Private ruling: Residency
Date of advice: 17 December 2025
Published: 2 February 2026
Ruling period: Year ending XX XXXXX 20XX
Date scheme commenced: XX XXXXX 20XX

Ruling: Q1: Are you a resident for tax purposes under subsection 6(1) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (ITAA 1936) for the 20XX-XX income year? | A1: Yes

Relevant facts and circumstances: You were born in Country A and are a citizen of Country A. In the last three years you have travelled to many countries as follows: • XXXXX - XXXXX 20XX, Country B for Study placement • XXXXX 20XX, Country C, specifically City A and City B (holiday) • XXXXX 20XX, Country D, holiday with Friends • XXXXX 20XX, Country E, holiday with partner • XXXXX 20XX, Country F, holiday with partner • XXXXX 20XX Country G, holiday with partner • XXXXX 20XX, Country G, trip with family • XXXXX 20XX, Country H, trip with family • XXXXX 20XX Country I, holiday with partner • XXXXX 20XX, Country G, trip with family • XXXXX 20XX, Country J, holiday with partner Going forward your travel movements are intended to include the exploration of Australia, with possible trips to Country K, Country L and Country M. XXXXX 20XX, you moved to Australia with your partner for the purpose of working in Australia. You have no other dependant family. Your family, reside in and are residents of Country A. On your incoming and outgoing passenger cards you state that you are a temporary resident. You are currently on a XXX Visa and have the intention to apply for a further XXX Visa when this runs out. Your intention is to work in Australia for X-X years and then assess the likelihood of permanent residency in Australia. On XX XXXXX 20XX, you and your partner signed a XX-month lease on the Property. The tenancy agreement has been provided with the private ruling application. Prior to coming to Australia, you rented a house in Country A. You are working with Employer A on a temporary fixed term basis. This is full time position, XX hours per fortnight, rostered over X days a week. You commenced this role on XX XXXXX 20XX Your employment with Employer A is scheduled to conclude XX XXXXX 20XX. This will be your only employment for this year. As part of your employment contract, you have an option to extend this employment, for an indefinite period. You will be living in Australia exclusively for this period. Your current lease is valid XX XXXXX 20XX. You have a current bank account in Country A, which is used to pay your ongoing loan, along with Christmas and birthday gifts for family and friends, without foreign transaction fees. You received your last income payment from your Country A job in XXXXX 20XX. You have sold your car in Country A. You have no remaining property in Country A. You are not a member of any sporting clubs in Country A. Your Country A mail is redirected to your parents' house, with all other mail being sent to your Australian address. You have obtained a City C Driver's licence. You have purchased a car in Australia. You have signed a 12-month contract with Gym A, are a member of their squash club and play soccer in a team with your work colleagues in Australia. You have a current account and savings accounts with Bank A in Australia. You sold your household effects prior to coming to Australia. You had your personal possessions shipped to Australia. You are a member of the Public Sector Superannuation (PSS) established under the Superannuation Act 1990. You and your partner are not Commonwealth of Australia Government employees for superannuation purposes. You are not an eligible employee in respect of the Commonwealth Superannuation Scheme (CSS) established under the Superannuation Act 1976 . You are not the spouse or dependent child under 16 of a person who is a member of the PSS or an eligible employee in respect of the CSS. You do not undertake any course of study.

Relevant legislative provisions: Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 section 6-5 | Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 section 6-20 | Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 section 995-1 | International Tax Agreements Act 1953

Reasons for decision: Detailed Reasoning - Detailed reasoning: Section 995-1 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (ITAA 1997) defines an Australian resident for tax purposes as a person who is a resident of Australia for the purposes of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (ITAA 1936). The terms 'resident' and 'resident of Australia', as applied to an individual, are defined in subsection 6(1) of the ITAA 1936. The definition offers four tests to ascertain whether each individual taxpayer is a resident of Australia for income tax purposes. These tests are: • the resides test (also referred to as the ordinary concepts test) • the domicile test • the 183-day test, and • the Commonwealth superannuation fund test. The resides test is the primary test for deciding the residency status of an individual. This test considers whether an individual resides in Australia according to the ordinary meaning of the word 'resides'. Where an individual does not reside in Australia according to ordinary concepts, they will still be an Australian resident if they meet the conditions of one of the other tests (the domicile test, 183-day test and Commonwealth superannuation fund test). Our interpretation of the law in respect of residency is set out in Taxation Ruling TR 2023/1 Income tax: residency tests for individuals . We have considered the statutory tests listed above in relation to your situation as follows: | Detailed Reasoning - The resides test: The ordinary meaning of the word 'reside' has been expressed as 'to dwell permanently or for a considerable time, to have one's settled or usual abode, to live, in or at a particular place': See Commissioner of Taxation v Miller (1946) 73 CLR 93 at 99 per Latham CJ, citing Viscount Cave LC in Levene v Inland Revenue Commissioners [1928] AC 217 at 222, citing the Oxford English Dictionary. Likewise, the Macquarie Dictionary defines 'reside' as 'to dwell permanently or for a considerable time; have one's abode for a time'. The observations contained in the case of Hafza v Director-General of Social Security (1985) 6 FCR 444 are also important: Physical presence and intention will coincide for most of the time. But few people are always at home. Once a person has established a home in a particular place - even involuntarily: see Commissioners of Inland Revenue v Lysaght [1928] AC 234 at 248; and Keil v Keil [1947] VLR 383 - a person does not necessarily cease to be resident there because he or she is physically absent. The test is whether the person has retained a continuity of association with the place - Levene v Inland Revenue Commissioners [1928] AC 217 at 225 and Judd v Judd (1957) 75 WN (NSW) 147 at 149 - together with an intention to return to that place and an attitude that that place remains "home": see Norman v Norman (No 3) (1969) 16 FLR 231 at 235... here the general concept is applicable, it is obvious that, as residence of a place in which a person is not physically present depends upon an intention to return and to continue to treat that place as "home", a change of intention may be decisive of the question whether residence in a particular place has been maintained. The Commissioner considers the following factors in relation to whether a taxpayer is a resident under the 'resides' test: • period of physical presence in Australia • intention or purpose of presence • behaviour while in Australia • family and business/employment ties • maintenance and location of assets • social and living arrangements. It is important to note that no one single factor is decisive, and the weight given to each factor depends on each individual's circumstances. Because the resides test is about whether an individual resides in Australia, the factors focus on the individual's connection to Australia. Having a connection with another country, or being a resident of another country, does not diminish any connection to Australia. The ordinary meaning of reside does not require an individual to have a principle or usual place of residence in Australia. | Detailed Reasoning - Application to your situation: You are a resident of Australia under the resides test for the period XXXXX 20XX - XX XXXXX 20XXbased on the following: | Detailed Reasoning - Physical Presence: • you have been physically present in Australia since XXXXX 20XX | Detailed Reasoning - Intention or purpose: • Your stated purpose is to live and work in Australia in Position A until your contract ends in XXXXX 20XX. • You intend to live and work in Australia for X-X years then assess the likelihood of permanent residency. | Detailed Reasoning - Behaviour: • You and your spouse have signed a XX-month lease on a house in City C, which expires XX XXXXX 20XX. • You have joined Gym A and are a member of a soccer team with your work colleagues • You have a City C Drivers Licence. • You have purchased a car in Australia. • Your family have remained in Country A, they are Country A citizens. • You have no dependants. • You have had your personal effects shipped to Australia. • You hold a current working account and savings account with Bank A in Australia. Although the law only requires you to be considered a resident under one test, for completeness the other tests are also considered. | Detailed Reasoning - Domicile test: Under the domicile test, you are a resident of Australia if your domicile is in Australia unless the Commissioner is satisfied that your permanent place of abode is outside Australia. | Detailed Reasoning - Domicile: Whether your domicile is in Australia is determined by the Domicile Act 1982 and the common law rules on domicile. Your domicile is your domicile of origin (usually the domicile of your father at the time of your birth) unless you have a domicile of dependence or have acquired a domicile of choice elsewhere. To acquire a domicile of choice of a particular country you must be lawfully present there and hold the positive intention to make that country your home indefinitely. Your domicile continues until you acquire a different domicile. Whether your domicile has changed depends on an objective consideration of all relevant facts. | Detailed Reasoning - Application to your situation: In your case you were born in Country A and your domicile of origin is Country A. You moved to Australia in XXXXX 20XX on an XXX Visa. You are not entitled to reside in Australia indefinitely on this Visa and are required to renew this Visa or acquire permanent residency to stay in Australia. Therefore, your domicile is Country A, and you are not a resident of Australia under the domicile test. | Detailed Reasoning - 183-day test: Where a person is present in Australia for 183 days or more during the year of income the person will be a resident, unless the Commissioner is satisfied that both: • the person's usual place of abode is outside Australia, and • the person does not intend to take up residence in Australia. | Detailed Reasoning - Application to your situation: You will be in Australia for 183 days or more in the 20XX-XX income year. Therefore, you will be a resident under this test unless the Commissioner is satisfied that your usual place of abode was outside Australia and you do not have an intention to take up residence in Australia. | Detailed Reasoning - Usual place of abode: In the context of the 183-day test, a person's usual place of abode is the place they usually live and can include a dwelling or a country. A person can have only one usual place of abode under the 183-day test. However, it is also possible that a person does not have a usual place of abode. This is the case for a person who merely travels through various countries without developing any strong connections. If a person has places of abode both inside and outside Australia, then a comparison may need to be made to determine which is their usual place of abode. When comparing two places of abode of a particular person, we will examine the nature and quality of the use which the person makes of each particular place of abode. It may then be possible to determine which is the usual one, as distinct from the other or others which, while they may be places of abode, are not properly characterised as the person's usual place of abode: Emmett J at [78] in Federal Commissioner of Taxation v Executors of the Estate of Subrahmanyam [2001] FCA 1836. | Detailed Reasoning - Application to your situation: The Commissioner is not satisfied that your usual place of abode was outside Australia for the relevant income year based in the following: • You have signed an employment contract in Australia until XX XXXXX 20XX; there is an option to extend this contract. • You have signed a tenancy agreement in Australia until XX XXXXX 20XX. • You had your personal effects shipped to Australia. • You sold any household effects prior to leaving the Country A. • You have obtained a Driver's Licence and purchased a car in Australia. • You have opened bank accounts in Australia with Bank A. | Detailed Reasoning - Intention to take up residency: To determine whether you intend to take up residence in Australia, we look at evidence of relevant objective facts. 'Intend to take up residency' does not merely mean intend to stay for a long time. It means intending to live here in such a manner that you would reside here. | Detailed Reasoning - Application to your situation: The Commissioner is satisfied that you did intend to take up residence in Australia for the relevant income year because: • You obtained a rental property and signed a XX-month lease. • You have signed an employment contract for the next XX months. • You obtained a Driver's licence and purchased a car. • You have joined Gym A, become a member of their squash team and are a member of a soccer team with your work colleagues. • You have no property or employment in any other country. • You sold your household effects prior to coming to Australia. • You have had your personal possessions shipped to Australia. | Detailed Reasoning - Superannuation test: An individual is a resident of Australia if they are either a member of the superannuation scheme established by deed under the Superannuation Act 1990 or an eligible employee for the purposes of the Superannuation Act 1976, or they are the spouse, or the child under 16 of such a person. | Detailed Reasoning - Application to your situation: You are a member on behalf of whom contributions are being made to the Public Sector Superannuation Scheme (PSS) or the Commonwealth Superannuation Scheme (CSS). Therefore, you are a resident under this test. | Detailed Reasoning - Conclusion: You satisfy the resides, 183-day and Superannuation tests of residency and so are a resident of Australia for income tax purposes for the year ended 30 June 20XX. | Detailed Reasoning - Medicare Levy and Medicare Levy Surcharge: If you're visiting Australia from Country A, you may be eligible for medical care under Medicare while you're here. To be eligible, you must have been living in Country A before arriving in Australia. The Medicare Levy helps to fund some of the costs of Australia's public health system. This is known as Medicare. The Medicare levy is 2% of your taxable income. Your Medicare Levy is calculated when you lodge your tax return. The Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS) is a separate levy to the Medicare Levy. The MLS is an amount you pay on top of the Medicare levy (1%, 1.25% or 1.5%). MLS is based on your "income for surcharge purposes" or combined "income for surcharge purposes" if you have a spouse/partner, for the income year.