Private ruling: Assessability of income
Date of advice: 13 June 2019
Published: August 2019
Ruling period: Year ending 30 June 2019
Date scheme commenced: 1 July 2018

Ruling: Q1: Is the income earned by you while you were working in Australia assessable? | A1: No

Relevant facts and circumstances: You are a citizen and resident of Country X and live permanently there. You are the sole director of a Country X incorporated company (the Company). The Company is non-resident company. Most of the services of the company are provided by you however the Company does hire other contractors and experts when the need arises. The company pays the service provider their salaries, wages and contract payments depending on the assignment contract. The company from time to time also provides other amenities such as travel costs and technical and IT equipment. There is a contract between Entity X and an Australian entity. Entity X assigned the work to be undertaken under the contract to the Company. You receive personal services income from the work. The work being undertaken under the contract is being performed by you. You work from within the office of the Australian entity and are provided the following resources: · Workstation · PC · Landline telephone The project assignment date had to be completed within 12 months from a specific date The Australian entity expected the work to take less than 6 months to complete and it ended up being completed within 6 months. You are in Australia on a limited 6 month Visa which had work restrictions. Your family including a spouse and children all reside in the Country X. You stayed in a hotel during your time in Australia. You do not have any financial investments, superannuation accounts or bank accounts in Australia. You did not intend to live in Australia permanently.

Relevant legislative provisions: Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 section 6-5

Reasons for decision: Summary: Non-residents generally have to declare their Australian sourced income in Australia. However the provisions of the relevant Double Tax Agreement need to be analysed to determine who has primary taxing rights over the income. The Country X/Australia DTA is relevant to your scenario. | Detailed Reasoning - Application to your circumstances: After analysing and applying the relevant Articles of the DTA, your income will not be assessable in Australia.