PommyTom

Hi, I have an outstanding HECS debt and i'd like to pay it off in one lump sum, however, the ATO only give me the value at close of last financial year (up till July 1st 2009) less the voluntary payments i have made. I can already estimate exactly what has been withheld from my salary payments up till now.

Is it not possible to simply factor in what has been withheld up to this point in time and pay the full remaining amount (with the 10% bonus factored in). I understand i then need to hand in a new witholding declaration form, but telling them i no longer have a HECS debt isn't technically true, as the withheld payments aren't used until EOFY 2010.

Any ideas?

Hi,

I'm aware that as a child applying for Australian citizenship you have an improved chance if your parents have it (especially if born Australian).

Does anyone know if this applies to the reverse? I migrated to Australia from the UK over 8 years ago, and have since made it my home. My parents are now considering migrating here too (to be closer when they become grand parents etc), i was wondering if the fact that i am now a citizen would improve their points and chances?

Looking to set my girlfriend up with running a small importing business where she goes overseas purchases clothing items and sells them here in Australia.

I was wondering if anyone knew, or can point me in the right direction, of current laws / restrictions associated with doing this. I know we wouldn't be charged GST etc, for anything less than 50k per year with an ABN. However, when carrying purchased items through customs is there a tax for a certain amount? What kind of taxes would be faced on large orders? Small orders (ie: within a suitcase carried)?

Best regards,

Tom

Specifically, i have dual nationality with Australia and the UK...

If i LEAVE Austalia with my Aus passport, can i ENTER other countries with my UK passport, as long as i return to Aus (on entry) with my Aus passport.

Ie:

Leave Australia on Aus Passport

Arrive Singapore on Aus/UK Passport

Leave Singapore on Aus/UK Passport

Arrive UK on UK passport

Leave UK on UK passport

Arrive Australia on Aus passport

Is that possible? or am i going to go through a gauntlet when arriving in certain countries?

What are your experiences with this?

Does anyone know any way to marginally increase the size of their shoe? Even by half a size by just stretching the leather?

I vaguely remember Roald Dahl has a technique of putting shoes in a bag of water then freezing them... I just can't remember if this shrunk them or increased their size? Anyone else remember?

With VB.net, I'm coding a simple application to get more used to the new .Net format.

I'd like to save all the information to a 'new' database file. Can anyone point me in the right direction as to how to create a database on the fly, once that is done i'll be able to connect to it no problem, but actually creating the file is proving difficult to work out.

Also, with vb.net and the newly created custom file, how can it be made to automatically open that information with the program?

Is there a method in installation to associate the file type with the new program? How can i check when the program loads if a database file has been 'double-clicked' and proceed to load the data?

Any pointers to the right information would be greatly appreciated!

Best regards,

Thomas Meier