Am I a resident of Australia for tax purposes?
I have recently moved from Australia to the UK, where I will be living for a maximum of three years before returning to Australia permanently after my visa expires. I will most likely stay for two and a half years. My parents and I were all born in Australia, all of my family still lives in Australia and more than 97% of my financial assets are in Australia based investment accounts. I do not own a residence in Australia and I am renting my current residence in the UK, however I have lived in Australia for my entire life before moving. I was an Australian Tax Resident for more than ten years prior to leaving for the UK and I do not intend to live in the UK permanently. I consider Australia my permanent home.
Considering the short nature of my time abroad, I will ideally seek 'Non-domiciled' status in the UK for tax purposes. This would enable me to pay tax in the UK on UK sourced income (salary), but pay tax to the ATO on Australia sourced income (dividends, interest, capital gains). This would substantially simply my tax affairs given my financial assets are mostly in Australia.
I have tried the online 'Determination of residency status – leaving Australia' tool on the ATO website, however it cannot determine my residency. I would like someone either at the ATO or a registered agent to confirm my status rather than just making an assumption. Is there someone that can provide this confirmation?
958 views
1 replies