Private ruling: Residency
Published: September 2014
Ruling period: Year ended 30 June 2015 | Year ended 30 June 2016 | Year ended 30 June 2017
Date scheme commenced: 1 July 2014

Ruling: Q1: Have you continued to be a non-resident of Australia for taxation purposes from 1 July 2014? | A1: Yes.

Relevant facts and circumstances: You obtained a private ruling which confirmed that you ceased to be a resident of Australia for tax purposes from when you relocated to country X. You were born in country X. Your parents were also born in country X. You lived in country X until you relocated to Australia with your family. You lived in Australia from then until you relocated back to country X. During the 20XX financial year you left Australia and relocated to country X. You became a resident of country X from this date. You intend to remain in country X for a period of at least another three to five years. After this period, you may then decide to either remain in country X or relocate to another foreign country. You are a citizen of country X and Australia. You have made some brief trips to Australia since your departure from Australia. In the 20YY income year you spent less than 183 days in Australia. Much of this time was spent preparing your former residence so that it could be marketed for sale. You also visited family and friends over Christmas. In the 20ZZ income year you spent less than 183 days in Australia. This was primarily to visit friends and family over Christmas and to attend a wedding. Family You are single and do not have any children. Your parents currently live in Australia. You have a sibling who currently also lives in Australia. You have no other close relatives in Australia apart from your parents and sibling. You are currently in a relationship with someone who lives in country X. You have several relatives who currently live in country X. You visit some of these relatives in country X on a regular basis. Australian assets and associations You took your personal effects and belongings with you using your maximum luggage allowance when departing Australia. The remainder was subsequently sent to you after your arrival in country X. Additional household goods and furniture were purchased in country X to furnish your country X home. You own residential properties in Australia. One property was used as your main residence before you departed Australia. The property was listed for sale with a real estate agent. You have not been able to attract a buyer at this stage. You are still in discussions with real estate agents and some prospective private buyers regarding the sale of the property. You have no intention to live in this property in the foreseeable future. Another property has never been used as your main residence. You occasionally lived in this property while staying in that state. The property has been leased out to an unrelated party since you departed Australia and is not available for your personal use. You intend to hold this property as an investment property for a long term. You owned motor vehicles in Australia. You sold them before leaving for country X as part of your relocation to country X. You transferred another vehicle and transport account to your ex-partner as part of a relationship breakdown settlement before relocating to country X. You sold your particular collection through an online auction. You are the sole shareholder of an Australian private company. You resigned as secretary and your sibling was appointed as a secretary and second director. The company previously operated a business in Australia. This business was sold a number of years ago as part of planning your relocation to country X. The company is currently not trading and has no assets after the sale of the business operations. You are the sole shareholder of another Australian private company. You were also the sole director and secretary of the company before you departed Australia. You resigned as secretary and your sibling was appointed as a secretary and second director. The company acts as trustee of a Trust. Apart from acting as trustee for the Trust, the company has no other activities and is otherwise dormant. You are a beneficiary of a Trust. The trust owns a property in Australia and a small amount of cash. The property has been made available for holiday letting by unrelated parties and is currently being managed by a local real estate agent. This property will be held as an investment property. You were the sole member of a self-managed superannuation fund. The trustee was one of your private companies. Most of the funds in the self-managed superannuation fund were rolled over to a public fund. The self-managed superannuation fund has since been wound up as a result of your relocation to country X. You are not a member of any Commonwealth superannuation funds. You have maintained bank accounts in Australia. The accounts have been maintained to pay occasional Australian bills which may arise following your departure from Australia and also to pay expenses in relation to the properties. One of the accounts has a nil balance. You intend to close these accounts in the near future. You have notified the bank of your non-residency status so that non-resident withholding tax can be applied to any interest you earn. You have an Australian credit card and American Express platinum card, of which your parents are supplementary holders. These cards have been maintained as your parents continue to use these cards to pay some of their living expenses. You have a small parcel of listed shares and managed funds. You intend to sell these in the near future. You cancelled your private health insurance when you departed Australia. You informed Medicare of your departure from Australia and requested you're your Medicare card be cancelled. You informed your doctor of your departure from Australia. You applied for removal from the Australian Electoral Roll before leaving Australia and received confirmation of your removal. You cancelled your magazine/newspaper subscriptions before departing Australia. You have no intention to rejoin these organizations. Due to you being an avid supporter of local sport you have purchased a digital subscription to an Australian newspaper. You were removed from all Australian based email newsletters. Country X assets and associations You originally leased a property located in country X. You have recently moved into a new property. You entered into a 12 month lease and have an option to renew the lease at the end of the period. You regard this property as your home and main residence. You have expressed your interest to purchase this property from the current owners. Upon arriving in country X, you were searching for an apartment to purchase. You have decided to continue to rent at present until you find a suitable apartment to purchase. You have bought new furniture, exercise equipment and other household items since arriving in country X. All household utilities have been connected and the utility accounts are in your name. You have leased a mailbox in country X. You opened a bank account in country X and transferred some funds from Australia to this bank account as part of the relocation process. You have obtained a credit card from the country X bank. You opened another bank account with a different institution in country X after arriving in country X. You have obtained a credit card to pay some living expenses in country X. You have registered as a voter in country X. You applied for and have received a registration that allows you to work in country X. You applied for and have received registration required for healthcare purposes in country X. You have registered with, and used the services of, a doctor in country X You have entered into engagements with a country X accountant and lawyer. You have maintained your membership of a private members club in country X. You have joined a number of other social groups in country X and have a number of friends and family members in country X.

Relevant legislative provisions: Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 Subsection 6(1)

Reasons for decision: Summary: As you are aware, the terms 'resident' and 'resident of Australia', in regard to an individual, are defined within the tax provisions which provides four tests to ascertain an individual's residency status. Relevant to your situation are the first two tests which are examined in Taxation Ruling IT 2650 Income Tax: Residency - permanent place of abode outside Australia, a copy of which is available from our website www.ato.gov.au. Given regard to your circumstances as a whole and a consideration of the relevant residency tests, it is accepted that you continue to be a non-resident of Australia for tax purposes.