01
The year of return is a part-year return
Australian tax law treats the year you become resident as part-resident, part-non-resident. The split changes what's included, what's exempt, and what cost base resets apply.
For returning (and returned) Australians
Coming home.
The most complicated return most Australians ever file.
The flight back is the easy part. The tax return that follows is the most complicated most Australians ever file - foreign income, foreign super and pensions, offshore investments that didn't sell before the move, ESS that vested while you were away, cost-base resets, treaty positions. We've spent twenty years getting these returns right.
§ 01
Who this is for.
You've come home - perhaps recently, perhaps a year or two ago. Your salary is now Australian, but the rest of your financial life isn't. There's likely a US 401(k) or UK pension you can't simply roll over. There may be foreign property, offshore shares, an entity overseas, or ESS still vesting from your last employer. From the Australian Taxation Office's perspective, all of it is now potentially on your return.
§ 02
The problems we see, again and again.
02
Foreign super and pensions
401(k), IRA, UK SIPP, EU pillar pensions, Hong Kong MPF, Singapore CPF - each has its own Australian tax treatment. Drawdowns are taxable here. Some can be transferred; most can't.
03
Cost-base resets on offshore assets (CGT event I2)
Most offshore assets reset to market value the day you become tax resident. Get the date right, get the valuation right, and decades of foreign gains stay outside the Australian net.
04
ESS that vested overseas, payable here
RSUs and options vesting after return can trigger Australian tax on amounts earned overseas - unless the cross-border source rules are applied correctly.
05
FITO, FBT, and the interaction with the host country
Foreign Income Tax Offset, double-tax treaty residual claims, host-country obligations that follow you home for years.
06
Foreign income reporting and ATO data-matching
The ATO now receives Common Reporting Standard data from 100+ countries. Disclosure is no longer optional, and amnesty windows close fast.
§ 03
How we help.
01 / 06
Year-of-return planning
When to lodge, what to disclose, which cost-base resets to claim.
02 / 06
Foreign super and pension review
Tax treatment, transfer options, drawdown strategy.
03 / 06
Offshore asset structuring
CGT event I2 cost-base resets, valuations, what to keep, what to sell.
04 / 06
ESS true-up
Cross-border vesting, source rules, double-tax relief.
05 / 06
Voluntary disclosure
If foreign income was not reported during your overseas years, we manage the disclosure to the ATO.
06 / 06
Ongoing advisory
Year-round support, not just October. Repatriation rarely fits inside one return.
I came home from twelve years in the US with three retirement accounts and no idea what to do. Their year-of-return advice saved me from a very expensive mistake.Emma R. · USA → Melbourne · Repatriation 2023
Sort your homecoming.
The right time to talk to us is before you lodge - ideally in the first six months back. Free 30-minute consultation, no obligation.
Book a returning-home consultation
