375. Loss of Australian

citizenship - Moving to India -

Rental income in Australia

Q: Hi, I am an Australian Citizen with OCI. I have recently purchased your ebook The NRI Guide kindle from Amazon. It's really handy and covered lot of important points and tips too. Can I get an assistance on the following queries: 1.Let's assume if I take non resident status in Australia and go back to India permanently. Can I come back to Australia later to live by changing back my status to resident again? Can I do it every now and then? 2. I have a property in Australia on mortgage. Let's assume I cover up all the loan here and go back to India permanently (without surrendering Australian Citizenship), with non resident status in Australia - Can I enjoy rental income without coming back to Australia ever? 3. On my Australian passport it says-"Australian citizens who acquire the citizenship of another country from 4 April 2002 will not lose their Australian Citizenship." In my case, I have acquired citizenship in 2010. Does that mean If I live in India for 1 year out first 5 years since 2010 and I get back my Indian Passport and do not surrender Australian passport - I ll still be Australian Citizen forever from Australia point of view even though India doesn't allow dual citizenship? Will Australia treat me as Australian citizen forever? 4. If I come back to India forever, can I still avail all benefits given to Australian Citizens by government like medical etc in Australia? I would really appreciate if you could discuss all these points in details. Thanks, Rishi A. Thanks for purchasing my NRI GUIDE eBook from Amazon. Let me make an attempt to answer some of your questions: 1.Let's assume if I take non resident status in Australia and go back to India permanently. Can I come back to Australia later to live by changing back my status to resident again? Can I do it every now and then? As an Australian Citizen, you can leave Australia for as long as you want, as many times you want, and return whenever you wish to. If you wish to do such moves repeatedly, make sure you continue to maintain your non-resident status in Australia. Remember, Australian residents are generally taxed on their worldwide income and Australian Citizens who become non-residents are generally, taxed only on their Australian-sourced income. For example, if you returned to Australia and stayed there for 183 days or more, you may be deemed to be a resident for taxation purposes. 2. I have a property in Australia on mortgage. Let's assume I cover up all the loan here and go back to India permanently (without surrendering Australian Citizenship), with non resident status in Australia - Can I enjoy rental income without coming back to Australia ever? Yes, you can continue to rent your property in Australia while living in India. Taxes on the rental income will however have to be paid in Australia. Since you already have a copy of my book, check the pages where NOR status is discussed and this will show at what point returning NRIs have to declare foreign income in India for tax purposes. Depending on your residency status in India, you may have to declare the Australian rental income in India also. Credit for taxes paid in Australia will be given to you and the chances are you may not have to pay taxes in India.

Capital Gains Tax Australia

At some point of time if you ever decide to sell your property in Australia, capital gain taxes may apply. Under the Australian capital gains tax rules, if you: • use your vacated home to produce income, you can choose to treat that home as your main residence for a period of up to six years • If you do not use your vacated home to produce income, you can choose to treat it as your main residence for an unlimited period after you cease living in it. 3. On my Australian passport it says-"Australian citizens who acquire the citizenship of another country from 4 April 2002 will not lose their Australian Citizenship." In my case, I have acquired citizenship in 2010. Does that mean If I live in India for 1 year out first 5 years since 2010 and I get back my Indian Passport and do not surrender Australian passport - I ll still be Australian Citizen forever from Australia point of view even though India doesn't allow dual citizenship? Will Australia treat me as Australian citizen forever? You are correct in assuming that those who acquire foreign citizenship of another country after April 4, 2002 will NOT lose their Australian Citizenship. However, Australia also clearly specifies that loss of Australian citizenship occurs by giving up or renouncing your Australian citizenship to retain or acquire another citizenship. To clarify: Australia will treat you as an Australian citizen as long as you do not give up your Australian citizenship. However, if you plan on eventually taking Indian Citizenship, then you will have to renounce your Australian citizenship. The reason for this is that while Australia allows dual citizenship, India does not. In case after a five year period you wish to acquire Indian citizenship, the Indian authorities will give you Indian citizenship ONLY if you surrender Australian citizenship. So you can’t have Australian and Indian citizenship at the same time. To explain this further, suppose you moved to Canada and acquired Canadian citizenship, In this case you could keep both Canadian Citizenship and Australian citizenship because both Australia and Canada allow dual citizenship. Here you could have a Canadian and also an Australian passport. 4. If I come back to India forever, can I still avail all benefits given to Australian Citizens by government like medical etc in Australia? Most government’s that provide benefits for citizens such as medical coverage, limit it to residents. Medicare also covers people when they travel abroad. The Australian Government has signed Reciprocal Health Care Agreements with some countries, this means that as an Australian resident you are entitled to assistance with the cost of medical treatment in these countries. Currently these countries are: New Zealand, The United Kingdom, The Republic of Ireland, Sweden, The Netherlands, Finland, Italy, Belgium, Malta, Norway and Slovenia. However those that move abroad permanently and are no longer Australian residents may not be covered under Medicare. Contact the Australian Medicare for clarification. While Medicare coverage may not be available to you in India, pension income that comes form your employers is normally payable worldwide. Pension income that you have earned while employed, is perhaps the only benefit that is payable regardless of which country you live in. Old Age Australian pension will have restrictions as you will not be a resident.