Edited version of private advice

Authorisation Number: 1051971837749

Date of advice: 14 April 2022

Ruling

Subject: Residency

Question

Are you considered a resident for tax purposes of Australia since 20 July 20XX?

Answer

No

Question

Is your income from your Australian employer assessable for income tax in Australia?

Answer

No

This ruling applies for the following periods:

Year ending 30 June 20XX

Year ending 30 June 20XX

The scheme commences on:

20 July 20XX

Relevant facts and circumstances

You are an Australian citizen.

You are not a citizen of any other country.

Your spouse is an Australian citizen.

You departed Australia on XX month 20XX to live with your spouse in Country X.

Your spouse has been living in Country X since month 20XX.

Prior to living in Country X, you had lived in Australia since you were born.

You and your spouse both obtained visas which allow you to live and work in Country X for a number of years.

You have a lease on an apartment in Country X.

Your mail is received at your residential address in Country X.

You own a property in Australia which is rented out and managed by a real estate agent.

Your personal and household effects were placed into long term storage.

You asked your parents to sell your vehicle.

You have bank accounts in Australia.

You have opened a bank account in Country X.

You own some personal and household effects in Country X.

You do not own any other assets outside of Australia.

You do not have any dependents.

You work remotely for your Australian employer in an ongoing role.

You have worked for your employer since 20XX.

Your spouse has a permanent employment position in Country X.

You have not maintained any professional, social or sporting connections in Country X.

You are not a Commonwealth of Australia Government employee for superannuation (super) purposes.

Neither you nor your spouse are members of the Public Sector Superannuation Scheme (PSS) which was established under the Superannuation Act 1990.

You did not leave Australia in the three years prior to leaving for Country X.

Since moving to Country X you have taken short holidays to nearby countries.

In the years going forward, you intend to take occasional short trips internationally including to Australia to see your extended family and friends for a maximum of one month in a year.

When completing incoming and outgoing passenger cards, you state that Country X is your place of residence and you provide your address there.

You are unsure as to how long you will remain in Country X, however you intend to stay for longer than two years.

You have an Australian driver's licence which is valid for use in Country X for up to twelve months.

You informed the Australian Electoral Commission and Medicare that you were departing Australia.

Relevant legislative provisions

Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 Subsection 6(1)

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

Reasons for decision

Question 1

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. 3^rd 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 Taxation Ruling IT 2650 Residency: Permanent place of abode outside Australia 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.

We consider that your circumstances are not consistent with residing in Australia.

This is because you have been living in Country X with your spouse since July 20XX, you are leasing an apartment in Country X, you have rented out your home in Australia, stored you household effects and do not plan to return to Australia for at least a number of years.

You are not a resident of Australia under the resides test.

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.

In your case, you were born in Australia and your domicile of origin is Australia.

It is considered that you did not abandon your domicile of origin in Australia and acquire a domicile of Country X. You only held a visa which allows you to live and work in Country X for a number of years.

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:

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

(b)  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.

This takes into account that you obtained a visa allowing you to live and work in the Country X for a number of years, you have lived in Country X with your spouse since July 20XX, you have rented out your home in Australia, stored your household effects and do not plan to return to Australia for at least a number of years.

Therefore, you are not a resident of Australia under this test.

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 for the relevant income years.

Question 2

In determining your liability to pay tax in Australia it is necessary to consider not only the domestic income tax laws but also any applicable double tax agreements.

Section 4 of the International Tax Agreements Act 1953 (Agreements Act) incorporates that Act with the ITAA 1936 and the ITAA 1997 so that all three Acts are read as one. The Agreements Act overrides both the ITAA 1936 and ITAA 1997 where there are inconsistent provisions (except in some limited situations).

Section 5 of the Agreements Act states that, subject to the provisions of the Agreements Act, any provision in an Agreement listed in section 5 has the force of law.

Article XX of the Country X Agreement considers employment income and states:

1 Subject to the provisions of Articles XX and XX of this Convention, salaries, wages and other similar remuneration derived by a resident of a Contracting State in respect of an employment shall be taxable only in that State unless the employment is exercised in the other Contracting State. If the employment is so exercised, such remuneration as is derived from that exercise may be taxed in that other State.

2 Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article, remuneration derived by a resident of a Contracting State in respect of an employment exercised in the other Contracting State shall be taxable only in the first-mentioned State if:

(a) the recipient is present in the other State for a period or periods not exceeding in the aggregate 183 days in any twelve month period commencing or ending in the fiscal year or year of income of that other State; and

(b) the remuneration is paid by, or on behalf of, an employer who is not a resident of the other State; and

(c) the remuneration is not deductible in determining taxable profits of a permanent establishment which the employer has in the other State.

3 Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this Article, remuneration derived in respect of an employment exercised aboard a ship or aircraft operated in international traffic may be taxed in the Contracting State of which the enterprise operating the ship or aircraft is a resident.

4 In relation to remuneration of a director of a company derived from the company the preceding provisions of this Article shall apply as if the remuneration were remuneration of an employee in respect of an employment and as if the references to an employer were references to the company.

In your case, where you are a resident of Country X and your employment was exercised in Country X, the income derived from your Australian employer is only taxable in Country X under Article XX. Australia does not have a taxing right.