Edited version of private advice

Authorisation Number: 1051901977210

Date of advice: 30 September 2021

Ruling

Subject: International - residency

Question

Are you an Australian resident for taxation purposes?

Answer

No.

This ruling applies for the following periods:

Year ended 30 June 20XX

Year ended 30 June 20XX

Year ended 30 June 20XX

Year ended 30 June 20XX

Year ended 30 June 20XX

Year ended 30 June 20XX

Year ended 30 June 20XX

The scheme commences on:

1 July 20XX

Relevant facts and circumstances

General

You were born in Country A.

You arrived in Country B in #### and entered on a work visa.

You were granted permanent residency in #### and became a citizen of Country B.

You purchased a property in Country B and established this as your main residence.

You resided at this property until #### when you moved for employment reasons.

Family and social connections

You don't have any dependants.

You accepted an employment contract to work in Country C.

You departed Country B to Country C to commence your employment.

Your initial intention when departing Country B to work in Country C was and remains to return to Country B.

Your employer paid for the relocation of your household effects, including your motor vehicle.

Accommodation and Assets

Your personal effects are in Country C.

You hold personal and business related bank accounts in Country C.

You hold superannuation accounts in both Country B and Country C.

Income and Employment

Upon completion of the initial three year employment contract, an extension was provided which you accepted for another year.

Another further extension was provided for one year.

Upon the extension of your employment contract, you contacted the Australian Electoral Commission that you had departed.

During the time you have resided in Country C you have rented a property. Prior to your current residence, you resided in three other rental properties.

You have returned to Country B for short trips during your time residing in Country C.

Between arriving in Country C and the end of your initial three year contract you were physically present in Country B for a total of ### days.

For the majority of your time, you have been in Country C.

In #### you resigned and were about to return to Country B, however COVID-19 impacts and border closures prevented you from returning.

After your resignation you started a new company which is registered in Country C.

You held Country B private health insurance and suspended it when you departed.

You continue to own the Country B property which has been continuously rented to tenants.

You advised your Country B financial institutions and superannuation provides of your change of address and circumstances so that non-resident withholding tax can be deducted.

You don't receive any income from sources outside of Country B.

Your current intention is to return as soon as you can.

You remain residing in Country C and haven't returned to Country B at this time.

You have maintained professional and business connections in Country B.

You are looking at business opportunities in Country B.

You are applying for business development roles in Country B.

You are not eligible to contribute to the relevant Commonwealth super funds.

Relevant legislative provisions

Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 Section 6-5

Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 Subsection 6(1)

Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 Subsection 995-1(1)

Reasons for decision

Detailed reasoning

Section 995-1 of the Income tax Assessment Act 1997 (ITAA 1997) defines an Australian resident for tax purposes as a person who is a resident of Australia for the purposes of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (ITAA 1936).

The terms resident and resident of Australia, as applied to an individual, are defined in subsection 6(1) of the ITAA 1936.

The definition offers four tests to ascertain whether each individual taxpayer is a resident of Australia for income tax purposes. These tests are:

•         the resides test,

•         the domicile test,

•         the 183 day test, and

•         the superannuation test.

The primary test for deciding the residency status of an individual is whether they reside in Australia according to the ordinary meaning of the word resides.

Where an individual does not reside in Australia according to ordinary concepts, they will still be an Australian resident if they meet the conditions of one of the other tests.

The resides test

The ordinary meaning of the word 'reside', according to the Macquarie Dictionary, 2001, rev. 3rd edition, The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd, NSW, is 'to dwell permanently or for a considerable time; having one's abode for a time', and according to the Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (1987), is 'to dwell permanently, or for a considerable time, to have one's settled or usual abode, to live in or at a particular place'. These definitions have been highlighted in cases as being definitive observations of the meaning of resides (see Viscount LC in Levene v Commissioners of Inland Revenue [1928] AC 217 and Logan J in Stockton v Federal Commissioner of Taxation [2019] FCA 1679).

The observations contained in the case of Hafza v Director-General of Social Security (1985) 6 FCR 444 are also important:

Physical presence and intention will coincide for most of the time. But few people are always at home. Once a person has established a home in a particular place - even involuntarily: see Commissioners of Inland Revenue v Lysaght [1928] AC 234 at 248; and Keil v Keil [1947] VLR 383 - a person does not necessarily cease to be resident there because he or she is physically absent. The test is whether the person has retained a continuity of association with the place - Levene v Inland Revenue Commissioners [1928] AC 217 at 225 and Judd v Judd (1957) 75 WN (NSW) 147 at 149 - together with an intention to return to that place and an attitude that that place remains " home ": see Norman v Norman (No 3) (1969) 16 FLR 231 at 235... [W]here the general concept is applicable, it is obvious that, as residence of a place in which a person is not physically present depends upon an intention to return and to continue to treat that place as " home ", a change of intention may be decisive of the question whether residence in a particular place has been maintained.

Case law decisions have considered the following factors in relation to whether the taxpayer was a resident under the 'resides' test:

•         Physical presence

•         Intention or purpose of presence

•         Family and business/employment ties

•         Maintenance and location of assets, and

•         Social and living arrangements.

These factors are similar to those which the Commissioner has said are relevant in determining the residency status of individuals in IT 2650 and Taxation Ruling TR 98/17 Income tax: residency status of individuals entering Australia.

It is important to note that not one single factor is decisive, and the weight given to each factor depends on each individual's circumstances.

Domicile test

Under the domicile test, you are a resident of Australia if your domicile is in Australia unless the Commissioner is satisfied that your permanent place of abode is outside Australia.

Domicile

Whether your domicile is Australia is determined by the Domicile Act 1982 and the common law rules on domicile.

Your domicile is your domicile of origin (usually the domicile of your father at the time of your birth) unless you have acquired a domicile of choice elsewhere. To acquire a domicile of choice of a particular country you must be lawfully present there and you must hold the positive intention to make that country your home indefinitely. Your domicile continues until you acquire a different domicile. Whether your domicile has changed depends on an objective consideration of all relevant facts.

Permanent place of abode

If you have an Australian domicile, you are an Australian resident unless the Commissioner is satisfied that your permanent place of abode is outside Australia. This is a question of fact to be determined in light of all the facts and circumstances of each case.

'Permanent' does not mean everlasting or forever, but it is to be distinguished from temporary or transitory.

The courts have held that the phrase 'permanent place of abode' calls for a consideration of the town or country where a person is located. It does not extend to more than one country, or a region of the world.

The Full Federal Court in Harding v Commissioner of Taxation [2019] FCA 29 held at paragraphs 36 and 40 that key considerations in determining whether a taxpayer has his or her permanent place of abode outside Australia are:

whether the taxpayer has definitely abandoned, in a permanent way, living in Australia; and

whether the taxpayer is living permanently in a specific country.

Paragraph 23 of Taxation Ruling IT 2650 Residency - Permanent place of abode outside Australia sets out the following factors which are used by the Commissioner in reaching a state of satisfaction as to a taxpayer's permanent place of abode:

(a)   the intended and actual length of the taxpayer's stay in the overseas country;

(b)   whether the taxpayer intended to stay in the overseas country only temporarily and then to move on to another country or to return to Australia at some definite point in time;

(c)   whether the taxpayer has established a home (in the sense of dwelling place; a house or other shelter that is the fixed residence of a person, a family, or a household), outside Australia;

(d)   whether any residence or place of abode exists in Australia or has been abandoned because of the overseas absence;

(e)   the duration and continuity of the taxpayer's presence in the overseas country; and

(f)    the durability of association that the person has with a particular place in Australia, i.e. maintaining assets in Australia, informing government departments such as the Department of Social Security that he or she is leaving permanently and that family allowance payments should be stopped, place of education of the taxpayer's children, family ties and so on.

As with the factors under the resides test, no one single factor is decisive, and the weight given to each factor depends on the individual circumstances.

The Commissioner is satisfied that your permanent place of abode is outside Australia.

183-day test

Where a person is present in Australia for 183 days during the year of income the person will be a resident, unless the Commissioner is satisfied that the person's usual place of abode is outside Australia and the person does not intend to take up residence in Australia.

You have not been present in Australia for 183 days or more during the income year. You are not a resident under this test.

Superannuation Test

An individual is a resident of Australia if they are either a member of the superannuation scheme established by deed under the Superannuation Act 1990 or an eligible employee for the purposes of the Superannuation Act 1976, or they are the spouse, or the child under 16, of such a person.

You are not a contributing member of the Public Sector Superannuation Scheme (PSS) or the Commonwealth Superannuation Scheme (CSS) or a spouse of such a person, or a child under 16 of such a person. Therefore, you are not a resident under this test.

Conclusion

As you do not satisfy any of the four tests of residency, you are not a resident of Australia for income tax purposes.