Ever wondered what happens when you are leaving the country?
If you are leaving Australia permanently consider the capital gains effect on some of your assets, you super and health insurance.
Capital Gains if you cease to be an Australian resident while overseas,
- The ATO will deem some of your assets (generally those not considered taxable Australian property) to have been disposed of for CGT purposes.
- This may mean you become liable to pay CGT.
- You can choose not to have this deemed disposal apply.
- When you do eventually dispose of the asset, the whole period of ownership is taken into account, including any period when you’re not an Australian resident, when they calculate a gain or loss for CGT purposes.
Your super if you are an Australian citizen or permanent resident heading overseas,
- your superannuation remains subject to the same rules, even if you are leaving Australia permanently.
- This means you can’t access your super until you reach preservation age and retire, or satisfy another condition of release.
Cancelling private health insurance
- The Medicare levy surcharge applies to Australian residents who have incomes above the surcharge thresholds and do not have an appropriate level of private patient hospital cover.
- So, if you cancel your private health insurance while travelling overseas, you may be liable for the Medicare levy surcharge if your income exceeds the relevant threshold.
- You should contact your health fund to work out the amount of premium you expect to save by cancelling or suspending your cover i.e. by comparing it to the surcharge you may have to pay.
General Advice warning: the information in this article is general in nature, it is not advice specific to your needs. If you want to act upon the information in this article then you should seek advice from a qualified professional. VJC WM accepts no liability to any party for acting from this information unless they have sought advice in a formal engagement with VJC WM for this purpose.
