# Am I an Australian Resident for Australian tax purposes?



## mattnhodges (Jun 22, 2010)

Hi,

I have been living and working in the United States on an E3 visa since September 21st, 2009.

I am an Australian Citizen and was earning an income in Australia from July 1st - September 21st, 2009.

I understand that I will need to lodge an Australian Tax Return for the income earned in this period. 

My question is, am I considered an Australian Resident for tax purposes for the upcoming Australian tax return? 

If I am I will need to report on my US income which will *not* be exempt from Australian Income tax.

From what I understand, if I am not considered an Australian resident for tax purposes than I will not need to declare my US income when completing my Australian tax return.

I am hoping I am not 

Thanks in advance for your help!


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## thyrag (Jul 27, 2009)

mattnhodges said:


> Hi,
> 
> I have been living and working in the United States on an E3 visa since September 21st, 2009.
> 
> ...


I think the best thing would be to look up the ATO site and get the facts from there...

Cheers

Thyra


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## miss omy (Feb 9, 2010)

i'm in a similar situation
ive been here on a J1 since november 2008
so i had half a year in australia and half a year earning usd.

my dad did my tax return for me and put my permanent address as my USA address- which is incorrect,
on your tax return you need to put your permanent residence as your parents address
*your US residence is only temporary*.
you dont plan to live there forever and you plan to return to australia.


you are an Australian resident for tax purposes

if you have ALWAYS lived in australia, you are an Australian citizen,
go overseas temporarily, and
do not set up a permanent home in another country (renting and living abroad for 2-3 years is not permanent, permanent being- youre never coming back, you have immigrated)


the reason we have to do an aussie tax return is to catch people who live in australia for 6 months then country x for the rest of the year and only report their Australian earnings

effectively putting them in the lower tax bracket in australia- where as if they include their international earnings- even though they dont pay tax on it as they have paid it where they earnt it- that income goes towards calculating how much tax they should pay on their australian earnings


i hope this helps


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