Over recent weeks Mum has been thinking a lot about overseas temporary residents affected by the Australian Government’s Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) reform.

For the uninitiated, the FBT reform proposed changes to the Living Away from Home Allowance (LAFHA) tax concession.

The LAFHA tax concession, often received by overseas temporary residents, is most commonly claimed against the cost of housing. Although it wasn’t intended as a perk for overseas temporary residents, it evolved into an incentive for many international … Read more

For a while Mum has wanted to write about Kinsure, a type of travel insurance that covers emergency travel and accommodation if you urgently need to visit a family member in another country due to sickness or injury. I was going to call the article, “Kinsure, not sure” as I thought it had a good ring to it and I’m not sure whether I’d use this type of insurance.

Whilst I’ve been pondering the possibilities of writing about this unique … Read more

This is a quick update because the latest news has already been published on a number of excellent resources.

On 15th May the Treasury released a further exposure draft relating to the proposed Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) and Living Away from Home Allowance (LAFHA) reform. Again, at a glance, it looked like it might be good news for overseas temporary residents as transitional arrangements were mentioned. However, upon closer examination it appears that not much is new since the Budget … Read more

To: The Hon Wayne Swann MP – Treasurer, The Hon David Bradbury MP – Assistant Treasurer

CC: The Hon. Joe Hockey MP – Shadow Treasurer, The Hon Barry O’Farrell – NSW Premier, The Hon. Adrian Piccoli MP – NSW Education Minister, Australian and UK media.

I am writing to urge you to give overseas temporary residents, in particular families living in NSW, a fair go regarding the Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) \ Living Away from Home Allowance (LAFHA) reform.

Fairness is a … Read more

Over the past 24 hours there has been wide discussion and debate regarding a 2012 – 2013 Budget announcement and the Australian government’s proposed LAFHA reform. Mum hopes to set the record straight…

Update on LAFHA Reform

On Tuesday 8th May, in a joint media release with the Hon David Bradbury Assistant Treasurer and Minister Assisting for Deregulation, the Australian government announced further reforms to the Living Away from Home Allowance. One of the additions to the reform is … Read more

A few weeks ago we wrote about Opening a bank account in Australia – which bank and when to open an account. Mum explained that it’s easy to open an account from your country of origin and pick up your cards once we arrive in Aus. Of the “big four” banks in Australia we recommended the Commonwealth Bank Australia and can provide assistance in opening an account: read about our call back service here.

Whilst you’re deliberating which … Read more

Relocating to Australia is expensive and no end of people will tell you that the cost of living down under is high. All this talk of money and budgeting means that you need to find the right bank and products to manage your finances during and after your move to Australia.

What did we do?

When planning our relocation to Australia we discussed opening an Australian bank account whilst we were in the UK, with a view to transferring funds … Read more

Now we’ve decided to buy a property in Australia we’re starting to care about things that didn’t interest us before such as the GBP to AUD exchange rate and how to move funds from the UK to Australia.

If we sell our property in the UK in order to purchase a home in Sydney we will need to transfer a lump sum from the UK to Aus. These days you wouldn’t go to your High Street bank to make a … Read more

Mum regularly contributes to expat and relocation forums. Questions regarding the cost of living and monthly expenses in Australia are extremely common. We regularly read discussions regarding the minimum salary required to live in Australia’s most popular cities; in particular Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.

What income do families need to live in Australia?

At Mum’s gone 2 Aus we have already published a number of articles relating to the cost of living in Australia and monthly family expenses. To … Read more

***Please read Breaking news: LAFHA and the 2012 – 2013 Budget Update for the latest information on the LAFHA reform.***

On 11th December 2011 we published an article about the Australian Treasury’s Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) reform and changes to the Living Away from Home Allowance (LAFHA) for overseas temporary residents to Australia. In the article we explain that the implementation of LAFHA for overseas temporary residents is not as originally intended and the proposed reform will mean that temporary … Read more