Private ruling: Exempt income - international organisation
Date of advice: 19 December 2024
Published: 28 January 2025
Ruling period: Year ending 30 June 20XX | Year ending 30 June 20XX
Date scheme commenced: 1 July 20XX

Ruling: Q1: Are the payments you receive for services performed exempt from income tax under the International Organisations (Privileges and Immunities) Act 1963 (IOPI Act)? | A1: Yes. The IOPI Act exempts the income of a person connected with an international organisation from income tax where all of the following are satisfied and to the extent they are satisfied: • the income is received from an international organisation to which the IOPI Act applies; • the person is connected with the international organisation in one of the specified ways; and • the Regulations for the organisation provide an exemption for the income of a person connected with the organisation in that way, and the conditions and other particulars provided in relation to the exemption are satisfied (see Taxation Ruling TR 2024/D2 Income tax: exempt income of international organisations and persons connected with them (TR 2024/D2)). The Regulations of the organisation you have contracted with state that the organisation is an organisation to which the IOPI Act applies. The Regulations provide that a person who is performing, whether alone or jointly with other persons, a temporary mission on behalf of the organisation will be exempt from taxation on salaries and emoluments received from the organisation. The Regulations do not deny the exemption from tax for work done in Australia. TR 2024/D2 explains that a person performing a mission on behalf of an international organisation requires the person to represent the organisation to someone else. This connotates some interaction between the international organisation and someone else where the person acts on behalf of the organisation representing it in an official capacity, even if that is only temporarily. In your case, you are undertaking two temporary missions as a short-term consultant with the organisation. Therefore, the income you derive from the contracts is exempt from income tax under the IOPI Act.

Relevant facts and circumstances: You are an Australian resident for tax purposes. You have been engaged by an international organisation under separate contracts to deliver development work on missions as a short-term consultant. Initially, this involved you travelling overseas and receiving training in relation to your role. You then delivered the training in another foreign country. Subsequently, you became involved in the development and delivery of certain products in other foreign countries. You were also required to undertake some preparation work in Australia prior to missions. This included: • Online video conferences with country representatives in preparation for missions. • Preparing for mission (e.g. obtaining vaccinations, arranging visas, travel arrangements etc) • Assisting in the development of a new training module. You have also completed a report after a mission in Australia. Under the first contract, your services were expected to be required for about 30 days over a period of less than 12 months. Under the second contract, your services were expected to be required for a period of several days.

Relevant legislative provisions: Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 section 6-5 | Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 section 6-20 | International Organisations (Privileges and Immunities) Act 1953