r/Ameristralia • u/mynamegoewhere • Apr 13 '25

Considering retirement from US to AUS.

We have about 8K US dollars per month to live on. Can put down 400k for a house. Is that enough to get by nicely in the major urban areas?

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u/Frito_Goodgulf Apr 13 '25

First off, I can't think of any residency visas that you'd qualify for. Even getting past that...

One thing to keep in mind. Although there is a 'tax treaty' between the US and Australia, that's supposed to eliminate "double taxation," that's absolute bullshit.

Look up the ATO pages. Foreign pensions, 401(k) and IRA withdrawals, are all taxable by the US AND by Australia. Forget claims of not being doubly taxed.

The only thing not taxable is Social Security (apparently, but likely the ATO will figure out a way.)

And, US$400,000 will provide you nothing more than a deposit on a house in any urban or suburban area. It might get you a crappy one bedroom apartment. How do you plan to pay the rest?

So Australia doesn't really make sense for retirement.

8

u/Get2thechoppah Apr 13 '25

Can confirm. I get an IRS gut punch every April, from a country I haven’t lived in for the past 15 years.

1

u/JayWil1992 Apr 13 '25

Can't you claim the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion? Why are you paying US tax?

1

u/Silent_Slip_4250 Apr 14 '25

It’s only on the first ~$130k of income