Earnings are taxed at up to 45 per cent in the UK and Australia, while residents also face other levies. Silvia Razgova / The National
Earnings are taxed at up to 45 per cent in the UK and Australia, while residents also face other levies. Silvia Razgova / The National
Earnings are taxed at up to 45 per cent in the UK and Australia, while residents also face other levies. Silvia Razgova / The National
Earnings are taxed at up to 45 per cent in the UK and Australia, while residents also face other levies. Silvia Razgova / The National

Top tips for UAE expats to consider before heading home


Felicity Glover
  • English
  • Arabic

Making the most of your time offshore and planning for the future is vital. But if you've been living a tax-free life in the UAE, with generous allowances for school fees, housing and private health care, you might be in for a shock when you realise these are out of reach when you return home, write Acuma Wealth Management's Craig Holding and James Thomas.
1 Factor in the cost of living outside the UAE
Don't make any assumptions about costs. If you've been overseas for a few years, you may be out of the loop. Find out what everything costs, from buying groceries, to house prices and the "luxuries" we take for granted in the UAE, such as salon visits and golf club memberships. Evaluate these costs against your earning potential from your new job or earnings from your savings and investments. You may find you cannot afford private schools or health care in your home country.
2 Weigh up the difference in exchange rates
With some exchange rates so high, many people are looking at keeping and growing their money offshore and then returning it to, for instance, Australia if/when the Australian dollar returns to lower levels. British expats are generally less concerned about exchange rates, but it's still something to consider.
3 Get up-to-date tax information
One client of ours is going home to a good salary, but after tax he will be able to save only 30 per cent of what he is currently saving in Dubai. Regardless of the numbers involved, that is a massive difference. Luckily, he has made substantial savings while in Dubai and will be in a good position when he returns home. In the UK, your earnings are taxed at source at up to 45 per cent, there are National Insurance contributions to pay, most items that you purchase will have Value Added Tax applied at 20 per cent and there are various other taxes and duties to consider. In Australia, your earnings are also taxed at up to 45 per cent, while there are Medicare levies and a Goods and Services Tax of 10 per cent. In return for these taxes, you will be entitled to benefits such as education and health care, but you need to factor these things into any calculations if you are considering returning home.
4 Explore offshore solutions for your UAE savings
If you have accumulated funds while in the UAE, there are a number of offshore options available that you can consider. If you become a tax resident of Australia and still have this account, you are able to keep up to A$250,000 (Dh936,416) in foreign currency per person without any issues. You will pay tax on the interest as if it was back in Australia, but at least it is earning despite tax. There is no cap on the amount that you can hold in a foreign currency.
5 Consider buying a property
If you have cash or assets in Australia, now is a good time to be buying overseas assets with these funds. Property in the UK is yielding about 5 per cent and mortgage costs are low, so if you have sufficient funds, a property in London could be a worthwhile opportunity. When you return home, this property is treated as if it is in Australia, which is taxed as income, but you achieve tax credits as well if the property is costing you money. From a UK point of view, buying property for investment is a good long-term proposition and while the rental income is potentially taxable, there are ways to offset this to make it as efficient as possible.
6 Start saving and planning for retirement well before you leave the UAE
While you are offshore, you should be trying to save 10 per cent of your salary as a minimum to make sure you have something to show for your time overseas. You can put this back into superannuation or a pension plan if you wish, but the growth will be taxed. In Australia, for example, it is 15 per cent.
7 Find out if you are eligible for health care and other benefits
Don't simply assume that as a citizen of the UK, Australia or other country that you will be entitled to the same benefits as everyone else the minute you land. You may have to file paperwork or fulfil a few months of residency requirements to be eligible for free National Health Service treatment in the UK, or it might take months of being on a waiting list to enrol your child in school. If you haven't been paying into pension schemes in the UK or paying National Insurance contributions from overseas, you may not have any pension entitlement.
8 Include your family in your plans
Your spouse's domicile and residency might be of a different status to yours if they spend different amounts of time at home. Does your spouse have a separate pension plan? Will your spouse's savings be subject to the same taxes as you? Are there different tax categories for married couples at home? These factors must be explored in detail before leaving the UAE.
9 Be realistic about the lifestyle you are aiming for at home
Income taxes mean much lower disposable income. High property prices will affect your choice of accommodation. Domestic help will be significantly more expensive at home and may affect whether you can afford to go back to work or have to stay at home to take care of your children. You don't want to end up going home and blowing all your tax-free savings on living an unrealistic lifestyle.
pf@thenational.ae

MATCH INFO

Liverpool 0

Stoke City 0

Man of the Match: Erik Pieters (Stoke)

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million 
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Where to donate in the UAE

The Emirates Charity Portal

You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.

The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments

The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.

Al Noor Special Needs Centre

You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.

Beit Al Khair Society

Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.

Dar Al Ber Society

Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.

Dubai Cares

Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.

Emirates Airline Foundation

Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.

Emirates Red Crescent

On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.

Gulf for Good

Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.

Noor Dubai Foundation

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).

Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home. 

Director: Laxman Utekar

Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna

Rating: 1/5

SERIES INFO

Cricket World Cup League Two
Nepal, Oman, United States tri-series
Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu
 
Fixtures
Wednesday February 5, Oman v Nepal
Thursday, February 6, Oman v United States
Saturday, February 8, United States v Nepal
Sunday, February 9, Oman v Nepal
Tuesday, February 11, Oman v United States
Wednesday, February 12, United States v Nepal

Table
The top three sides advance to the 2022 World Cup Qualifier.
The bottom four sides are relegated to the 2022 World Cup playoff

 1 United States 8 6 2 0 0 12 0.412
2 Scotland 8 4 3 0 1 9 0.139
3 Namibia 7 4 3 0 0 8 0.008
4 Oman 6 4 2 0 0 8 -0.139
5 UAE 7 3 3 0 1 7 -0.004
6 Nepal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 PNG 8 0 8 0 0 0 -0.458

Company%C2%A0profile
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Multitasking pays off for money goals

Tackling money goals one at a time cost financial literacy expert Barbara O'Neill at least $1 million.

That's how much Ms O'Neill, a distinguished professor at Rutgers University in the US, figures she lost by starting saving for retirement only after she had created an emergency fund, bought a car with cash and purchased a home.

"I tell students that eventually, 30 years later, I hit the million-dollar mark, but I could've had $2 million," Ms O'Neill says.

Too often, financial experts say, people want to attack their money goals one at a time: "As soon as I pay off my credit card debt, then I'll start saving for a home," or, "As soon as I pay off my student loan debt, then I'll start saving for retirement"."

People do not realise how costly the words "as soon as" can be. Paying off debt is a worthy goal, but it should not come at the expense of other goals, particularly saving for retirement. The sooner money is contributed, the longer it can benefit from compounded returns. Compounded returns are when your investment gains earn their own gains, which can dramatically increase your balances over time.

"By putting off saving for the future, you are really inhibiting yourself from benefiting from that wonderful magic," says Kimberly Zimmerman Rand , an accredited financial counsellor and principal at Dragonfly Financial Solutions in Boston. "If you can start saving today ... you are going to have a lot more five years from now than if you decide to pay off debt for three years and start saving in year four."

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Paltan

Producer: JP Films, Zee Studios
Director: JP Dutta
Cast: Jackie Shroff, Sonu Sood, Arjun Rampal, Siddhanth Kapoor, Luv Sinha and Harshvardhan Rane
Rating: 2/5

Fire and Fury
By Michael Wolff,
Henry Holt

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How to avoid crypto fraud
  • Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
  • Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
  • Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
  • Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
  • Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
  • Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
  • Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
Spain drain

CONVICTED

Lionel Messi Found guilty in 2016 of of using companies in Belize, Britain, Switzerland and Uruguay to avoid paying €4.1m in taxes on income earned from image rights. Sentenced to 21 months in jail and fined more than €2m. But prison sentence has since been replaced by another fine of €252,000.

Javier Mascherano Accepted one-year suspended sentence in January 2016 for tax fraud after found guilty of failing to pay €1.5m in taxes for 2011 and 2012. Unlike Messi he avoided trial by admitting to tax evasion.

Angel di Maria Argentina and Paris Saint-Germain star Angel di Maria was fined and given a 16-month prison sentence for tax fraud during his time at Real Madrid. But he is unlikely to go to prison as is normal in Spain for first offences for non-violent crimes carrying sentence of less than two years.

 

SUSPECTED

Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid's star striker, accused of evading €14.7m in taxes, appears in court on Monday. Portuguese star faces four charges of fraud through offshore companies.

Jose Mourinho Manchester United manager accused of evading €3.3m in tax in 2011 and 2012, during time in charge at Real Madrid. But Gestifute, which represents him, says he has already settled matter with Spanish tax authorities.

Samuel Eto'o In November 2016, Spanish prosecutors sought jail sentence of 10 years and fines totalling €18m for Cameroonian, accused of failing to pay €3.9m in taxes during time at Barcelona from 2004 to 2009.

Radamel Falcao Colombian striker Falcao suspected of failing to correctly declare €7.4m of income earned from image rights between 2012 and 2013 while at Atletico Madrid. He has since paid €8.2m to Spanish tax authorities, a sum that includes interest on the original amount.

Jorge Mendes Portuguese super-agent put under official investigation last month by Spanish court investigating alleged tax evasion by Falcao, a client of his. He defended himself, telling closed-door hearing he "never" advised players in tax matters.

ELIO

Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett

Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina

Rating: 4/5

Four tips to secure IoT networks

Mohammed Abukhater, vice president at FireEye in the Middle East, said:

- Keep device software up-to-date. Most come with basic operating system, so users should ensure that they always have the latest version

- Besides a strong password, use two-step authentication. There should be a second log-in step like adding a code sent to your mobile number

- Usually smart devices come with many unnecessary features. Users should lock those features that are not required or used frequently

- Always create a different guest network for visitors

The specs: 2018 Nissan Patrol Nismo

Price: base / as tested: Dh382,000

Engine: 5.6-litre V8

Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic

Power: 428hp @ 5,800rpm

Torque: 560Nm @ 3,600rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 12.7L / 100km

THE BIO

Favourite car: Koenigsegg Agera RS or Renault Trezor concept car.

Favourite book: I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes or Red Notice by Bill Browder.

Biggest inspiration: My husband Nik. He really got me through a lot with his positivity.

Favourite holiday destination: Being at home in Australia, as I travel all over the world for work. It’s great to just hang out with my husband and family.

 

 

List of UAE medal winners

Gold
Faisal Al Ketbi (Open weight and 94kg)
Talib Al Kirbi (69kg)
Omar Al Fadhli (56kg)

Silver
Zayed Al Kaabi (94kg)
Khalfan Belhol (85kg)
Zayed Al Mansoori (62kg)
Mouza Al Shamsi (49kg women)

Bronze
Yahia Mansour Al Hammadi (Open and 94kg)
Saood Al Hammadi (77kg)
Said Al Mazroui (62kg)
Obaid Al Nuaimi (56kg)
Bashayer Al Matrooshi (62kg women)
Reem Abdulkareem (45kg women)