Residency - what you need to know

Introduction

Within this publication 'foreign resident' is the same as 'non-resident'.

To understand your tax situation, you must first work out whether you are an Australian resident for tax purposes. Australian residents are generally taxed on their worldwide income and foreign residents are generally taxed only on their Australian-sourced income.

The residency tests we use to work out your residency status for tax purposes are not the same as those used by other Australian agencies for other purposes such as immigration.

Generally, you are an Australian resident for tax purposes if any of the following applies:

• you have always lived in Australia
• you moved to Australia and live here permanently
• you have been in Australia continuously for six months or more, and for most of the time you have been
• in the same job, and
• living in the same place
• you have been in Australia for more than half of the financial year, unless
• your usual home is overseas, and
• you do not intend to live in Australia.