Tax on money transfer

[KPG]

Hello,

If all goes well, then my family and I are planning to move to Adelaide in the month of Aug - Sept 2018 and have a few concerns / questions on money transfers.

• can one open a bank account from overseas, i.e. before arriving in Adelaide? If so then how do we go about it? (Money transfer from UAE, Qatar)
• any recommendations on banks? Some with low service charges etc?
• is the transferred money taxed? If so then what %

Appreciate any other additional info that you may think is useful.

 

Thank you.

 

KPG

[snifter]

Should be fine to open an account overseas. The 4 main banks should all offer that. 

We don't use bank to bank transfers as costs to much and rubbish rates. We use a forex which is better rate and no fees. 

Money is not taxed that I am aware of. 

[KPG]

bump

 

[Andrew from Vista Financial]

On ‎4‎/‎01‎/‎2018 at 11:21 PM, snifter said:

Should be fine to open an account overseas. The 4 main banks should all offer that. 

We don't use bank to bank transfers as costs to much and rubbish rates. We use a forex which is better rate and no fees. 

Money is not taxed that I am aware of. 

Hey KPG

It seems that Snifter has answered your questions already however just to clarify the tax situation on monies that you bring with you to Australia when you emigrate....no it is not taxed.

Regards

Andy

[Heisenberg]

Hello KPG,

I made the move with my family from UAE to Adelaide last month. Here is what I have done:

- From uae I opened an account online at Commonwealth Bank.

- I did a little research on conversion/transfer rates and found that UAE exchange are cheaper, so I transferred and exchanged through them.

This is my first post on the forum, it feels good to start by giving a helping hand. 

[KPG]

@Heisenberg thank you for the feedback, appreciate it. Congrats on your move to Adelaide and all the best to you.

I would like to catch up with you with some more queries as you would be the best person to advise since you recently moved to Oz and were in UAE too.

What made you choose Commonwaealth Bank? On which visa did you migrate? How did you arrange for an accommodation?

  I hope things are shaping up the way you want them to. To be honest I will develop cold feet when the time comes.

[Heisenberg]

Well sure not the best, but I will help as much as I can. 

-ComBank? No specific reason other than the online immigrant account and their presence in every city.

-Visa subclass190

-Finding a permanent accommodation is a hassle but many posts arround this forum are very useful. I am still in a hotel at the moment ?.

[NicF]

It doesn't really matter which bank you start with as you can always change to a different one later.  We started with ANZ but switch to Commonwealth as we got a mortgage with them.  Other people start with NAB or Westpac.  Just pick one to open an account with and then once you are here and settled you can look in to it more.  There are lots of smaller places that you might find meet your needs more once you are here but the big four are good for opening an account before you get here.

[KPG]

On 1/8/2018 at 3:25 AM, Andrew from Vista Financial said:

Hey KPG

It seems that Snifter has answered your questions already however just to clarify the tax situation on monies that you bring with you to Australia when you emigrate....no it is not taxed.

Regards

Andy

Thank you @Andrew from Vista Financial

[KPG]

6 hours ago, NicF said:

It doesn't really matter which bank you start with as you can always change to a different one later.  We started with ANZ but switch to Commonwealth as we got a mortgage with them.  Other people start with NAB or Westpac.  Just pick one to open an account with and then once you are here and settled you can look in to it more.  There are lots of smaller places that you might find meet your needs more once you are here but the big four are good for opening an account before you get here.

Yes @NicF makes sense. Thank you