Husband working in Australia advice

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My husband is looking into working in Australia. A long term plan may be - in the distant future - to live over there , all of us ( I am in a skilled trade , so is he ) .

There is a role he could do that would pay very high , he would go over for maybe 2 months then back for 2 weeks at a time . The wage would be better - less tax. — and could help us to get out of debt. It’s early days and there is a lot to think of .

My question is how does this work for UC purposes ? Would Australia still declare the income the same ? This would mean we probably wouldn’t get anything , but I would like to keep it open in case that work stopped . People have said he wouldn’t actually live here - but , we would still be married and he would be contributing ( sending me money for bills ) and I couldn’t say he didn’t live here as he would still be on the tenancy , my landord wouldn’t allow me to live here alone I don’t think , my wage can be low as I only work part time at the moment due to children . I’m not worried about not getting any UC but I wouldn’t want to just close the claim until we needed to , as it’s a pain setting it up again . Some have said it would be spousal income but I don’t think it would as even though we’re not living together all the time as he would mainly be in Australia, he would still be on the tenancy and it wouldn’t be fair to claim as single when I’m benefiting from his income. I have children , he is not the father .

To clarify - I’m not asking how to cheat the system and pretend I’m single I’m asking the opposite !

Also , tax is lower there and he would be paid by an Australian company , not a U.K. company but would he still be taxed here on it ?

Just want some advice and to make sure it actually will be beneficial as it’s a big change and a big sacrifice for us as a family and I don’t want to do it if we’re only slightly better off as it’s not worth the sacrifice but if it’s a massive difference that could help us clear debt and maybe buy a house here if I didn’t want to move there ( I’m not sold on moving there at the minute , it wouldn’t be for a very long time if we did )

thank you

Australia and the UK do have mutual tax obligations. You need qualified advice.

Remember that whatever his pay rate is to halve it for exchange rate purposes.

And a swing of eight weeks on, two weeks off (which would be one week with you once flights, other travel is taken into account) is not considered family friendly.

I think you will need to get tax advice from an accountant with relevant experience.
I don’t think the tax situation would be that different really, if you include the Medicare levy.
especially if you factor in 5-6 x return flights to Aus.

Also his living expenses in Aus (even if he is FIFO he will have time off-rotation)
What would his visa situation be?

Not sure on visa - he knows I don’t fully understand .

flights are paid / subsidised

accomodation is provided

No it’s not family friendly - it would be a massive sacrifice for a few years but worth it if it would benefit us in a significant way in the long run, not if it doesn’t .

Get yourself understood. This is not a decision to be taken blindly.

Print out every letter and attachment he has and read them. Then go to an accountant - I googled https://www.rosekirk.co.uk/what-we-do. Then read some more.

Take advice on the tax situation, as it's really complicated, and with resident family in the UK, he could still end up paying tax in the UK

This is my concern . If we’re only slightly better off then it is not worth it .

I worked with quite a few Australian, NZ and SA colleagues who did the reverse 20-30 years ago.

They came to London, worked as Consultants and because the Exchange Rate was so favourable and their property prices relatively low, could earn enough to make considerable inroads to their mortgage debts back home.

Not one of their marriages survived.

I would suggest your plans need massive of thought and a real understanding of the tax situation that would apply.

Thank you .

We are only at the point of simply discussing it at the moment . It’s obviously not something that would happen imminently and would certainly get advice

Thank you

Yes , it’s certainly a massive change and not one to go into lightly . I do think we have a strong marriage but living in different countries is something that would surely place a big strain on our marriage . As I say we are only at the point of just discussing it , I guess at this stage it’s more hypothetical. A lot needs to be considered

He has worked away before , limited time back home and we did ok. But this is a lot different . He stopped because the financial benefits , whilst good , weren’t good enough to warrant the time apart .

I was offered a project in Aus last year, albeit one that ended up being relocated.

The advice we got was to go as a family - the consultant advised that the families who separate and don’t both move don’t survive.

We’d have filled out an A1, I think it is, which means HMRC can see the tax paid in Aus, and it keeps your UK tax & NI up to date. So you pay Australian tax, but because of the mutual agreement, it’s just declared here rather than more being due (in our situation, at least).

UC will be complicated. They’ll have visibility of his income, but I’d imagine they’d consider him to stop being resident at some point, and that could get difficult for you. You may lose your entitlement to any elements for him, but still have his income counted.

Have they clarified how many flights they’d provide? In my experience, it’s usually two a year, but you can sometimes negotiate an extra one or two. I’d also want to be sure what is paid for and what is subsidised. If he needs to fly back and forwards seven times a year, that’ll be costly.

Is the accommodation family-friendly? Could it be? Has he got a visa?

Have a look at this - it will help you work out what the likelihood of paying tax in the UK - the time he can spend in the day will be very restricted

For example looking at the substantive ties tests on outbound, he will meet 3/5 of these at least, and with 3 UK ties he has to spend less than 45 days in the UK in a tax year to be non resident

https://assets.kpmg.com/content/dam/kpmg/pdf/2016/01/statutory-residence-test-flowchart.pdf

Where is this job? Perth?

he would go over for maybe 2 months then back for 2 weeks at a time

I’m in Aus and no way I’d do that. Sounds a nightmare and I’d spend the 2 months counting down to the horror of enduring the flight again (don’t mind flying, just dislike the long distance and the fact planes/airports tend to make the average person act like an utter fuckwit these days).

However, I’ve had many friends and acquaintances do long distance marriage as you are talking about. Usually, the spouse at home with kids at school goes over with the kids for the 6week school holiday break and otherwise the other person comes back twice a year for a fortnight at a time. Most people find this fine over a few years, two seems to pose no issues but I’ve known people to do it for three and it works. For those with kids in uni/moved out they tend to work it by meeting up more frequently but at a place in the middle or half decent destination doing 4 x one week each year, seems to work well also.

This is a massively complex area and you really do need proper tax advice to even consider. From a UK perspective there are many elements to the term resident - tax, driving licence, NHS, various insurances, stamp duty all have various rules.

The only way to not pay tax on worldwide income is to be non UK resident for tax purposes . If non tax resident you can only spend a limited amount of time in the UK each tax year. The amount of time varies according to individual circumstances . In the very first instance someone needs to live outside the UK for at least one complete tax year in order to qualify as being non tax resident. This means if you leave on 7th April you have to be outside the UK for almost 2 years, if you leave on 5th April it's a year and a day. If that condition is not met then all worldwide income is taxable in the UK.

There are residency rules for automatically non resident, automatically resident and the ties rules which are a good starting point. A UK driving licence is linked to residency so if not resident for 185 days or more per year it's not legal to drive on a UK licence in the UK. Access to NHS services other than emergency care are linked to UK residency and things like car and house insurance are more often than not based on UK residency.

Basically you can't get the benefits of being non resident for tax purposes without the draw backs that brings. UC is possibly the least complicated part of this kind of set up. It's complicated and professional advice should be sought.

I’ve known lots of couples and families who have done this - people working in the military, for humanitarian and aid orgs, who have to go on non family postings for a few months at a time or with R&R cycles like the one you describe. Of course the majority of the marriages survive! Well worth it if you have a definite timeline and together you make enough money to buy a house in the UK.

Thank you everyone .

He has spoke to someone about it today and he has told me that he has been told that it’s actually a U.K. company at first and he would only pay 20% tax . That he wouldn’t have to pay NI I think ?

obviously , again this is still early days . It needs to be looked at properly . He said something about it being that he would have a dual passport and I would too ?

I don’t know - I’ve had a long day at work and it’s overwhelming all this info he’s just given me !

He has said he might have to work a bit more and not come home as often but that we could go over in holidays etc . He knows I don’t want to actually move over there right now . I have children who are not his who have their whole life over here and I’m not willing to uproot that - I don’t actually want to move away from all my family and life either .

Doing it for a year or 2 and being able to clear our debts would be nice . Being able to go out there would be nice , but I think we really need to really look into this ! He said they said they could have him sorted and flown out within 6 weeks and that seems far to soon to me!

It is FIFO if that helps .

I was thinking of putting a post up about FIFO maybe to get advice from those who do / have done it - anyone know where would be best to post this ?

He also said he’s classed as self employed

Join here https://m.facebook.com/groups/1705308029763125/ and run it past this lot.

He said something about it being that he would have a dual passport and I would too?

That doesn't sound right at all. Maybe eventually he would be eligible to apply for citizenship but not straight away. Unless they've changed the rules recently, which I doubt. It's very hard to get an Australian passport.

Is the father of your DC involved? Will you have issues if you travel/move to Australia?

This sounds rubbish. No one fifi pays only 20% tax, and the uk and Aust cooperate on tax so he will be paying a fair amount. And as a single man, spending a fair amount on his two weeks off. It is also pretty strange to say you will get dual, neither of you will be handed an Australian citizenship until you had been living there for some years.

I agree with @Codlingmoths. It sounds as though your husband is spinning you a yarn, OP, I'm sorry to say.

His company is covering his flights to see you but he is self employed? And it's gone from flying back for a fortnight every 2 months to he might have to work a bit more and fly home less to make (more? enough?) money? So the original hours he was going to work wouldn't have provided enough financial benefit to do this madcap plan. If he has to rely on doing extra hours and reducing his time with you already then that sounds financially precarious. This job sounds sketchy.

The whole idea is either pie in the sky or he is spinning you a yarn and wants to move but doesn't want to be the "bad guy" and break up with you. I say wants to move, yet he sounds a bit foolish and even if he did end things with you I'm skeptical that he'd actually make it to Australia.

Don't allow someone to bamboozle you or to do a big info dump and cloud your thinking, OP. Keep a clear head.