Remote Work: Am I considered a contractor and do I need an ABN?

 Author: AlliATO(Community Support)Community Support

26 Sept 2023

Hi @rl_2023

Australian based business can take on contracts within and outside of Australia. You would not class yourself as an overseas business as your base location is Australia.

If you’re not certain if you want to operate a business, I recommend you seek professional tax advice to work out if it’s the right thing for you. We’re not able to provide you with financial advice.

The Business industry code search tool shows the ANZSIC code as 69990 for Interpreting and translation services. This information should help you under your main business activity question on the ABR.

If you need help or further clarification with the ABN application, you can contact the Australian Business Register

Accepting a foreign contract does mean their tax and superannuation if they have super may be different to ours. Because you’d be performing the work in the foreign country you may fall under their tax requirements as well as ours.

You may wish to speak to a tax professional who has knowledge of the tax laws in the country you are looking to work in and determine what reporting obligations you may have there, along with your reporting obligations here.