ATO Interpretative Decision

ATO ID 2002/430

Income Tax

Dependant tax offset - parent living overseas
FOI status: may be released

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CAUTION: This is an edited and summarised record of a Tax Office decision. This record is not published as a form of advice. It is being made available for your inspection to meet FOI requirements, because it may be used by an officer in making another decision.

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If you reasonably apply this decision in good faith to your own circumstances (which are not materially different from those described in the decision), and the decision is later found to be incorrect you will not be liable to pay any penalty or interest. However, you will be required to pay any underpaid tax (or repay any over-claimed credit, grant or benefit), provided the time limits under the law allow it. If you do intend to apply this decision to your own circumstances, you will need to ensure that the relevant provisions referred to in the decision have not been amended or repealed. You may wish to obtain further advice from the Tax Office or from a professional adviser.

Issue

Is the taxpayer entitled to claim a dependant tax offset under section 159J of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (ITAA 1936) for maintaining a parent who lives overseas?

Decision

No. The taxpayer is not entitled to claim a dependant tax offset under section 159J of the ITAA 1936 for maintaining a parent who lives overseas.

Facts

The taxpayer is a resident of Australia for income tax purposes. The taxpayer's parent lives overseas and is a non resident of Australia for taxation purposes. The parent is totally financially dependent on the taxpayer.

Reasons for Decision

Subsection 159J(1) of the ITAA 1936 provides that a taxpayer is entitled to a tax offset where, during the income year, they contributed to the maintenance of a dependant who is a resident of Australia.

Although the parent of the taxpayer may be a dependant for the purposes of the dependant tax offset (subsection 159(2) of the ITAA 1936), the parent lives overseas and is not a resident of Australia. Therefore the taxpayer is not entitled to a dependant tax offset.

Date of decision:  18 March 2002

Year of income:  Year ended 30 June 2001

Legislative References:
Income Tax Assessment Act 1936
   section 159J
   subsection 159J(1)
   subsection 159J(2)

Keywords
Rebates
Dependant rebates
Parent & parent in law rebates

Business Line:  Small Business/Individual Taxpayers

Date of publication:  12 April 2002

ISSN: 1445-2782

history
  Date: Version:
You are here → 18 March 2002 Original statement
  28 October 2005 Archived

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