Still an Australian tax resident? A cited draft advice to review.

FediPilot prepares

Takes a question asked in plain words about whether a client who has taken a job overseas is still an Australian tax resident, and reads the client's email, employment contract and extension, lease and school papers, the letting documents for the family home and a log of his days in Australia. It then opens the definition of resident in the legislation, the ATO ruling and the Full Federal Court decisions, naming each one as it reads it, and answers in the chat. It works through the accountant's follow-up on the date it chose, then drafts an advice document on the practice letterhead: its view in brief, quoted passages with numbered citations, each period rated with the reason, what it recommends and a list of authorities. The draft covers the residency question only and gives its own risk rating for the answer.

You review

The advice is yours. You read the draft against the legislation, the ruling and the decisions, check the quotations and the facts it relied on, add any authority it did not cite and anything outside the residency question, such as a tax treaty or what follows from a change of residency, and settle the position. As the registered tax agent you take responsibility for the advice, sign it and send it yourself.

Draft advice saved as a PDF. Fictional client and records. Draft advice only. Nothing sent or lodged.