Expats watch out!
Probably nothing new here, but this is from Noel Wittaker's latest newsletter (dated today):
Expats Watch Out!
The ATO certainly has Australian Residents working overseas in their sights and they are winning a lot of cases lately. Even if you have not lived in Australia for years, if you have a home here they will want to tax your overseas income. If your spouse and children live here while you work overseas you have no chance at all. You will be considered a resident of Australia for tax purposes so the wages you earn overseas will be taxed by Australia, even though they are probably also taxed overseas. The only concession is that the ATO will give you a tax credit for the tax you paid overseas, if you can prove it, but you will not be entitled to a refund of any overseas tax.
The latest case is Pillay v FCT 2013 AATA 447, where Dr Pillay had lived and worked in East Timor since 2006. The AAT found that he still had a continuity of association with Australia because he maintained a house here and had an Australia bank account. This was enough to prove he “resided” here so all the income he had earned while living overseas was taxable in Australia.