Arriving in Australia comes with a paperwork season, and the tax pieces are the ones with deadlines attached. The good news: for most newcomers the first year is straightforward once three things are understood: residency, the TFN, and what income has to be declared.
Tax residency is its own question
Your visa determines whether you can live here; tax residency determines how you are taxed, and they do not always line up. Tax residency turns on where you actually live and intend to stay: the "resides" test first, then backstops like the domicile and 183-day tests. Getting it right matters because residents are taxed on worldwide income but enjoy the tax-free threshold; non-residents are taxed from the first dollar, at higher rates, on Australian income only.
First steps after arriving
- Apply for a Tax File Number, free, online, and needed before decent payroll withholding
- Give your TFN to your employer and bank (without it, tax is withheld at the top rate)
- Check Medicare entitlement; it affects the Medicare levy and private health decisions
- Open super: choose a fund or your employer’s default will choose for you
Foreign income and assets
Once you are a tax resident, overseas salary, rental income, dividends and interest generally belong in your Australian return, with credits for foreign tax paid under treaties. Bank accounts and investments left at home are not a problem; undeclared income from them is. The ATO receives data from overseas tax authorities automatically.
Your first return
The Australian tax year runs 1 July to 30 June. Part-year residents get a pro-rated tax-free threshold, and arrival-year returns often involve residency dates, foreign income and departure-country loose ends, exactly the return worth doing properly once so every later year is simple. We handle migration-year returns regularly, in plain English.