Business & Finance Taxes

Tax Returns Australia Guide For Residents And Non-Residents - All You Need To Learn About Tax Return

If you are visiting Australia and you are a working holidaymaker particularly in Broome, here's a fact you should know - you probably need to file tax returns Australia. But before you begin any tax returns Broome preparations, you first need to figure out if you are indeed an Australian resident for tax purposes.

How do you know if you qualify as a resident for tax purposes?
Residency for tax purposes and immigration residency are two different things. You need to know that you may qualify as an Australian resident for tax purposes even if you are a citizen of a foreign country.

You qualify as a resident for tax purposes if:
1. You are an overseas student and you enrolled in a course that is more than 6 months long in Australia.
2. You go overseas but you do not apply for permanent residency in another country.
3. You have stayed in Australia for more than half of the financial year, but your home is overseas and you have no plans to live in Australia.
4. You have stayed in the same place and worked the same job in Australia for six months or more.
5. You moved to Australia and now permanently lives here.
6. You have always lived in Australia.

To learn more about how you can figure out your residency status, you can visit the Australian Taxation Office website. They have a Determination of Residency tool than can help you. Alternatively, you can consult a lawyer or a tax accountant so you can discuss how you can best deal with your tax returns Broome enquiries.

What difference does residency make?
The way you are taxed depends greatly on your residency. If you are a:

- Resident
You will be taxed on your worldwide income. If in your tax returns Australia you have an income between $37,001 and $80,000, you will be taxed at 30%. Then, if your earn between $6,001 and $37,000, you will be taxed at 15%. Lastly, if you have an income threshold of $6,000, you will not be taxed at all.

- Non-resident
You will be taxed only from your Australian sources. You will be taxed at 15% if you are an Australian non-resident and you earn less than $37,000. And if you make less than $80,000, you will be taxed at 32.5%.

What if your residency changes?
If you begin the first half of the financial year as a non-resident, then become a resident on the second half - you are considered an Australian resident. This means that when you prepare and lodge your tax returns Broome, you will be taxed at the same rate as an Australian resident.

However, you will be taxed at a lower tax-free threshold since you were a non-resident for a part of the financial year. This is where the pro-rata tax-free threshold will be applied in your tax returns Australia.

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