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myTax 2018 Non-resident foreign income

How to complete the non-resident foreign income section using myTax.

Last updated 5 March 2024

Part and full year non-residents for Australian taxation purposes are required to report their worldwide income if they had a Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) or Trade Support Loan (TSL) liability on 1 June 2018.

Worldwide income is:

Non-residents with worldwide income converted into Australian dollars exceeding the minimum repayment threshold will be liable to make a repayment of their HELP and TSL liability. Repayment may be in the form of a compulsory repayment and/or an overseas levy depending on how the worldwide income is made up. For more information see Overseas obligations.

For the period you were a resident during the year, show on your Australian tax return section all your income for that period, that is, both your Australian repayment income and any foreign-sourced income you earned as an Australian resident for taxation purposes.

For the period you were a non-resident during the year, report all income earned from sources outside Australia in the Non-resident foreign income section. Continue to report any Australian income earned as a non-resident in your Australian tax return section.

For more information about whether you were a resident or non-resident for tax purposes see Work out your residency status for tax purposes.

Non-resident foreign income section

This section will assist you to determine the non-resident foreign-sourced income component of your worldwide income.

All amounts must be converted to Australian dollars before being reported, using the average annual exchange rate for the financial year most closely corresponding to the 2017–18 income year. For assistance converting your currency, you can use the foreign income conversion calculatorThis link opens in a new window.

Completing this section

Country name

Provide the name of the country or countries where you have earned non-resident foreign-sourced income during the 2017–18 income year.

Foreign occupation

From the available occupations, select the closest matching foreign occupation from which you earned the majority of your foreign-sourced income during the year.

If your occupation is not listed, or you were not employed (for example, you were an investor, retired or a pensioner), select ‘Occupation not listed’.

Did you receive a foreign assessment that overlaps the Australian income year?

Answer Yes if:

  • you received a tax assessment for a 12 month period from a taxation authority of that country (even if you didn't work for the full 12 months), and
  • no other foreign tax authorities have made an assessment of your income for the periods of 12 months that overlap the 2017–18 income year.

Note: If you answer Yes, you will be required to enter the foreign assessment year start and end dates. This will determine which assessment methods you are eligible to use.

Answer No if:

  • you did not receive a tax assessment from a foreign tax authority, or
  • you received a tax assessment that does not cover a 12 month period, or
  • you received separate tax assessments from tax authorities of different foreign countries for 12 month periods that overlap the 2017–18 income year.

Select the income assessment method to calculate your foreign-sourced income 

We only show you the methods you are eligible to use based on responses to previous questions. To find out more about the various methods, see overseas obligations.

 The method you choose to determine your non-resident foreign-sourced income this year does not restrict your choice of method in a subsequent year. There are three assessment methods available to determine your non-resident foreign-sourced income: 

How to use the simple self-assessment method to complete the non-resident foreign income section.

Under the comprehensive tax-based assessment method, you assess your total foreign income using Australian taxation rules.

How to use the overseas assessed method to complete the Non-resident foreign income section.

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