I've Had Enough!

[BillAU]

G'day mates,

I'm one Aussie who is becoming real cheesed-off with our Australian taxes....I've had enough!
Australia IS the highest taxed country on earth, I accepted things as they were and planned to live-out my days here but, just a few weeks ago the Australian federal government reduced the amount of cigarettes and booze one can bring home to Australia tax free, it used to be 200 cigarettes and one bottle of booze of ones choice, now it's 50 cigarettes and I'm not sure about the booze.

Now today I hear on the radio our federal government plan on taxing everything bought online, costing over $100, the 10% GST. So I have decided Australia is no-longer the country I want to live in, (that's a joke, I should have said...Exist in) So I plan to sell my home and everything else I own, buy a boat and go live somewhere, where I can live in peace and some comfort in my older years. (I'll be seventy come January 2013, a retired seaman, merchant service but I'm not the most experienced sailor).

Where in S.E. Asia, or the North/South Pacific Islands, would you chose to live aboard for long periods of time?
I was thinking New Zealand was a good choice but I don't like cold weather, so perhaps Malaysia, Thailand or the Philippines would be a better choice for long term sitting on the hook, then when I'd had enough, or the law said I had to move, up anchor and move somewhere else for a spell.

The boat I'm thinking, strongly, of buying is a Fibreglass Trawler, full displacement hull, with a Maximum Draft of 4ft 6 in, with a safe cruising range of 1500 nm but I also have a beautiful Ketch on my watch-list, the Ketch has a Maximum Draft of 6ft 6in.
So if you were in my shoes, (remember, I don't like cold weather) where would you live and which boat would best suit the purpose of living aboard long term, moving on when required to do so...My reselling the boat at a later date is out of the question...Period!

I would fly back to Australia only when I had to and that would be only for three days to a week, once or twice per year.

Cheers mates,

Bill
Australia

[captain58sailin]

Cheers Bill,
I hear what you are saying, my Wife and I are pulling the plug soon and heading for an extended tour of the south Pacific. I am sorry to say, I don't have a lot of information for what you are seeking, I understand from friends that Fiji, Cook Isl., are nice, I have heard from friends that have made stays in the Philippines, and Thailand that it is inexpensive. I had a tour of the Marquesas, Tumotus etc.. but that was back in the 1970s and from what I have read on this forum things there have changed a lot. Good luck with your search, perhaps we will cross paths in a couple of years. I would be interested to hear if you find someplace nice.

[Kindred Spirits]

Bill, Look up the OECD for international personal income tax rates in order to make an informed decision.
Next, go to the current thread about Obamacare in the USA, and compare to our own Medicare system - might have to wait for non-urgent hospitalization but no-one is turned away for emergency or critical care. Whilst you are enjoying your tax free cigarettes, you may want to return to Australia for lung cancer treatment - it's free. While you are enjoying your idyllic lifestyle, don't seek police assistance unless you have several brown paper bags full of money, and while you are in Aus feel free to criticize the Government, but do be careful elsewhere.
Enjoy your cheap booze and ciggies, but don't give up your Australian citizenship.

[Jamel]

Steady on Bill! I've just arrived back in Australia after a Pacific crossing....I'm really looking forward to cruising Queensland & down the east coast.

You can still bring in 2 litres of spirits duty free....cigarettes should be nil anyway!!

My favourite stop off was Fiji.....lovely cruising, friendly people, great food and cheap as chips, e.g. In a little cafe...2 cups of tea + 2 cakes...$2.00

[salticrak]

Dear Bill
I feel your pain.Now the bloody cigarette packaging are all baby crap colored with all the ways you will meet your gasping doom graphically splashed over the box.For goodness sake we are adults and not pre schoolers.The nanny state is creeping closer and smothering all in it's lilac scented embrace of risk averse ideology.I reckon the 'ole bread and circuses trick is at play here.Ie we will let you suckle at the governments teat,but the price you pay will be in taxes and busybodyness.Inner city lawyer types feeding the latest p.c thought police to the fourth estate who hungrily feed at the trough regurgitating all the days health and safety,welfare and what to worry about next with glee. I have lived in Australia for ten years and i do like it here but i am afraid in the short amount of time that i have been here,Bureaucracy,fees and charges,regulations and bloody compliances seem to be adding up to immense levels of added costs for doing business and just keeping yourself up to date with all the paperwork.
Where has the Aussie rugged individualist/fair go/she'll be right attitude gone?At the risk of sounding like a bloody misogynist I think society has gone too far down feminizing path in some respects.Is this due to all the think tanks and commentary being of a more left wing/socialist bent.I am by no means a sort of hard right nutter who wants to turn back the clock to ''Sheila bring me tea and a tinny'' but all these services,advisories,roadmaps,social engineering has to be paid for, theres ya problem.
The Indian ocean has some lovely islands one could explore and would be most agreeable,as has been mentioned before the Philippines has it's merits and I am sure the Americas have their havens.
End of rant,I think i will go and have a lie down now....SHEILA!!!!

[Jamel]

Originally Posted by salticrak

Dear Bill
I feel your pain.Now the bloody cigarette packaging are all baby crap colored with all the ways you will meet your gasping doom graphically splashed over the box.For goodness sake we are adults and not pre schoolers.The nanny state is creeping closer and smothering all in it's lilac scented embrace of risk averse ideology.I reckon the 'ole bread and circuses trick is at play here.Ie we will let you suckle at the governments teat,but the price you pay will be in taxes and busybodyness.Inner city lawyer types feeding the latest p.c thought police to the fourth estate who hungrily feed at the trough regurgitating all the days health and safety,welfare and what to worry about next with glee. I have lived in Australia for ten years and i do like it here but i am afraid in the short amount of time that i have been here,Bureaucracy,fees and charges,regulations and bloody compliances seem to be adding up to immense levels of added costs for doing business and just keeping yourself up to date with all the paperwork.
Where has the Aussie rugged individualist/fair go/she'll be right attitude gone?At the risk of sounding like a bloody misogynist I think society has gone too far down feminizing path in some respects.Is this due to all the think tanks and commentary being of a more left wing/socialist bent.I am by no means a sort of hard right nutter who wants to turn back the clock to ''Sheila bring me tea and a tinny'' but all these services,advisories,roadmaps,social engineering has to be paid for, theres ya problem.
The Indian ocean has some lovely islands one could explore and would be most agreeable,as has been mentioned before the Philippines has it's merits and I am sure the Americas have their havens.
End of rant,I think i will go and have a lie down now....SHEILA!!!!

Buy a boat...cast off leaving the crazy life ashore behind and I'll see ya in the whitsundays next winter!

[salticrak]

Mate i am building a small wharram cat as we speak,but alas there have been no bare chested wahinis that so populate the wharram mythology,hope to launch mid summer and then to learn the ropes and eventually head on an extended voyage seeing how humanity can still exist without all the pedantic b.s we deal with in the west.

[hoppy]

Originally Posted by BillAU

Australia IS the highest taxed country on earth,

Get real... Not even close.....

Come to Sweden and enjoy the taxes here...

At the highest income tax rate, for every $1 extra you earn, after social, local, state and central government taxes are deducted you are left with 33cents, an efective rate of 67%. Then when you go to the shops to spend your 33 cents, you must pay 25% sales tax. If you buy something on the internet from outside of the EU and it is valued over something like $15, then you must pay 5% customs and 25% sales tax.

I dream of the day when I only pay 10% once again

Stop moaning, you have it easy.....

[savoir]

Seems to me billAU that the best thing for both you and Australia would be to part company ASAP. Before leaving could you at least do a little homework on Australia's taxes ? Everything concerning Australia in your post #1 was wrong, but for the bit about the 50 cigarettes.

You beat me by seconds Hoppy, anyway I agree.

[hoppy]

I should mention that the 30% social tax is payable at ALL salary levels from the first $ whether you a company CEO or a pensionar with a hobby job for extra cash. The tax free threshold for the other taxes is VERY low, so much so that school kids who work part time very quickly start paying the taxes.

If I understand it correctly (may be wrong about this one) if you are paid a pension, you must pay the income taxes on it.

Ohh yeah, if you sell your primary residence, it is subject to capital gains taxes. So if you bought your house when you were young and then 40 years later you get fed up with the taxes here and want to sell your home to finance your escape, you will be in for a nasty tax surprise.

[ozskipper]

Smokes a dollar a pack in cambodia!!! After a lot of travelling, Aus is still the best place in the world to live. We have big taxes because we have to provide services to such a large land mass but with a small population. But with all that comes stability and security.

There are thousands of expat aussies living all over south east asia. But the are tens of thousands of south east asian people trying to live here. That says it all.

However, to get onto topic. Lots of live aboards in Phuket, Pattaya, Langkawi. On the western side of SEA. And its a nice cruising area. Cambodia around Sihanoukville is opening up to travellers and there is a new marina being build as we speak.

Vietnam is still limited. Singapore, busy but expensive.

The philipines is still somewhat unstable in "some" areas. Google time
The same with parts of Malaysia although for the most part it is safe.
Indonesia, beautiful and safe in the right areas.

All of those, with the exception of Singapore perhaps are still rife with corruption at many levels of government. Including the local police man. Petty crime is still just as rife. Dont leave your camera on the table at the coffee shop .

Once your boat is raided and you wallet/passport and electronics are stolen and the police dont respond without a bribe, or if your sick and cant get proper medical attention, remind yourself how bad aus is.

[hoppy]

What happens when you return to Aus after cruising and whilst in a low cost/tax country you do a major refit of your boat filling it with nice new sails, electronics and other nice stuff. Do customs go through your boat asking you to prove that the equipment was onboard before you left?

[stillbuilding]

Well I share the view that Oz has become less attractive for someone of your age and experience. 2008 will continue to make life tougher too, even in Oz. Reasonably, you can probably enjoy other places for a decently long time IF you do not rely on the Oz pension AND you maintain adequate medical insurance and stay not too far away from airports. Personally I love and prefer Hong Kong, just about anywhere in Asia and and numerous islands. Go for it while you are still young.

[Sabbatical II]

Well Bill if you don't like it your free to go! I think you'll find in all those countries mentioned there are more people wanting to come and live in Australia than the other way around. In actual fact after paying your tax in Australia we still have a pretty high standard of living...and if you need more cash, your allowed to earn as much as you like, you just have to work for it! Sorry for the reality check.

[svseachange]

Go for it Bill! Your time on the planet is short. You are 70 and you have worked hard building Australia all your life. You deserve a big adventure to finish out your life.

I am a fifth generation Australian and 41. Kickstarted my travels with some big money labouring work in the NT in the 90's and have since travelled five continents and been on boats in the US East Coast, US West Coast, Caribbean, South Pacific, Med and Australia.

Being overseas brings out the tax-loving socialist in me (or maybe it is just the Australian sense of fairness). Maybe the same will happen for you. Maybe not. You will not know until you go.