Private ruling: Residency
Published: November 2013
Ruling period: Year ending 30 June 2012
Date scheme commenced: 1 July 2011

Ruling: Q1: Are you an Australian resident for taxation purposes? | A1: No

Relevant facts and circumstances: You were born in Australia. You left Australia in mm/yyyy to work in country X. Prior to leaving Australia, you lived at your parent's house for X years. Your first employment contract in country X was for one year, renewable up to 5 years. Your current employment in the country is on a permanent ongoing basis. You were initially on a 3 year renewable work visa. Since mm/yyyy you changed to a renewable spousal visa in mm/yyyy. You have paid tax in county X You have no immediate fixed plan to leave country X. You have lived in a rental property and have purchased furnishings You do not have any property or assets in Australia. Your spouse lives with you in the Country X You have a joint savings account in Australia but do not have any other source of income in Australia. You and your spouse have never been a Commonwealth Government of Australia employee for superannuation purpose.


Reasons for decision: Summary: Generally where you are a resident of Australia for taxation purposes, your assessable income includes income gained from all sources, whether in or out of Australia. However, where you are a foreign resident, your assessable income includes only income derived from an Australian source. The terms 'resident' and 'resident of Australia', in regard to an individual, are defined within the tax provisions and provides four tests to ascertain the residency status. Relevant to your situation are the first two tests which are examined in Taxation Ruling IT 2650 Income Tax: Residency - permanent place of abode outside Australia, a copy of which is available from www.ato.gov.au. Given regard to your circumstances as a whole and a consideration of the relevant residency tests, it is accepted that you are not a resident of Australia for tax purposes.