So, you’ve had the time of your life travelling Australia and now its time to head home? We’re sad to see you go, but before you do, here’s everything you need to know before you catch your flight!
Tax
While you’ve been working in Australia you’ve been paying Australian taxes. The good thing about being a backpacker is you’re taxed at a smaller rate than Australian residents and you can apply to claim back a percentage of your tax once you’ve left.
In order to be able to do this you must have been in Australia for a minimum of 6 months in any one financial year. In Australia, the financial year is from the 1st of July to the 30th of June. You must also have worked for one employer for a continuous period of four months, or more than one employer for a continuous period of 5 months.
Firstly, you need to know if it’s even worth claiming your tax back. There are fees involved in claiming your tax back so it’s important to know whether it will be worth it. You can calculate an estimate of your tax return here.
Take note of what time of year you’re leaving Australia. You can only apply for a tax return from July 1st for the previous financial year. So, for example, if you’re leaving in December you’ll have to submit your tax return from home in July.
Once you’re ready to submit for your tax return you can do so online through the Australian Tax Office. However, in order to maximise your tax return we recommend using a tax agent that specialise in backpacker tax, such as taxback, to help you with the process.
Superannuation:
Just like tax, you can also claim back a percentage of your Superannuation when you’re ready to leave Australia. Think of it like a savings account you’ve had this whole time without even knowing it!
You can only apply to claim your Departing Australia Superannuation Payment (DASP) once you are back home and your visa has expired. It’s important you have the details of all your existing Superannuation accounts before you leave Australia, if you’ve done well you should only have one, however if you’ve had multiple employees they may have opened more for you. You can find your Super accounts through the DASP online application system or through the ATO.
Once you’re ready to go, you can apply online through the ATO website for your claim.
Bank Account:
Hopefully you’ve earned some cash while working in Australia that you’ll want to transfer back to your home bank account.
One of the easiest, cheapest, and quickest ways to do this is with a Wise account. You can send your Australian dollars through their app easily and they’ll show you the cheapest options for sending it. Most of the time the transfer goes through within a day and your money is safe and secure. If you haven’t yet created a Wise account, you can do this here for free.
Once you’ve completely finished with your CommBank account you can close it. It’s important to only do this once you’ve received your superannuation refund, as it will be paid into your Australian bank account. You can close your bank account through the app, or by calling +61 132221.
Subscriptions:
No one has money to waste paying for subscriptions they’re not going to use, especially after you’ve just spent all your money travelling Australia! Make sure you cancel any subscriptions you’ve started while staying here in Aus.
This includes cancelling automatic top-ups on your Lebara sim card if you have them set-up.
Accommodation:
If you’ve been here a while there’s a good chance you’ll be in long term accommodation. It’s important that you give notice in advance of when you’ll be leaving.
If you’ve signed a contract, the notice period you need to give will be stated in the terms. If you’re leaving before your lease ends, you may need to find someone to takeover your lease or risk losing your bond.
Once you’ve sorted this out make sure your landlord or whoever you are renting from has the right bank details for them to pay your bond back to you. As long as you haven’t caused any damage to the property and have paid any remaining rent, you will get your bond back.
Let us know!
We don’t want you to leave, but we know you can’t stay forever! Let your WTC Team know you’re leaving Australia and not planning on returning so we can say goodbye!
Once you’ve let us know we can also double check we don’t have any mail left for you in your WTC mailbox and send on any remaining mail.
Leaving Aus Timeline:
- When you’re still in Australia
- Let WTC know what date you’re leaving Australia
- Give notice to your accommodation
- Transfer your money back to your home account
- Once you’re home
- Depending on the time of year – submit your tax return
- Cancel any existing subscriptions
- Once your visa has expired
- Apply to get your Superannuation back
- Close your bank account
We hope you’ve had a fantastic time in Australia and made memories to last a lifetime. We’re glad WTC could be apart of your journey!