Calculating your offset limit

If you are claiming a foreign income tax offset of more than $1,000, you will first need to work out your foreign income tax offset limit. This amount is based on a comparison between your tax liability and the tax liability you would have if certain foreign-taxed and foreign-sourced income and related deductions were disregarded.

Step 1

Work out the income tax payable by you (including Medicare levy and Medicare levy surcharge), for the relevant income year excluding penalties and interest and disregarding any tax offsets.

Step 2

Work out the income tax that would be payable by you (including Medicare levy and Medicare levy surcharge), excluding penalties and interest and disregarding any tax offsets, if the following assumptions were made:

• your assessable income did not include
• • any amount included in your assessable income on which foreign income tax has been paid that counts towards your foreign income tax offset
  • any other income or gains from a non-Australian source
   
• you were not entitled to the following (where such deductions are actually allowable)
• • debt deductions attributable to your overseas permanent establishment
  • any other deductions (other than debt deductions) that are reasonably related to any amount covered by the first dot point above
  • an amount of the foreign loss component of one or more tax losses deducted in the income year.
   

For the purpose of this step, where deductions relate exclusively to the disregarded income amounts, you should assume that you were not entitled to the deductions.

The meaning of 'reasonably related to' is broad. It includes a relationship that may either be direct or indirect, provided that the relationship consists of a real connection; however a merely remote relationship is insufficient. Whether a deduction reasonably relates to the disregarded assessable income amounts will be a question of fact depending on the circumstances of the taxpayer.

Where deductions relate to both disregarded income amounts and other assessable income (as would typically be the case with head office and general administration expenses), you will need to apportion the deductions on a reasonable basis.

Allowable deductions for items such as gifts, contributions, superannuation and tax agent's fees are not considered to be reasonably related to any amount on which foreign income tax has been paid or other non-Australian source income.

Where foreign income is subject to averaging (for example where the special professional income rules or primary production income rules apply) only the foreign income for the current year is excluded at this step. It is not necessary to separate the Australian and foreign amounts for prior years.

Step 3

Take away the result of step 2 from step 1. If the result is greater than $1,000, this is your offset limit.

Example

Anna, an Australian-resident taxpayer, has income and expenses and pays foreign income tax for the income year as follows:

 

 

 

Anna calculates her foreign income tax offset limit as follows:

Step 1:Work out the tax payable on her taxable income

Tax on $31,130: $4,236.45 (includes Medicare levy)

Step 2:Work out the tax that would be payable if:

(a) Her assessable income does not include any amount of foreign income in respect of which foreign income tax has been paid, provided that the tax counts towards her foreign income tax offset. Other non-Australian source amounts are also disregarded as follows:

Although Anna has not paid foreign income tax on her employment income of $4,000 from the United Kingdom, it is subtracted from her assessable income at this step as it is from a non-Australian source.

(b) Certain expenses are disregarded. These are any expenses that relate to amounts included in her assessable income on which foreign income tax has been paid, provided that tax counts towards her foreign income tax offset, or expenses relating to other non-Australian amounts that are part of her assessable income (excluding debt deductions).

Note: that the debt deductions of $100 that relate to the United Kingdom dividend and interest income are not disregarded as Anna does not have an overseas permanent establishment. Nor is the deduction of $70 for the gift to a deductible gift recipient disregarded, as it does not reasonably relate to the excluded assessable income amounts at step 2(a).

Calculation

Tax on $19,830: $2,208.70 (includes Medicare levy)

Step 3: Take away the result of step 2 from step 1

$4,236.45 - $2,208.70 = $2027.75

This is Anna's foreign income tax offset limit. Although she has paid foreign income tax of $2,200, her foreign income tax offset is limited to $2,027.75.

The difference between the foreign income tax that Anna has paid and the offset limit cannot be refunded or carried forward to a future income year. The foreign income tax offset limit calculated reduces your income tax payable, Medicare levy and Medicare levy surcharge.

Deferred non-commercial business losses

If a current year foreign business loss is required to be deferred because of the non-commercial business loss rules, then step 2 in the foreign income tax offset limit calculation needs to be adjusted for the amount of any foreign business loss that is deferred. This is done before working out the amount of foreign income and expenses to be disregarded.

Note that to be eligible for the foreign income tax offset where you have a net foreign business loss there must be other foreign income included in assessable income on which foreign income tax has been paid.

To work out the amount of foreign income and expenses to disregard at step 2, add back the foreign component of the current year deferred non-commercial business loss to the net foreign income amount and then subtract the net foreign income from taxable income.

If the net foreign amount is zero or negative after adding back the deferred foreign loss component then the foreign income tax offset amount will be the lower of the foreign income tax paid or the default foreign income tax offset limit amount of $1,000.

Example

Assume for the year ended 30 June 2011, Karen has an Australian salary of $60,000 and a $7,000 business loss made up of $4,000 Australian loss and $3,000 foreign loss and the current year loss is required to be deferred as it does not meet one of the four non-commercial loss tests. There is also $20,000 of other foreign income on which foreign income tax of $2,000 has been paid. The net foreign income is ($20,000 - $3000) = $17,000.

Add the foreign component of deferred loss back to the net foreign income and then subtract the adjusted net foreign income amount from taxable income.

Step 1: Work out the tax payable on her taxable income

Tax on $80,000: $18,750 (includes Medicare levy)

Step 2: Work out the tax that would be payable based on the stated assumptions

Taxable income under step 2 assumptions: $60,000

Tax on $60,000: $12,450 (includes Medicare levy)

Step 3: Take away the result of step 2 from step 1

$18,750 - $12,450 = $6,300

In this situation, all the foreign income tax of $2,000 would be available as a tax offset as the foreign income tax offset limit exceeds the foreign income tax paid.