How to bring money to Australia?

Good Day! We just sold our property in Malaysia and we want to bring the money over to invest in IP but not sure how to transfer it over.
I will be transferring about 100k and been advised to do international telegraphic transfer in staggered amounts to different recepients in Aust ( mum, husband, and myself) to avoid flagging ATO.
Or to have bank draft issued in smaller amounts to which we bring back in July( going back for a wedding) I find all of this too complicated and wonder if there is any easy way to do this without worrying and looking over our shoulder all the time.
Ps. Spoke to my aust accountant to which he advise me I need to declare that sale as an income to ATO and I may be taxed for it.
Any advise would be much appreciated. Cheers!

 

ATO actively reads forums such as this - so you're game to be writing publicly about such things which can be traced back to you..

 

You're asking for help on tax avoidance and how to feel good about it?

Just do the right thing and nothing to worry about.

 

Thanks for the advise guys. But I have already declared it in Malaysia tax but was told that I have to pay tax again if I were to bring it back to aust. Not sure if thats really the accurate info as my accountant says I may be taxed. Is that correct?

 

The ATO has agreements with many countries to prevent double taxation.

 

Yeap... should get a foreign tax credit for it

 

Are you an Australian resident?
If you have sold the property, regardless of bringing the funds back or not you may be liable for tax.
Have you declared the property or its income in previous returns (in Aus).

You need some specialist advice ASAP.

Splitting the payments over periods, or to different family members will likely raise a red flag anyway. So best just to declare it.
I can't imagine too many people on the forum assist you in tax evasion.

Sorry.

Blacky

 

Are you an Australian resident for tax purposes?

Sending money in small amounts to try to avoid detection is a criminal offence (known as 'structuring' believe it or not!) and this will draw more attention to yourself. All international transfers, no matter the size, are recorded by Austrac with police and ATO having access.

 

Yes, ATO do tag these transfers. I came here from UK in 2008 and moved proceeds of sale of my UK PPOR here at about £10,000 per week so as to average out exchange rate movements, using UKForex. A bit after I submitted my tax return I got a mega tax bill with letter saying that it appeared I had earnings from an overseas job which I'd failed to declare. Hope they weren't too disappointed by my reply.

 

If you're an Australian tax resident you need to declare the capital gains event, failing to do so is tax evasion and a criminal offence, especially given you've been advised that you need to do so and seem to be aware of it. If you're not an Australian tax resident then you will not be taxed on your overseas capital gains.

I don't see why you're trying to find an illegal way to bring money into Australia, there are no rules against transferring money from overseas accounts into Australian accounts or vice versa so doing what you're intending to do just further draws attention to your desire to evade taxes illegally if you're an Australian tax resident.

Basically your entire post screams as though you want help with how to best commit criminal activities which I'd think you're pretty unlikely to get around here.

 

Hi guys, thanks for the many advises. With regards to the house sale, It's not straight forward as it sounds. My parents recently sold their family home in Msia to downsize. It was in a family trust and my parents has given me partial amount from the sale. My parents are retired, I also agreed to help pay for any sale related expenses and assist to pay any tax bill.
I am an Aust resident and that's the reason why I thought it's best to bring my portion back to invest it in an IP here.
My intension is not to evade paying tax as the sale has been declared to in Malaysia tax. I want to know my rights and what's the best way moving forward from here.
To Black's comment, if that is true that I have to declare to ATO and be liable for tax even if I didn't bring the funds in, well that is something new to me and I wasn't aware about that.
I will definitely need to speak to a tax specialist to receive proper advise. Can anyone point me to the right direction?
To wogitalia comments- I wouldn't try to commit any criminal activities and post this in such a public forum like this. I wrote in hoping to get sound advise and have better understanding in this unfamiliar subject.
Thanks in advance, guys.

 

Michael at House of Wealth is good with internetional tax and I think he has an understanding of the Malaysian tax laws as well as Australian.

If your parents have given you a gift of cash then it may not be income. But if you have received a distribution of income from a trust then it may be income and may be taxable. But that will depend on a number of factors.

 

Hey Tony3008, thanks for sharing, I really appreciated that. Did ATO accepted your explanation or did you end up having to pay the huge tax bill? If I may ask, how would you have handled it differently knowing what you know now? Hopefully it worked out well for you in the end.

 

Thanks

Thanks Terry, will search for his contact. Cheers!

 

No problems once I explained - obviously I had all the documentation relating to the sale so there was nothing more to discuss. It was an eyeopener as to where ATO eyes are.

 

I thought tax avoidance was legal (such as NG) and that this would be tax evasion, which is illegal. Is that incorrect?

 

Tax minimisation is legal: avoidance = evasion

 

www.houseofwealth.com.au

 

I have heard something like that too, not sure I believe it.

I think Scott might have explained it clearly