Newsletter
February 2013 Newsletter
Foreign income assessable
The AAT has found that a taxpayer was a resident of Australia and therefore affirmed the Tax Commissioner’s decision to assess the taxpayer’s foreign income earned for the 2006 to 2008 income years.
The taxpayer migrated to Australia in 2005 with his family on a business migration permanent visa. He worked as a pilot, which required him to be away from Australia for extended periods of time.
The taxpayer argued that he was a foreign resident and should not be taxed on the income. However, the AAT said this was a case where the taxpayer was “clearly an Australian resident for tax purposes”. Among other things, the AAT took into account the taxpayer’s desire to live in Australia as stated in his permanent resident visa application, that his family lived in Australia and that he stayed in hotels when working overseas.
The AAT also noted that the taxpayer held an Australian driver’s licence, retained private health insurance in Australia, had Australian bank accounts and owned an investment property in Australia.