest earned at the rate for non-residents.

You can return to work in Australia at any time. You do not have to wait 6 months after your return.

There are alot of myths floating around regarding Australians working in Dubai, so my advice is to contact an accountant who HAS EXPERIENCE IN OFFSHORE TAXATION FOR AUSTRALIANS. The last bit is very importants.

Here is a useful link: calculators dot ato dot gov dot au/scripts/axos/axos.asp?CONTEXT=&KBS=Resident.XR4&go=ok]Tax Tools
There is alot of information on the ATO website.

It won't let me post a URL, so I hope you can figure out how to get to it.

Hope this helps.


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## grinding (May 30, 2008)

Flossie

Thanks that helps heaps. Yes we do own our house outright so we were going to rent it out. I will look at the ATO. Thanks again.


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## grinding (May 30, 2008)

Flossie

Thanks that helps heaps. We do own our house and were going to rent it for the 2 or so years we are away. I will also go to the ATO website now. Thanks again much appreciated.


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## bonk (Jun 13, 2008)

flossie said:


> There are alot of myths floating around regarding Australians working in Dubai, so my advice is to contact an accountant who HAS EXPERIENCE IN OFFSHORE TAXATION FOR AUSTRALIANS. The last bit is very importants.


True enough in any expat environment for any nationality.

People often make the mistake of misinterpreting tax guidelines, for example, the Australian Tax Office might state:

_If you reside in Australia more than 6 months in a tax year, you will be declared resident for tax purposes_ ....

but that becomes

... _If you are in Australia for less than 6 months a year you don't have to worry about being declared resident for tax purposes_ - at expat BBQ & beer tax advice sessions .

Note the 6 month figure is an arbitrary one I made up. But you get the picture. Here's a general expat tax guide.


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## flossie (Jun 9, 2008)

That's so funny. The 'best' advice I got was in someone's shed in the back yard of Oz over a few beers. This guy had never even left Western Australia in his life, but hey!! He knew everything there was to know about the tax implications of living in Dubai and how many millions we were going to make within a year. Puhlease!!!!


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