The AAT has held that a taxpayer was a resident of Australia for tax purposes in the year ended 30 June 2011 and did not discharge the onus of proving that an assessment issued to him was excessive.

The taxpayer was born in Australia and is an Australian citizen and owns a residence in joint tenancy with his wife in Western Australia. He worked overseas for over 200 days during the year ended 30 June 2011. During those periods, his accommodation, meals, and other living expenses were covered by his employer, and his wife and children continued to reside at the WA property. When the taxpayer returned to Australia in the 2011 year, in between his periods of offshore work, he resided at the WA property.

During the 2011 year, all the taxpayer’s salary from working overseas was paid into an Australian bank account. In his 2011 tax return, he returned income, which had tax deducted from it, but also claimed a deduction for “Other deductions” of $86,536 for “Exempt income, income derived as a non-resident of Australia”. The Commissioner issued an assessment and disallowed the deduction and the taxpayer appealed.

The AAT said that, based on “the totality of facts and evidence before it”, the taxpayer was in its view at all material times a resident of Australia. The Tribunal held that the taxpayer had not discharged his burden of proving, on the balance of probabilities, that the assessment was excessive.

(AAT Case [2013] AATA 271, Re Nordern and FCT, AAT, Walsh SM, AAT Ref: 2012/3710, 2 May 2013.)

[LTN 83, 3/5/13]