Lifting Australian superannuation whilst in the UK

nerdyhillbilly

We are dual citizens, Aus/UK, and have our superannuation in Australia having lived and worked there for 5 years. Are there any tips on tax efficiency when taking our super back to the UK? It is liable to income tax here but we wondered if there was any relief offered. HMRC are pretty useless at answering questions on tax rules and tax advice firms are charging £3000 which is pretty hefty! We also think that we could go and live in Australia for over 5 years, after that we could head back and our money would not be taxed in UK. Anyone done anything similar? Any useful info? 

pinnks

Why do you think there would be relief on foreign income received by a UK resident, unless the double taxation treaty between the UK and AUS awards taxing right to the paying country and not the country of residence?

And why do you think that moving to AUS for 5 years and then returning would mean your money would not be taxed in the UK?  If you are tax resident in the UK then it has the right to tax your worldwide income, subject to that being overridden by a tax treaty.  The same applies if you are tax resident in AUS.  So if you cease to be resident in one country and begin to be resident in another there are tax consequences but income doesn't suddenly become tax free. 

squashtraveller

The issue is one of both residency status and your age. If you were resident in Australia for tax purposes and over the qualifiying age, I understand you could take your super tax free. However, if you (as it seems) are a UK tax resident, you should expect that HMRC will want to take its share! I also understand there may be schemes that would allow you to transfer the $ from Australia to the UK into a pension fund; but you need professional advice for this. good luck. 

Yorkie1

I do remember that others have posted about taking AUS pensions - might be worth doing a board search, if you haven't already done so