Transferring money to a British bank account from overseas

llall86

Hi,

I have an Australian bank account with Westpac and a British bank account with Santander. I hold a British passport and I am a British citizen for tax purposes.

My Westpac account has over $8000 (over £5000) that I wish to transfer to my Santander account. What's likely to be the cheapest way to do this? Should I be looking at companies like HiFX?

Also, the money in my Australian account was earned and taxed whilst I was working over there. Will I have to pay any additional tax when I transfer it to my British account?

grumbler

http://www.mycurrencytransfer.com/money-transfer-to-UK/8000-AUD

Re the taxation, I am no expert, but I think such thing like "British citizen for tax purposes" doesn't exist. AFAIK, it's the residency that matters, not the citizenship.

rjrs0510

i work abroad for part of the year and transfer money to my UK account every month. As the money is taxed in the country I earn it, I am not taxed in the UK. I transfer from my bank overseas and the fee is around $30. Its a flat fee, not dependent on the amount I send. Just ask the bank clerk in Australia. For me, as long as I can prove I earned the income, banks have no problems transferring the money. Generally if I transfer, it shows up in my nationwide account the next day.
Hope this helps!

grumbler

rjrs0510 wrote: »

... Its a flat fee, not dependent on the amount I send....

You certainly are losing on the currency exchange as well. My guess is 2-3%.

robatwork

I have used Xendpay to send money abroad and avoided the bank's usurious rates. Can't comment on the other way however but may be worth a look.

The only issue is while your money is in transit you are having to trust them - if they go under then your money could go with them. They only had my money for a few hours however, and it wasn't much