Australian tax residency changes

[PNGMK]

https://youtu.be/C1UyJxt1o7s

Seems it's catching a few folks out.

Seems some Aussies have been playing a bit hard and fast pretending to be real expats and flitting back and forth and risk getting caught out including one of former PMs sons.

The Smats guy is just annoyed because now he can't play both sides (low tax here and commuting to Oz routinely for less than 89 days). It was people like him who brought this on.

You're either an Australian resident or an expat now. Not something in between and these PT (perpetual tourists) and digital nomads will just have to deal with it rather than bouncing around trying to pretend they are not tax resident anywhere at all.

Covid19 has wiped a lot out of DN and PT already but this finishes the idea of being a 100% tax free nomad Aussie who spends substantial time back in Oz.

However in the words of a much smarter man than I:

"Tax reform?
Yes, I knew about it - they are threatening to reduce days in AU to 40 after which you are deemed resident

Implications?
-Australians don't come back for business /trade

-Australian expat spend less time in Australia spending their expat income and go to Europe for holidays instead

Both crap outcomes for Australia

If they expect a windfall from people that live offshore to minimise tax and expect them to say going to say "oh well" and start paying AU tax - they are more stupid that I thought

What moron thinks this stuff up? "

[Wd40]

Australia is also giving out PRs faster to people who are in the country, right now. My sister moved to Melbourne 4 years ago and she just got her PR. Here I am waiting since 2009.

[smoulder]

Australia is also giving out PRs faster to people who are in the country, right now. My sister moved to Melbourne 4 years ago and she just got her PR. Here I am waiting since 2009.

I have a friend with barely 5 years of total work experience at the time. If I recall correctly, she was in some kind of voice based tech support, so not niche skills at all. Degree in engineering from India. Never set foot in Australia and she applied for a PR there, was successful and moved to Sydney. It took her barely a month to land a job. This was a few years ago. But I was quite surprised by how easy it was for her.

[PNGMK]

Australia is also giving out PRs faster to people who are in the country, right now. My sister moved to Melbourne 4 years ago and she just got her PR. Here I am waiting since 2009.

Australia has an open and honest immigration system and needs the migrants.

[Wd40]

Australia is also giving out PRs faster to people who are in the country, right now. My sister moved to Melbourne 4 years ago and she just got her PR. Here I am waiting since 2009.

Australia has an open and honest immigration system and needs the migrants.

Yeah, they also have this bridge visa thingy. If you are in the country on a visa and you apply PR and you lost your job, you can apply for a bridge visa and continue working or even change employers while your PR application is in process. My sister lost her job during the pandemic while on visa and through this bridge visa, she found another job and all the while she could stay in the country and also get her PR. I was like wow, what a country!

Here in Singapore, you have 30 days to pack your bags if you lose your job and if you have applied for PR, your PR application gets cancelled. How silly is that? I mean just because you lost your current job, you are not worthy of getting a PR?

I am not complaining since all this is known and we signed up for this deal. But I am just comparing and contrasting the 2 very different systems.

[PNGMK]

Go to Oz WD40. Don't wait.

[Wd40]

Go to Oz WD40. Don't wait.

Its too late for me now. At 41, I have already chosen my path(or rather the path has chosen me) and I have no appetite to move to a new country now and start all over again. The fact that I didnt get PR means, I didnt grow any roots here and I saved up enough to be able to retire early in India. A PR would have meant the buying HDB and working here for another 10 more years to see my daughter's education through over the local school system, the whole PSLE thing etc and then hopefully through university over here and for her to be able to settledown in SG. Now that path is closed. So I will have to leave it to my daughter to find her own path. Whether it is in India or whether she can make it on her own in another developed country. My and my wife's life is already kind of "locked in" and set now.

[bro75]

For IT and software engineers, Australia seems a good immigration destination. Is there any semiconductor or electronics industry in Australia? I have heard from some electronics engineer who moved there, that you will have to start at the bottom as a technician.

[PNGMK]

No. The only work for EEE in oz of any significance is control systems and instrumentation work on mines. No significant electronics domestic manufacturing or research or development left.