Allowable income

My wife and I live in Spain. When we married four years ago, my single pension was reduced to half the married rate, even though my wife is not Australian, has never been there and only has a minimal pension from her country. Now we may be about to earn a small income from our business. Is the allowable income of AUD8008 for both of us, not 8008 each? Given that I have already been slugged some 5 grand a year because the government policy is based on the assumption of two Australian pensioners marrying, why is any income for my wife counted? And how does the work bonus apply in these cases?

Any explanation greatly appereciated

 

5 comments

$8008 PA is not each it's combined. If the Person on the OZ Age pension is earning through either Employment or Self Employment or a combination of both, then a further $300/ftn is disregarded for the Pension Income test. If your wife is the one working, then she does not qulaify for the work bonus.

What does Spain give you as far as Pension goes?

Thank you for this clarification. Neither of us are eligible for a pension in Spain. My wife is Ukrainian. In terms of the above amounts, I assume that this is net, after tax due in Spain is paid.

Business Income is Taxable Income (Gross turnover less expenses etc) If you are working for someone else as an employee it's gross income before tax.

Centrlink reducing your pension because you live overseas with a non Australian wife who isn't & never will be entiteled to a brass razo from the Australian government is just plain mean & nasty & is a total rip off. The sooner Australia introduce a universal pension the better. Disgusting how Australia is always looking how to reduce the pension instead of looking at how they can increase the quality of life for it's older citizens.

Look at the mad monk Abbot. New high paying job in the UK but he will still get his FULL pension & perks as it's not means tested.

Abbot is working free of charge,  get the facts.

Hang on a minute there Karl. Why should the Australian tax payer fund a non Australian spouse? We do not even know whether that wife is pension age as yet. Has Deflo spent his 35 years of Australian residency to qualify for the full pension while living overseas?

Can you imagine all the old Aussie blokes going to live in Asia and claiming a pension for their new wives? Give the Government a fair go, Karl, we cannot keep the whole world on the gravy train. Maybe that is the reason for the Hawke Govt abolished the automatic widow's pension. Too many old codgers dumping the missus and then marrying a sweet younger thing and the Govt is left with widows 35+ on a pension for the next forty years. Look at your situations before deciding to live overseas and claiming pensions. My country of origin gives me $115 a month, C/L helped me getting it.

Mariner, I'm not talking about wives getting the pension or any other benefit from the government & agree they shouldn't get a cent but what is nasty & unfair is that centrelink will still take the foreign partner into consideration & penalise the applicant, in this instance the husband buy placing him on the 50% of couples pension. Many will argue that that's good but it's still mean & nasty in my books. The sooner a universal pension the better as it will eliminate all this BS with centrelink.

Tarzan, maybe the mad monk isn't drawing a salary but I bet there's a lot of under the table stuff going on. & I bet his pension isn't reduced after 6 weeks & 26 weeks out of Australia which is the case if you're on the OAP.

Point taken Karl. I like the universal pension as well but in the countries where it works well there are years for putting in. You cannot doss around on the beaches for years and then get the pension like you can do in this country. People overseas might look at your input during your life time before you get the generous universal pension. Over there the age pension is not called welfare but here it is - was not always so but after the Hawke/Keating administration it became thus. Everyone who gets to a certain age gets a pension if he/she has less than $200'000 in the bank.

I hope the universal pension will come with taxation payable on all income, Govt pension, share dividends, bank interest and income through work, etc. Might even bring in asset taxes like is the case overseas.

My original question related to allowable incoime and now I have the answer. But to respond to comments above, I certainly qualified for the pension, working all my life in Australia, including, for what its worth 20 years Regular Army and Army Reserve service. I also did 5 years as a CFA volunteer, (including operational service during Black Saturday and elsewhere). So no problem there, but given that my pension was reduced, (in my view, unfairly as my wife's pension is less than the equivalent of A$2,000), we started a small business. Now I am advised that the allowable income is A$8008 pa for BOTH of us, but that relates to the gross income. I would pay 19% tax on that in Spain and so will NOT actually receive that amount. Yet another bewidering policy decision which further reduces my liveliehood. 

Deflo I understand you. Living in Spain is not cheap, was there when Franco was in charge and it was cheap in pesetas but now in euros I found it as expensive as England or Germany. Some of my relatives live in southern Spain and they can afford it OK because their pension and super income is in Euro. Ever considered to live here in a similar climate? Hasta luego, amigo.

Equally Mariner why does Australia pay a pension to permanent residents who live in Australia.  They are technically foreigners and remain so if they don't take out Australian citizenship. 

Tood - pensions should be paid to people who worked and paid taxes in the country they live in legally, whether citizens or not. Since 2002 Australians can be dual citizens but a lot of countries won't allow that. I know people who only recently became citizens because their parents in the old country passed on. My old folks would not have understood me neither giving away my birth right. Some of us Europeans could always retain our former citizenships but others lose theirs. Irish and UK people can retain theirs, US citizens now as well.

Mariner, Thank you for your comment, Realistically, Spain is quite a good place to live, culture, cuisine and quality of life are all excellent. In fact, cost of living is cheaper that France, England or Germany, and property is still cheap. You ask about living "here" which is where? If you mean Australia, yes I do often look at returning, as I have three kids and six grandchildren there. BUT, the cost of property and cost of living do not make that a feasible choice, e.g cost of living in say, north of Brisbane, Gympie, 30-40% more than my closest city, Almeria. But I keep looking!

I mean Australia, I live outside a capital city but with all amenities available including 3 supermarkets and all things as oldies will need. My place has been valued at E220'000 (3 Bedroom villa unit with attached garage) A bit cooler than Gympie in summer but not as cold in winter as we are close to the ocean.You might see property prices coming down a bit because of the Covid crisis. Currently in Cairns and property is at a dream level for people who can handle the summer humidity. Good luck. 

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