Jump to content

Transferring a Government Employee Pension from GEPF to Australia and tax paid on pension


JJR

Recommended Posts

I am a former Government Employee that receives a pension from the Government Employee Pension Fund and we hope to move to Australia soon on a Contributory Parent visa. I understand that my Government pension will continue to be taxed in South Africa once we emigrate. Can someone confirm if this information is correct and whether they experienced any problems transferring their pension? Also, how will tax work in Australia? Do we still declare our pension in Australia even though it is taxed in South Africa? Please help. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good day JJR

 

From a SA perspective, I provide the following guidance and you may need to check with an ATO registered practitioner.  Our answers are bsed on your comment above. Often small nuances can impact on a general reply therefore you need to obtain ATO approved sign off. We can link you to SA expat tax practitioners in Australia.

 

  1. We can do the fund transfer to you, there IS NO Excon or Reserve Bank approval required, the transfer need to be placed on record crrectly to ensure it does not reduce your annual SDA R1m allowance or your FIA R10m allowance.
  2. Being on a Contributory Parent Visa you would probably NEVER be called upn to pay tax to the ATO on any income earned OUTSIDE Australia. From the information at hand, you can't cease to be tax resident using the treaty as the ATO will not treat you as taxpayer paying tax on worldwide income.
  3. In terms of the tax treaty you remain SA resident but should you cease tax residncy breaking oridnarily residencce (i.e. you do not rely on the treaty) then you can cease to be tax residen in SA. ATO may then wish to tax you but the treaty does limit their taxing right to ZERO in respect of SA government pension. We understand you need to declare and CLAIM the exempption it is not autmatic
  4. This being the case youcan never cose your SA tax number and despite all the tax rules above, your pension can be remitted to AU$ monthly or as often as you like 
  5. Feel free to email us on mathys@taxforum.co.za and wegkaner@taxforum.co.za to assist with the pension transfers. There is no fee payable to us, only your bank charges or cost to remit being charged by SA or Aus bank
  6. Should we need to assist with tax compliance or provide morel reliable tax guidance,  a fee quote will be issued

11-2021.pdf

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good day Hugo

 

Thank you so much for your comprehensive reply. The information you have given me corresponds with my understanding of the issue and is very helpful. 

I may contact you again at a later stage if I need more assistance.

 

Kind regards

Joey Rees

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...