Private ruling: Residency
Date of advice: 6 August 2025
Published: 13 October 2025
Ruling period: Year ended 30 June 20XX | Year ended 30 June 20XX | Year ended 30 June 20XX | Year ended 30 June 20XX
Date scheme commenced: XX XX 20XX

Ruling: Q1: Are you a resident of Australia for tax purposes from XX XX 20XX as defined by subsection 6(1) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (ITAA 1936)? | A1: No

Relevant facts and circumstances: You were born in Country A. On XX XX 20XX, you became a citizen of Australia. You currently hold dual citizenship with Country A and Australia. You have lived in Australia for the past XX years. You do not have a partner or children. You have siblings and a parent who live in Australia. You have carried on a business trading in cryptocurrencies. Departing Australia Before departing Australia, you were living with your sibling at their home. This was an informal arrangement with your family where youpaid board. This arrangement ended when you left Australia on XX XX 20XX to Country B. You had no lease or other interest in your sibling's property. Before departing Australia, you donated or disposed of all your possessions that were too large to take with you. No personal assets were stored in Australia. You gave your car to your family prior to your departure. You took your laptop, personal electronics and all your clothes when you departed Australia. Your only capital asset is some cryptocurrency and a small cash balance in your XX bank account. You closed your Australian bank account at the beginning of 20XX. You intend to keep your XX bank account open. Living in Country B On XX XX 20XX, you arrived in Country B to live. When you first arrived in Country B, you initially stayed in a series of furnished apartments, so that you could see where he would like to live. On XX XX 20XX, you received your residence card, you provided a copy as substantiation. On XX XX 20XX, your residence card expires, but can be extended. On XX XX 20XX, you signed a XX month lease on an apartment. You moved in on Country B. You have provided details of your usual working day and regarding groceries and laundry, which you do using an app. You have a small circle of friends in Country B, who you often meet for coffee with. You enjoy spending your spare time dining out, going to the gym and reading. Working in Country B On XX XX 20XX, you incorporated Company A in Country B. You are the sole shareholder of Company A. You are also an employee. You provided a copy of Company A's certificate of formation. You used your last known address in Australia on the incorporation documents because you had not yet secured an address in Country B. Company A was incorporated to carry on a business developing software. On XX XX 20XX, Company A received its trade licence. You perform the work for Company A remotely. Company A received its corporate tax registration on XX XX 20XX, which was effective from XX XX 20XX. Visits to Australia On XX XX 20XX, you returned to Australia to spend Christmas and New Year with your family. On XX XX 20XX, you departed Australia. On XX XX 20XX, you arrived back in Australia. You travelled to Country C for a major cryptocurrency conference from XX XX 20XX to XX XX 20XX. You have no plans to visit Australia in the near future. You intend to spend your holiday time travelling. This included a trip to Country D where you departed Country B on XX XX 20XX for a few weeks. You have no other plans to travel during 20XX. You intend to live and work in Country B indefinitely. You do not know exactly how long you will live and work in Country B, but it will be longer than XX years. If and when you leave Country B, you intend to move to another country abroad. You have no intention to return to Australia to live.

Relevant legislative provisions: Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 subsection 6(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 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 not a resident of Australia under the resides test for the periods XX XX 20XX to XX XX 20XX based on the following: • On XX XX 20XX, you departed Australia and relocated to Country B. You have no intention to return to Australia to live permanently. • On XX XX 20XX, you incorporated Company A in Country B. • You lived in a series of furnished apartments before signing a 12 month lease on an apartment. • You took your laptop, personal electronics and all your clothes when you departed Australia. • Before departing Australia, you were living with your sibling at their home. This was an informal arrangement with your family where youpaid board. This arrangement ended when you left Australia. • Before departing Australia, you donated or disposed of all your possessions that were too large to take with you. No personal assets were stored in Australia. • You gave your car to your family prior to your departure. You may still be an Australian resident if you meet the conditions of one of the other tests (the domicile test, 183-day test and Commonwealth superannuation fund test). | 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 in Country A. You have dual citizenship in Country A and Australia. It is considered that you abandoned your domicile of origin in Country A and acquired a domicile of choice in Australia. You obtained citizenship in Australia, and you lived here for XX years. 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] FCAFC 29 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 • 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: The Commissioner is satisfied that your permanent place of abode is outside Australia because: • On XX XX 20XX, you arrived in Country B to live. You have no intention to return to Australia to live permanently. • On XX XX 20XX, you incorporated Company A in Country B. You are the sole trader of Company A and an employee there.You perform the work for Company A remotely. • On XX XX 20XX, you received your residence card, which will expire in XX years. However, you have stated that it can be extended. • You lived in a series of furnished apartments before signing a 12 month lease on an apartment. • You have a small circle of friends in Country B, who you often meet for coffee with. • You intend to spend your holiday time travelling. This included a trip to Country C where you departed Country B on XX XX 20XX for a few weeks. You have no other plans to travel during 20XX. • You intend to live and work in Country B indefinitely. You do not know exactly how long you will live and work in Country B, but it will be longer than XX years. Therefore, 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 have not been present in Australia for 183 days or more during the XX XX 20XX to XX XX 20XX income years. Therefore, you are not 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: As you do not satisfy any of the four tests of residency, you are not a resident of Australia for income tax purposes for the years ended XX XX 20XX to XX XX 20XX.