Australian Taxation

Can anyone briefly explain what happens re paying tax in australia if living and working in Hong Kong ? ie do you have to declare income earnt here ? and how will the australian tax office know if i have earnt income here ?

If you are considered a permanent resident of Australia for tax purposes, then you need to declare your income.


What determines whether you are a permanent resident? Generally if you are in HK just temporarily (eg 3-6 months) then it is Australian income. But the overriding test is whether when you left Australia you already have plans to come back, and also whether you spend more than 180 days of the tax year away from Australia.


Therefore it is beneficial for you to get your income paid from a company outside of Australia, and to say that you have no intention to return to Australia. If you do return in future, it's no big deal as your circumstances changed, but as of now, you do not intend to return.

This will help you too:


http://calculators.ato.gov.au/scripts/axos/axos.asp?CONTEXT=&KBS=Resident.XR4&go=ok