What is the simplest way to work as a contractor in Australia for a US company?

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BlakeATO · Answer

You can be a contractor in your own right. You'll need to apply for an ABN to start with, which you can do on the ABR: Apply for an ABN. As a contractor, sometimes you'll still be eligible for super. If you're paid principally for your labour, you'll be an employee for super purposes, and whoever pays you to do the work will need to pay super guarantee for you. If you're not, they won't have to pay super for you. You can, instead, pay it yourself. You don't have to pay super for yourself, but it's a good idea to plan for your future. If you do, it will count as a personal contribution. If you want to claim a deduction for those amounts, you'd need to complete a notice of intent for your fund. For your PAYG, you can still make an arrangement with the business that hires you to pay tax for you on your behalf. Otherwise, you have two options: you can put some aside for the end of the year, and once you lodge your tax return, you'll know how much to pay, or you can register for PAYG instalments. You'll estimate how much tax you'll need to pay for the year and pay it in quarterly chunks instead to help budget. We even have a calculator on our website to help each quarter. You can read about PAYG instalments on our website: PAYG Instalments. We have a whole section on our website for contractors you might want to check out too: Working As A Contractor.

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