If you are a resident entity of a country that has a tax treaty with Australia or are a resident entity from a non-treaty country and you provide services in Australia, you may need to meet Australian tax obligations.
- You may be liable for Australian income tax if you have an Australian permanent establishment. If you provide services as an individual you will need to pay income tax on the earnings if the income is attributable to your fixed base or if you were present in Australia for more than 183 days.
- You may be liable for Australian capital gains tax (CGT) if you have assets that are considered taxable Australian property.
- You may be liable for goods and services tax (GST), which is a broad-based tax of 10% on most goods, services and other items sold or consumed in Australia. For more information, refer to Supplying goods and services in Australia - goods and services tax.
You will need to register for an Australian business number (ABN) for some tax obligations, which may include GST and pay as you go (PAYG) withholding. You generally need to quote an ABN on your invoices or other documents relating to sales that you make to other enterprises to avoid having tax withheld from payments to you. If you don't quote an ABN when you supply goods or services to another business, they will have to withhold tax from their payment to you at the rate of 46.5% under the PAYG withholding system.
Depending on the types of services you provide, you may be subject to Australian foreign resident withholding tax.
If you employ full-time, part-time or casual workers in Australia, you are likely to have both Australian superannuation guarantee and PAYG withholding obligations. You may also have fringe benefits tax (FBT) obligations.
If you are a resident entity of a country that does not have a tax treaty with Australia and you provide services in Australia, you have certain Australian tax obligations.
- Income tax obligations - you need to determine the source of your income from an international transaction involving Australia to decide if you have Australian income tax obligations - refer to Doing business in Australia - what you need to know.
- Goods and services tax (GST) obligations - you may be liable for GST which is a broad-based tax of 10% on most goods, services and other items sold or consumed in Australia. For more information, refer to Supplying goods and services in Australia - goods and services tax.
- Other tax obligations - if you are exporting goods to Australia by selling to an Australian resident entity, and the resident entity (buyer) is responsible for clearing the goods through customs (for example, on a free on board (FOB) basis) you may not have Australian tax obligations. Your Australian customer will have tax obligations relating to the importation of the goods.
More information about proposed measures
The government is continually reviewing international tax arrangements. For information on how potential international legislative changes may affect you, refer to New legislation.
If you need help in applying this information to your own situation, contact us by phone.
Last Modified: Thursday, 8 November 2012