Private ruling: Residency
Date of advice: 3 June 2025
Published: 4 August 2025
Ruling period: Year ended 30 June 20XX | Year ended 30 June 20XX
Date scheme commenced: X XX 20XX

Ruling: Q1: Are you a resident of Australia for tax purposes as defined by subsection 6(1) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (ITAA 1936)? | A1: Yes.

Relevant facts and circumstances: On XX XX 20XX, you and your family (including your de facto partner and child) relocated from Country A to Australia with the intention to live and work here permanently. You were born in XX and have since become an Australian citizen. Your family members are also Australian citizens and hold Australian passports. Between XX XX and XX XX 20XX, you remained employed in Country A but were on paid leave, not actively working. From XX XX 20XX through all of 20XX, you were permanently employed by an Australian company. Your salary and superannuation were paid into Australian financial institutions. Throughout 20XX, you resided at XX XX, XX which you own X%, which was previously an investment property. You terminated the lease to occupy it as your family home. You obtained private health insurance with XX for yourself and your family. You invested in Australian securities and managed funds (e.g. XX), using your Australian residential address. Your child attended daycare in XX full-time (X days a week) throughout 20XX. You travelled overseas for X weeks in 20XX for a holiday in Country A. You are not a member of the Commonwealth Superannuation Scheme (CSS) or the Public Sector Superannuation Scheme (PSS). You've lodged your income tax return for the year ending 30 June 20XX, which includes the income you've earned from your employment at XX.

Relevant legislative provisions: Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 subsection 6(1) | Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 section 995-1

Reasons for decision: Detailed Reasoning - Overview of the law: 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... [W]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: Logan J in Pike v Commissioner of Taxation [2019] FCA 2185 at 57 reminds us that it is no part of the ordinary meaning of reside in the 1936 that there be a "principal" or even "usual" place of residence. ...It is important that ... "resident" not be construed and applied as if there were such adjectival qualifications. For this reason, the test is not about dominance or exclusivity. | Detailed Reasoning - Application to your situation: You are a resident of Australia under the resides test for the period from XXXX 20XX based on the following: • Physical presence - you have been physically present in Australia since XX XX 20XX, with only a temporary • 10-week overseas holiday in 20XX. • Intention or purpose - you relocated to Australia with the clear and settled intention to live and work here permanently. • Behaviour/Employment ties - you commenced permanent employment with XX on XX XX 2022. Your salary and superannuation were paid into Australian financial institutions. • Behaviour/Social arrangements - you enrolled your child in full-time daycare (X days a week) in XX. • Behaviour/Social arrangements - you obtained private health insurance with XX for yourself and your family. • Behaviour - you invested in Australian securities and managed funds (e.g. XX), using your Australian residential address. • Family ties - your de facto partner and child, both Australian citizens, relocated with you. • Maintenance and location of assets/living arrangements - you resided at XX XX, XX which you own X%, which was previously an investment property. You terminated the lease to occupy it as your family home. 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 XX and your domicile of origin is XX. You immigrated to Australia on and became an Australian citizen on. It is considered that you abandoned your domicile of origin in XX and acquired a domicile of choice in Australia. Therefore, your domicile is Australia. | Detailed Reasoning - Permanent place of abode: If you have an Australian domicile, you are an Australian resident unless the Commissioner is satisfied that your permanent place of abode is outside Australia. This is a question of fact to be determined in light of all the facts and circumstances of each case. 'Permanent' does not mean everlasting or forever, but it is to be distinguished from temporary or transitory. The phrase 'permanent place of abode' calls for a consideration of the physical surroundings in which you live, extending to a town or country. It does not extend to more than one country, or a region of the world. The Full Federal Court in Harding v Commissioner of Taxation [2019] FCA 29 ( Harding ) held at paragraphs 36 and 40 that key considerations in determining whether a taxpayer has their permanent place of abode outside Australia are: • whether the taxpayer has definitely abandoned, in a permanent way, living in Australia • whether the taxpayer is living in a town, city, region or country in a permanent way. The Commissioner considers the following factors relevant to whether a taxpayer's permanent place of abode is outside Australia: • the intended and actual length of the taxpayer's stay in the overseas country; • whether the taxpayer intended to stay in the overseas country only temporarily and then to move on to another country or to return to Australia at some definite point in time; • whether the taxpayer has established a home (in the sense of dwelling place; a house or other shelter that is the fixed residence of a person, a family, or a household), outside Australia; • whether any residence or place of abode exists in Australia or has been abandoned because of the overseas absence; • the duration and continuity of the taxpayer's presence in the overseas country; and • the durability of association that the person has with a particular place in Australia, i.e., maintaining assets in Australia, informing government departments such as the Department of Social Security that he or she is leaving permanently and that family allowance payments should be stopped, place of education of the taxpayer's children, family ties and so on. As with the factors under the resides test, no one single factor is decisive, and the weight given to each factor depends on the individual circumstances. | Detailed Reasoning - Application to your situation: We have taken the following into consideration when deciding whether your permanent place of abode is outside Australia: • You relocated to Australia with your family on XX XX 20XX with the intention to live and work here permanently. • Since arrival, you have resided in a property you own X%, which you converted from an investment property into your family home. • You commenced permanent employment with an Australian company shortly after arrival, with your salary and superannuation paid into Australian financial institutions. • Your daughter is enrolled in full-time daycare in XX, and you have obtained private health insurance for your family. • You have invested in Australian securities and managed funds, using your Australian residential address. • Your only time spent overseas since arrival was a temporary X week holiday, which does not constitute establishing a permanent place of abode elsewhere. The Commissioner is satisfied that your permanent place of abode is in Australia. Therefore, you are 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 have been present in Australia for 183 days or more in the 20XX and 20XX income years. 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 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: We have taken the following into consideration when deciding whether your usual place of abode is in Australia: • You relocated to Australia permanently with your family on XX XX 20XX. • You reside in a home you own, which you have converted from an investment property into your primary residence. • You have established long-term employment with an Australian company. • Your family is settled in Australia, with your child attending daycare and your household integrated into Australian life. • Your only time in XX was a temporary X week holiday. Based on the circumstances, the Commissioner is satisfied that your usual place of abode was not outside Australia for the relevant income years. | 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: We have taken the following into consideration when deciding whether you intend to take up residence in Australia: • You relocated to Australia permanently with your family on XX XX 20XX with the express purpose of living and working here permanently • You ceased active employment overseas and commenced permanent employment with an Australian company shortly after arrival. • You converted your Australian investment property into your primary residence, indicating a long-term commitment to living in Australia. • Your family has settled in Australia, with your child enrolled in full-time daycare and private health insurance arranged for the household. • You have integrated into the Australian financial system, with salary, superannuation, and investments managed through Australian institutions. Based on your circumstances, the Commissioner is satisfied that did intend to take up residence in Australia for the relevant income years. Therefore, you are a resident under this test. | 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 not a member on behalf of whom contributions are being made to the Public Sector Superannuation Scheme (PSS) or the Commonwealth Superannuation Scheme (CSS) or a spouse of such a person, or a child under 16 of such a person. Therefore, you are not a resident under this test. | Detailed Reasoning - Conclusion: You satisfy the resides test, domicile test and 183-day test of residency and so are a resident of Australia for income tax purposes from XX XX 20XX until XX June 20XX.