Private ruling: Residency
Date of advice: 22 May 2026
Published: 17 August 2026
Ruling period: Year ending 30 June 20XX | Year ending 30 June 20XX | Year ending 30 June 20XX | Year ending 30 June 20XX | Year ending 30 June 20XX | Year ending 30 June 20XX | Year ending 30 June 20XX | Year ending 30 June 20XX | Year ending 30 June 20XX
Date scheme commenced: 1 July 20XX

Ruling: Q1: Are you a resident of Australia for all of the income years in the ruling period? | A1: Yes

Relevant facts and circumstances: You are an Australian citizen. You were born in Australia. You completed a PhD and bachelor's degree at University A. In 20XX, you were awarded a scholarship as well as a fellowship from University B and left to study a master's program at University B. Your purpose for travelling to Country A was to undertake a master's program. Prior to undertaking the master's program, you were working for a tribunal. At the conclusion of the master's program, you were offered a position in a program with Employer A in Country A. You completed the program and were then offered a staff position and have worked with Employer A since that time. Your income from Employer A is made exempt by section 6-20 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (ITAA 1997) because of the application of the International Organisations (Privileges and Immunities) Act 1963 (IOPI Act). The IOPI Act provides for the conferral, by regulation, of privileges and immunities (including specified tax exemptions) on international organisations and persons connected with them. You acquired a property in Australia (Property A). You have always maintained this property as your residence. You keep your personal belongings at Property A. Your mailing address is Property A's address, and you pay most of your bills electronically. A friend checks on Property A periodically and collects your mail. You also own a rural property in Australia (Property B). You own the property jointly with your friend. You are responsible for maintaining Property B and have never used it to earn assessable income. Between 20XX and 20XX, you frequently returned to Australia to spend time with family and friends and to tend to personal matters. Between 20XX and 20XX, you had several children. All your children are Australian citizens. You have a sibling who is disabled and lives in Australia. Since your parent's passing you have been responsible for their care. You have extended family in Australia. You are a permanent resident of Country A. In 20XX, you returned to Australia from Country A. Your children were enrolled in and attended school in Australia. You continued to work remotely for Employer A. In 20XX, Employer A informed you that you were required to post out of Australia as part of their 'global motility' policy. As a result of this policy, you are required to rotate to member country offices every few years. In 20XX, you were posted to City A in Country C. The posting is several years in duration. In the role, you are responsible for managing the X operational matters for Country C for Employer A. You have a visa which only allows you to be employed by Employer A in City A. The visa would be cancelled if you ended your employment or were assigned to a country office in a different country. Your visa cannot be renewed past the end date of your current employment contract. Your children have accompanied you to City A and are attending school there. You have a lease with a duration of several years for your rental accommodation in City A. You have the following assets outside of Australia: • X bank account in Country A • Credit union account • Standard Chartered Bank account in Country A • A car which you will sell when you leave Country B You are currently a non-paid member of a university foundation and have regularly attended board meetings, participated in speaking engagements and events in Australia as part of your board member duties. You intend to return to Australia at the completion of your posting in City A. You have provided details of the dates you have been in Australia during the ruling period. You are also planning to return to Australia in a few months for several weeks. When you travel to Australia, you stay at Property A and occasionally with your sibling at their home. You have maintained Australian private health insurance for many years. Your employer also provides you with health insurance coverage. You maintain a membership with a recreational sports club. You have a Country B, Country A and Australian driver's licence. You have not developed any professional, social or sporting connections in City A. You did not inform the Australian Electoral Commission or Medicare that you were departing Australia. You did not advise any Australian financial institutions when you left Australia so that non-resident withholding tax could be deducted. You intend to vote in any elections at the Australian High Commission in City A.

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 ... 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: We have considered the facts of your situation in relation to the resides test during the following income years: | Detailed Reasoning - 20XX -20XX income years: You are a resident of Australia under the resides test for the income years from 1 July 20XX to 30 June 20XX based on the following: • You were physically present in Australia for the majority of the income year. • While in Australia, you resided at Property A with your children. • You have bank accounts, a superannuation account and two properties in Australia. • Your extended family and your sibling reside in Australia. • Your behaviour while in Australia is consistent with someone residing here, with a demonstrated connection to Australia. | Detailed Reasoning - 20XX-XX income year: You are not a resident of Australia under the resides test for the income year based on the following: • You were absent from Australia for the majority of the income year, except for several weeks you spent in Australia. • Your children live with you and attend school in City A. • Your employment is based in City A. • You have a lease for several years which commenced on 1 July 20XX for rental accommodation where you reside in City A. • Your behaviour while in City A is consistent with someone residing there. You are not a resident of Australia under the resides test for the income year based on the following: | Detailed Reasoning - 20XX-XX income year: You are not a resident of Australia under the resides test for the income year based on the following: • You were absent from Australia for the majority of the income year; except for a short period you spent in Australia. • Your children live with you and attend school in City A. • Your employment is based in City A. • You have a lease for several years which commenced on 1 July 20XX for rental accommodation where you reside in City A. • Your behaviour while in City A is consistent with someone residing there. You are not a resident of Australia under the resides test for the income year based on the following: | Detailed Reasoning - 20XX-XX income year: You are not a resident of Australia under the resides test for the income year based on the following: • You will be absent from Australia for the majority of the income year, except for several weeks which you plan to spend in Australia. • Your children live with you and attend school in City A. • Your employment is based in City A. • You have a lease for several years which commenced on 1 July 20XX for rental accommodation where you reside in City A. • Your behaviour while in City A is consistent with someone residing there. You are not a resident of Australia under the resides test for the income year based on the following: | Detailed Reasoning - 20XX-XX income year: You are not a resident of Australia under the resides test for the income year based on the following: • You will be absent from Australia for the majority of the income year. • Your children live with you and attend school in City A. • Your employment is based in City A. • You have a lease for several years which commenced on 1 July 20XX for rental accommodation where you reside in City A. • Your behaviour while in City A is consistent with someone residing there. 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 Australia, and your domicile of origin is Australia. It is considered that you did not abandon your domicile of origin in Australia and acquire a domicile of choice in City A. You are not entitled to reside in City A indefinitely and while living in City A, you only hold a work permit which is valid for several 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 not satisfied that your permanent place of abode is outside Australia because: • You have retained your family home at Property A in Australia and consistently return to it. You have formed a durable connection to the property and that intention has not changed during the income years of the ruling period. • Your sibling and your extended family live in Australia and you stay with your sibling on occasion when you return to Australia as you have been responsible for their care since your parent's passing. • You intend to stay in City A only until the completion of your employment contract and your visa can't be extended past it's current length. • Although you have a lease for rental accommodation in City A, Property A is available to you at all times, and you have established it as your family's main residence previously. • You have formed a durable connection with the Property A over the years. Based on the information provided, it cannot be viewed that you have permanently abandoned Property A while you are living in City A. 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: We have considered the facts of your situation in relation to the 183-day test during the following income years: | Detailed Reasoning - 20XX-XX income year: You were in Australia for more than 183 days during this income year. Therefore, you will be a resident under this test unless the Commissioner is satisfied that your usual place of abode is outside Australia and you do not have an intention to take up residence in Australia as discussed below. | Detailed Reasoning - 20XX-XX income year: You were in Australia for more than 183 days during this income year. Therefore, you will be a resident under this test unless the Commissioner is satisfied that your usual place of abode is outside Australia and you do not have an intention to take up residence in Australia as discussed below. | Detailed Reasoning - 20XX-XX income year: You were in Australia for more than 183 days during this income year. Therefore, you will be a resident under this test unless the Commissioner is satisfied that your usual place of abode is outside Australia and you do not have an intention to take up residence in Australia as discussed below. | Detailed Reasoning - 20XX-XX income year: You were in Australia for more than 183 days during this income year. Therefore, you will be a resident under this test unless the Commissioner is satisfied that your usual place of abode is outside Australia and you do not have an intention to take up residence in Australia as discussed below. | Detailed Reasoning - 20XX-XX income year: You were in Australia for less than 183 days during this income year. Therefore, as you have not been present in Australia for 183 days or more during this income year you are not a resident under this test for this income year. | Detailed Reasoning - 20XX-XX income year: You were in Australia for less than 183 days during this income year. Therefore, as you have not been present in Australia for 183 days or more during this income year you are not a resident under this test for this income year. | Detailed Reasoning - 20XX-XX income year: You will not be present in Australia for more than 183 days during this income year. Therefore, you will not be a resident under this test for this income year. | Detailed Reasoning - 20XX-XX income year: You will not be present in Australia for more than 183 days during this income year. You will not be a resident of Australia for the income years ending 30 June 20XX,20XX,20XX and 20XX as you were not present in Australia for 183 days or more in those years of income. You will be a resident under this test for the income years ending 30 June 20XX,20XX,20XX,20XX and 20XX 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 as discussed below. | 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 years ending 30 June 20XX,20XX,20XX,20XX and 20XX based on the following: • you were living and working in Australia • your usual place of abode was in Australia • you were a resident of Australia for tax purposes • you stayed at the Camperdown property which has been your home for many years The Commissioner is satisfied that your usual place of abode was in Australia for the 20XX,20XX,20XX,20XX and 20XX income years and that you were a resident under this test for the 20XX,20XX,20XX,20XX and 20XX income years. I ntention 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 years ending 30 June 20XX,20XX,20XX,20XX and 20XX because: • You have accommodation (Property A) immediately available to you in Australia. • You resided at Property A with your children during the income years from 1 July 20XX to 30 June 20XX. • Your children were enrolled in and attended school in Australia during the relevant income years. • You were absent from Australia for several years prior to the relevant period only for the purposes of study and employment. • Your intention has always been to return to Australia to reside. | 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. The test only applies to make resident members who are active members (that is, contributing, or are having contributions made on their behalf), to the Public Sector Superannuation Scheme (PSS) or the Commonwealth Superannuation Scheme (CSS). The PSS and CSS schemes are now closed to new members. If you are no longer employed by the Australian Public Service, or you are engaged or appointed under an employment arrangement where superannuation contributions are made to a fund other than the PSS and CSS, then this test will not apply to make you a resident. | Detailed Reasoning - Application to your situation: You are a member of the Commonwealth Superannuation Scheme (CSS). However, as you are not receiving or making active contributions to the 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 domicile test of residency and so are a resident of Australia for income tax purposes for all of the income years in the ruling period.