Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences

Question: Discuss about the Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences. Answer: Introduction: The Australian taxation is one of the foremost revenue streams for the government, which is charged from the individuals holding citizenship of the country, business organisations and capital gains. Therefore, the current study aims to evaluate whether Fred has been a citizen of Australia based on the provided scenario. Ascertaining the citizenship of Fred for the purpose of taxation: As per the case study, it could be assessed that Fred has intended to visit Australia for setting up his own business. However, the person has not decided the course of stay in the nation. In order to obtain the citizenship of Australia, it is mandatory to have a valid visa for residing in the nation for an indefinite period. In the words of Saad (2014), holding such a type of visa could be teemed as the Permanent Residence Visa. In this case, it has been observed that Fred has visited Australia by leaving out the family. Therefore, it is quite inherent that Ted has acquired a valid visa; however, it is not possible to ascertain whether the same is a permanent residence visa. The major requirements for meeting the residential status of Australia are briefly summed up as follows: Stay in the nation: In order to become a permanent resident of Australia, it is necessary to reside in the nation for 12 months. As per the case study, Fred has been compelled to return to the province of the UK due to poor health conditions. In this context, Schenk, Thuronyi and Cui (2015) stated that the persons failing to satisfy the residence criteria are not taxable under the Australian rules and regulations. Therefore, according to this eligibility criterion, Fred is not a resident of Australia and hence, the Australian government could not charge tax from the person. Dual citizenship criteria in Australia: Since, Fred is an UK resident, therefore, it is essential for the person to obtain a citizenship of Australia for staying in the nation to operate the newly set up business. It has been provided in the case study that Fred has made an investment in France and receive a certain portion of the investment amount in the form of interest. As remarked by Arthur (2016.), the persons disclosing the income earned from investment in foreign country are taxable under both the domestic and the foreign governments. Since, Fred is eligible to pay tax to both the French and the UK governments; thus, the Australian government would not grant citizenship to the person and hence, not taxable under the Australian laws. In addition, since Fred has returned from Australia before 12 months due to physical illness, the major eligibility criterion for becoming an Australian resident has not been fulfilled. In addition, the person has also not decided about the duration in Australia. A person could not be a resident of Australia, in case, the same is uncertain about the length of stay in the nation (Australian Citizenship HQ 2016). Therefore, based on the above discussion, it could be evaluated that Fred is not a resident of Australia, since the person has failed to satisfy the eligibility criteria of the nation and thus, not obliged to pay any sort of tax to the Australian government. Conclusion: According to the above evaluation, it has been found that Fred has not been a citizen of Australia. This is because the person has not stayed in Australia for consecutive 12 months, in order to comply with the Australian legislations of permanent citizenship. Furthermore, Fred is also entitled to pay tax to the French government for thee3 interest earned from investments. Therefore, Fred has failed to satisfy the citizenship test of Australia and hence, non-tax deductible. References: Arthur, G., 2016. Tax files: Taxation duties of executors.Bulletin (Law Society of South Australia),38(2), pp.28-29. Australian Citizenship HQ. (2016).Australian Citizenship Eligibility - Australian Citizenship HQ. Available from: https://www.australiancitizenshiphq.com.au/australian-citizenship/citizenship-eligibility/ [Accessed on 1 Sep. 2016]. Saad, N., 2014. Tax knowledge, tax complexity and tax compliance: Taxpayers view.Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences,109, pp.1069-1075. Schenk, A., Thuronyi, V. and Cui, W., 2015.Value Added Tax. Cambridge University Press.