Aussie expat - New to ETFs , tax info?

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SignificantG
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Mar 14, 2021 5:04 am

Aussie expat - New to ETFs , tax info?

Post by SignificantG »

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
SR7
Posts: 106
Joined: Fri May 15, 2020 4:06 am
Location: Down Under

Re: Aussie expat - New to ETFs , tax info?

Post by SR7 »

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.
I studied Physics not Finance, so best to ignore anything I say about money.
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andrew99999
Posts: 1021
Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2018 8:14 pm

Re: Aussie expat - New to ETFs , tax info?

Post by andrew99999 »

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.
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