Caterer Goodman’s Owen Caterer gives his thoughts on the 2012 Australian budget and the ramifications for Australian expatriates in China.

I used to think that American expatriates had the worst tax situation amongst all foreigners in China. I might have to change my opinion after the Budget 2012. I’m starting to think Australians are fast catching up. Hold on a second…Australian non-residents now have the worst situation? What happened this year?

What has changed? Well several things actually. Remember how you got a 50 percent discount on capital gains for your property. Yup, for non-residents, that’s gone. Had this occurred on Australian residents, there would have been a complete up-roar and front-page news. Effectively this doubles the tax payable on your property’s capital gains from this point. If you have some good gains it could be up to 48 percent tax rate which you can just round to 50 percent when you complain to your foreign friends. This could cost you (and me) at least tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. Stings, doesn’t it?
Yes, it only applies to gains since 7:30pm on the 8th of May 2012. Yes, the CGT discount will remain available for capital gains accrued prior to this time. You will however need to prove it though, so it might be a good idea to obtain a market valuation of your property/ies as at the 8th of May 2012. “Try not to think about it too much, it only makes you grumpy.

About Caterer Goodman Partners

Caterer Goodman Partners is a Shanghai based wealth management firm established with a clear vision to provide a new level of personalized financial planning services for expatriates in Asia. Our financial advisors provide guidance for our clients in all areas of investment, specialising in managed accounts, money-market funds, retirement planning and alternative investments. At Caterer Goodman Partners, we offer our advice and experience to provide low cost, tax-effective and simple solutions to match our clients’ interests.

About Owen Caterer

Since graduation Mr Owen Caterer has worked with the Queensland Premier's Department in Trade Facilitation and then as a financial adviser in Shanghai from 2005 until 2010.  He then rose to Senior Adviser, then Business Development manager and then to Chief Investment Officer responsible for portfolios to a value of US$280 million across Asia. Following that Mr Caterer left to found his own firm with a partner in the financial advisory and wealth management area.   This focused on developing China and Asia's first fee-based financial advisory (rather than commission-based). This has grown to now have 8 staff and and managing almost US$35 million for clients throughout Asia. This business success was recognized as a finalist in the 2013 ACBA in the Start Up Enterprises category and are one of a small number of foreign managed firms to have a full asset management license in China.  Owen has also been active in the community volunteering for the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai and acting as the Vice-Chair of the Small Business Working Group (2012-2014) and as the Co-Deputy Chair of the Financial Services since 2013 until the present. They have continued to grow their business and have now been selected as a small group of companies who are platinum members of the Australian chamber of commerce. The achievement they are most proud of is their efforts to reform the financial planning industry in China and push it away from a hard-sales commission driven model to a more ethical management fee and long term customer service model.   Owen has a Graduate Diploma of Applied Finance from the Securities Institute of Australia of which he was a member as a Fellow of Finance for many years and also has an undergraduate degree from Griffith University in International Business.  Owen's interests are tennis, running and his wife and two children.  He speaks fluent Chinese, first arriving in China in 1997.