Putting this here because I heard an imbecile journalist describing there being a tax payment when a player returns to Australia. No true at all. Thats a UK things.
short version:
Luai sells his Aussie house, buys a house in PNG, moves wife and kids there, sets up local bank accounts, genuinely demonstrates he is living there permanently… he won’t pay income tax. If he then ‘changes his mind’ and decides to move back to Australia in 5 years, he still won’t pay income tax on money he brings back.
Long version:
If a player like Luai actually restructures his life around PNG (family relocates, no Australian home retained, under 183 days in Australia, genuine PNG abode), he could become a non-resident for Australian tax purposes. Then:
• Only Australian-sourced income remains taxable here (e.g., Australian investment income, rent).
• PNG-sourced salary and PNG-sourced image rights (third party deals) fall outside Australia’s tax net entirely.
• If dual-resident under domestic law of both countries, the DTA tie-breaker (permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual abode, nationality, in that order) decides which country wins primary taxing rights.
short version:
Luai sells his Aussie house, buys a house in PNG, moves wife and kids there, sets up local bank accounts, genuinely demonstrates he is living there permanently… he won’t pay income tax. If he then ‘changes his mind’ and decides to move back to Australia in 5 years, he still won’t pay income tax on money he brings back.
Long version:
If a player like Luai actually restructures his life around PNG (family relocates, no Australian home retained, under 183 days in Australia, genuine PNG abode), he could become a non-resident for Australian tax purposes. Then:
• Only Australian-sourced income remains taxable here (e.g., Australian investment income, rent).
• PNG-sourced salary and PNG-sourced image rights (third party deals) fall outside Australia’s tax net entirely.
• If dual-resident under domestic law of both countries, the DTA tie-breaker (permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual abode, nationality, in that order) decides which country wins primary taxing rights.