Supporting article Coming 13 Oct 2026
Australia is a wonderful place to move to. The tax system is less wonderful, but it is navigable, and there is one thing worth knowing before you land: a handful of decisions made in the weeks around your arrival can be worth more than years of careful budgeting afterwards. Take a look below, as this guide will help to walk you through it all.
Plenty of people arriving here get their visa advice from a registered migration agent and their tax advice from a colleague at the pub. One of those two is qualified to give it. This guide is for migrants, returning expats and people on temporary visas who would prefer the regulated version.
Here is what it will help you get right:
Book an appointment with our specialist team, or keep reading first. No pressure either way.
People arrive in different circumstances. Find yours:
Almost everything else in this guide depends on this one answer, so it is worth slowing down for.
Australian tax residency is not decided by your visa. The tests look at the whole picture of your life including where your home is, where your family and belongings are, your work, your routines, and how genuinely you have established yourself here. Day counts can matter, but there is no universal number that decides every case. Nor is there a form you lodge that magically declares you arrived.
Why it matters so much: as an Australian tax resident, Australia generally taxes your income from all sources, worldwide. As a foreign resident, Australia generally taxes only your Australian-sourced income. Same person, same year, very different outcome. Our detailed guide to being an Australian resident for tax purposes explains the framework.
This is the section worth reading twice. The concessions can be worth a great deal, and they are frequently overlooked because the words “temporary resident” mean something rather particular in tax law.
If you qualify as a temporary resident for tax purposes, most of your foreign income is not taxed in Australia. Foreign dividends, foreign interest, foreign rental income and many foreign pensions can fall outside the Australian system altogether. Capital gains on assets that are not taxable Australian property are generally treated much like those of a foreign resident.
The first question is who qualifies. Temporary resident status is a tax classification, not simply another name for someone holding a temporary visa. Your visa matters, but so do your own and your spouse’s connections to Australia. One unexpected fact in the family can switch off a very valuable concession.
Temporary resident status can end when your visa or family circumstances change. A visa upgrade can therefore be a tax event wearing a nicer suit. Whether you qualify, how long the treatment will last and what should happen before it ends are exactly the questions worth assessing properly.
You do not arrive in Australia with a clean slate. You arrive with whatever you already own, and the Australian tax system has views about all of it.
When you become an Australian tax resident and are not a temporary resident, the law can treat many qualifying assets you already own as having been acquired at their market value on that date. For an asset that has increased in value, this can place the earlier growth outside Australian capital gains tax. Supportable market values matter including contemporary statements, valuations and records make the position much easier to defend than a reconstruction several years later.
If you have retirement savings overseas, start with the question that decides everything else: what is the arrangement under Australian tax law? Some qualifying foreign superannuation lump sums received within six months after you become an Australian resident can be free of Australian tax. Six months goes quickly when you are also finding a house, a school and the box with the kettle in it. If you have meaningful retirement savings overseas, this belongs on the pre-arrival list, not the someday list.
Foreign persons generally need approval before acquiring Australian residential land. From 1 April 2025 to 30 June 2029, they are also generally prohibited from buying established dwellings unless a limited exception applies. Then come the state rules – foreign purchaser duty and absentee owner land tax surcharges can add substantially to the cost.
For 2026–27, a full-year Australian resident has a tax-free threshold of $18,200. Most residents also pay the 2% Medicare levy, subject to the available reductions and exemptions.
| Taxable income | Rate |
|---|---|
| $0 – $18,200 | Nil |
| $18,201 – $45,000 | 15% |
| $45,001 – $135,000 | 30% |
| $135,001 – $190,000 | 37% |
| Over $190,000 | 45% |
Foreign residents receive no tax-free threshold. They pay 30% from the first dollar up to $135,000, 37% from $135,001 to $190,000, and 45% above $190,000.
From 1 July 2026, an employer generally calculates super guarantee at 12% of your qualifying earnings each payday. Whether the salary quoted in your contract is inclusive or exclusive of super depends on the employment terms.
Most Australian tax residents pay the 2% Medicare levy, subject to income-based reductions and other exemptions. If you are here on a temporary visa and were not entitled to Medicare, you may be able to claim an exemption. The policy you brought with you may be excellent insurance and still be completely unhelpful at tax time.
The year you arrive is often a part-year residency year, and it is not the same as an ordinary return.
You may be a foreign resident for part of the year and an Australian resident for the rest, with different rules applying to each period. If that happens, the tax-free threshold is adjusted rather than handed over in full. Income derived before and after your residency date can be treated differently, and any temporary resident concessions, foreign income tax offsets and Medicare exemptions must be handled correctly.
It is an easy return to prepare incorrectly, because ordinary tax software does not decide when you became a resident, classify a foreign pension, or determine whether an overseas asset entered the Australian capital gains tax net. Getting the foundation right is considerably cheaper than amending it later.
From 1 July 2027, the capital gains tax and residential-property rules change under the Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026.
For new arrivals, two facts can change the result substantially: your residency history after 30 June 2027, and whether a residential property is an established dwelling or a qualifying new build. A comparatively short period as a foreign resident, temporary resident or Australian resident can matter.
If you are moving here with assets you expect to sell, or you are considering an Australian investment property, this is a planning conversation worth having before the relevant transaction.
Assuming your visa decides your tax residency. Migration status and tax residency are different questions under different laws.
Never checking whether the temporary resident concessions apply, and paying Australian tax on foreign income that was not assessable here.
Assuming the concessions cover everything foreign, when income from employment or services performed overseas can still be taxable.
Losing temporary resident status because your own or your spouse’s circumstances change, then assuming it can simply be regained later.
Assuming the market-value cost-base reset is always beneficial, or keeping no supportable evidence of the relevant values.
Withdrawing or transferring foreign retirement savings before establishing what the arrangement is under Australian law and whether any six-month concession is genuinely available.
Not quoting a tax file number and having tax withheld at 47% or 45%, depending on residency.
Overlooking a Medicare levy exemption, or assuming overseas health cover automatically prevents the Medicare levy surcharge.
Trying to buy an established dwelling without first checking the federal prohibition running to 30 June 2029, the approval rules, the precise exemptions and the state surcharges.
Treating the arrival-year return as an ordinary full-year return.
Detailed supporting guides are publishing throughout 2026. Each card below goes live on its scheduled date.
Read the detailed guides below if your situation is more specific:
Related pillar guides: our returning to Australia tax checklist and our non-resident tax return guide.
No. Migration status and tax residency are decided under different laws for different purposes. Your visa can be relevant evidence about your intentions and circumstances, but the tax question is answered by applying the residency tests to the facts of your life.
If you are an Australian tax resident without the temporary resident concessions, generally yes, your worldwide income becomes assessable here, with a foreign income tax offset potentially available for foreign tax paid. If you qualify as a temporary resident, most foreign income is not taxed in Australia, although income from employment or services performed overseas while you are a temporary resident can still be taxable.
Temporary resident status depends on more than the visa label. Your own position, your spouse's position and any earlier loss of the status can all matter. Have the classification checked before treating foreign income or capital gains as outside the Australian tax net.
When you become an Australian tax resident and are not a temporary resident, many qualifying assets can be treated as acquired at their market value on that date. This can exclude earlier growth from Australian capital gains tax. The result depends on the asset, your correct residency date and whether the temporary resident rules apply. Supportable market values should be organised while the evidence is still easy to find.
First establish what the arrangement is under Australian tax law. Classification, residency dates and payment timing decide whether a six-month concession or a taxable amount can arise. Regular pension payments follow different rules from lump sums, and a tax treaty may change the result. Check those matters before withdrawing or transferring anything.
Possibly. Whether you must lodge depends on your income, withholding and other circumstances. If a return is required and you became a resident partway through the year, it will generally be a part-year residency return. The adjusted tax-free threshold, income periods, temporary resident concessions, foreign tax offsets and Medicare position all need to be handled on the correct basis.
Arriving in Australia is one of the few moments when a single conversation can change your tax position for years. An appointment is for you if you are moving to Australia, have recently arrived, or are about to change visa status. We work out when your Australian tax residency begins, assess whether the temporary resident concessions apply and how long they will last, deal with the market-value position on your existing assets, advise on foreign superannuation and pensions before any relevant six-month period closes, and sort out your Australian salary, super and Medicare position. We work remotely with people all over the world, and we provide an upfront quote before commencing work.
Book an inbound expat consultationGeneral information only. This article is current as at 1 August 2026 and doesn't consider your personal circumstances. It isn't tax, financial, legal or migration advice. Your tax residency, your eligibility for the temporary resident concessions, and the treatment of your foreign income, assets, superannuation and pensions all depend on your specific circumstances and can change over time. Speak to our specialist expatriate tax team today, or to another registered tax agent, before acting.
