Australian born but have been working abroad for a few years now. So, foreign/non resident for tax purposes means I'm paying 32.5cents in tax for every dollar I generate from my ETFs (such as dividends).
Currently own VGS/NDQ
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as I'd like to pay less tax
Aussie expat - New to ETFs , tax info?
Re: Aussie expat - New to ETFs , tax info?
As an Australian non-resident can you have a superannuation fund? I’m no expert, but a bit of googling says yes.
You could possibly make tax savings buy contributing your ETF dividends to your super fund. I would speak to a tax advisor, as I’m not sure of the details.
Google produced this page
https://www.moneymanagement.com.au/feat ... x-purposes
Edit, on reading more of the link given, it says “A non-resident’s income from interest, dividends and royalties is subject to withholding tax. This income is excluded from the non-resident’s assessable income under Australian tax law and therefore cannot be offset by a deduction.”
So I was probably wrong about super helping.
You could possibly make tax savings buy contributing your ETF dividends to your super fund. I would speak to a tax advisor, as I’m not sure of the details.
Google produced this page
https://www.moneymanagement.com.au/feat ... x-purposes
Edit, on reading more of the link given, it says “A non-resident’s income from interest, dividends and royalties is subject to withholding tax. This income is excluded from the non-resident’s assessable income under Australian tax law and therefore cannot be offset by a deduction.”
So I was probably wrong about super helping.
I studied Physics not Finance, so best to ignore anything I say about money.
- andrew99999
- Posts: 1021
- Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2018 8:14 pm
Re: Aussie expat - New to ETFs , tax info?
If you are a non-resident (you need to check this carefully with an accountant who specialises in this), then:
Specifically for shares (not property) where you do not own more than 10% of the company:
• for any shares you purchased and the whole time you owned them, you were not a tax resident of Australia, you do not pay either capital gains tax or income tax on dividends to the ATO (check your country of residency, though).
• for any shares you purchased while a tax resident of Australia and have not paid out CGT (either paying CGT in a tax return or selling your shares and paying the CGT), you continue to accrue CGT unnecessarily. So I would pay out your CGT.
Two accountants told me this, but it is worth speaking to your own account to check everything.
Specifically for shares (not property) where you do not own more than 10% of the company:
• for any shares you purchased and the whole time you owned them, you were not a tax resident of Australia, you do not pay either capital gains tax or income tax on dividends to the ATO (check your country of residency, though).
• for any shares you purchased while a tax resident of Australia and have not paid out CGT (either paying CGT in a tax return or selling your shares and paying the CGT), you continue to accrue CGT unnecessarily. So I would pay out your CGT.
Two accountants told me this, but it is worth speaking to your own account to check everything.