Private ruling: International residency for tax purposes
Date of advice: 21 April 2020
Published: June 2020
Ruling period: Year ending 30 June 2020 | Year ending 30 June 2021
Date scheme commenced: 1 July 2019

Ruling: Q1: Are you a non-resident of Australia for tax purposespursuant to section 6(1) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (ITAA 1936) from late 2019? | A1: Yes, having considered your circumstances and the relevant factors, you are not a resident of Australia for income tax purposes under subsection 6(1) of the ITAA 1936 and section 995-1(1) of the ITAA 1997 as you have not met any of the tests required to be considered a resident of Australia.

Relevant facts and circumstances: You are a foreign citizen and you were granted a visa which allows you to remain in Australia indefinitely. The visa allows you to travel in and out of Australia with no restriction for several years. You and your spouse have an adult child who is studying and living overseas. You left Australia several months ago to commence permanent employment overseas and expect to remain there for several years. While living overseas you will reside in a house which you own and you will be caring for your elderly parents who both suffer chronic illnesses. While in Australia you owned a residence and an Australian based company, of which you were the director. In anticipation of your move you transferred the directorship of the company and the ownership of your Australian residence to your spouse. Your spouse will be remaining in Australia to oversee business operations; however they will make regular overseas visits to you. In the coming months you intend to visit Australia for a period of fewer than 21 days. No subsequent visits to Australia have been planned but you intend visit your spouse in the future and expect the visits to be less than 90 days per year in total. You will stay in your spouse's residence on your visits. While working and living overseas you have stated that you will indicate on incoming passenger cards that you are a resident of the country you are living in and a temporary entrant to Australia. Both you and your spouse are not members of a Commonwealth Superannuation Scheme. You intend to inform Medicare that you have departed Australia and either suspend or cancel your Australian private health insurance in accordance with the terms and conditions of your policy. As you are not an Australian citizen you are not required to inform the Australian Electoral Commission of your departure. You have retained Australian bank accounts in order to have any dividends or distributions deposited into it. You intend to inform the bank of your overseas residency on your next visit to Australia.

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