QANTAS Singapore Basing

[LookinDown]

I considered some of the postings here to be overreacting to the determining of non-resident status. But then I looked through the Tax Ruling IT 2650.

The criteria seem clear cut but as usual the ATO always manages to have two bob each way. As my accountant occasionally reminds me, even private rulings are not assured and the ATO will at times challenge its own private rulings. By the way there was a reference earlier to a fee for private rulings. There was no charge for the last one I had a couple of years ago.

The various factors listed in the tax ruling seem to be able to be met by most SO’s. Scanning the list of examples towards the end of the document there is this one however: TAXATION RULING NO. IT 2650
INCOME TAX: RESIDENCY - PERMANENT PLACE OF ABODE OUTSIDE AUSTRALIA

38. An airline company employee took a 2 to 3 year posting to an overseas country expecting to return to Australia at the end of that period. She was accompanied by her spouse and children and purchased a home in the overseas country while renting out the family home in Australia. She was considered to have remained a resident of Australia. However, if she decided to stay in the overseas country for a further period of, say, 2 years, she was to be treated as a non-resident during the additional 2 year period.
Result: resident during her posting.

Note the similarities in the above example as they are worrying. Factors such as timeframe, taking family with you and renting out/selling your home here, don’t appear to have won over the ATO. For SO’s with families this may be a two edged sword. Leaving your kids at school back in Oz while similar education services are available in Singapore would be strongly viewed by the ATO as an indication of resident status. Yet if you take your family with you as in the above example, this by no means ensures non-resident status without which living costs will be crippling.

Hope you are still following this thread Hugh. Reiterating previous posts..get independent expert advice and seek a private ruling. Pass the info around. If QF don’t seek, obtain and give clear direction to staff well prior postings then they are yet again abrogating their employer responsibilities. Not holding my breath especially on the 'well prior' part,
LD
Having just played with the ATO's residency calculator one interesting outcome was that without altering any other entries, family not accompanying will give resident status. One SO I know was planning on leaving his wife behind to complete her tertiary studies but to do so will be very expensive.