It has now been 7 weeks since the Australian Government Treasury’s consultation on the proposed modernisation of Australia’s individual tax residency rules closed, so what happens next?
With only 13 Australian Federal Government Parliamentary sitting days left in 2023, and no draft legislation having yet been introduced for debate, it seems we will have to wait for 2024 for the next instalment in this long-running saga.
As a quick recap of the timeline:
- May 2016 Board of Taxation commenced a review of Australian individual tax residence rules
- August 2017 the Board presented its findings to Australian Federal Government
- Sept 2018 the Board of Taxation undertook a public consultation on the proposed changes
- Dec 2019 the Australian Federal Government published the results of the consultation
- May 2021 the Australian Federal Government announced plans to legislation changes to individual tax residence rules
- Draft legislation introduced to Australian Federal Parliament
- May 2022 Federal election announced and Parliament dissolved, causing all draft legislation to lapse
- July 2023 new consultation process on proposed modernization of individual tax residence rules opens
- Sept 2023 consultation process closed
The first Australian Federal Parliamentary sitting session for 2024 starts on 6 February. We might expect to see some feedback on the consultation process or maybe even draft legislation introduced in the first half of 2024. Even if that happens the timing will be pretty tight to pass any legislation before the start of the new tax year on 1 July 2024. So that is realistically the earliest we will see any changes to the Australian individual tax residence rules, in the meantime, the existing rules and ATO TR 2023/1 form the basis of our understanding of the current situation.
For advice on your tax residence – contact your Fairway team.
