Stockton – Federal Court of Australia finds that a US teen who came to Australia for nine months on a “working holiday visa” was a non-resident

The taxpayer was a US citizen who, in her “gap year” after high school, came to Australia for nine months on a “working holiday visa.” She stayed at numerous different houses in various locales in Australia, mostly secured through AirBnB, and had had two periods of employment, totaling about seven months At the time she left Florida for Australia, she had her own room in the family home, which was retained for her while she visited Australia, and she returned to it after her travels.

In finding that the taxpayer was not resident in Australia under general principles, Logan J stated:

… Here, the only habit or pattern in Ms Stockton’s choice of accommodation was that of opportunism antithetical not just to settling in any one locale but to settling anywhere at all in Australia while she was here. … Ms Stockton’s association with Australia during the 2017 income year was only ever casual.

Neal Armstrong. Summary of Stockton v Commissioner of Taxation [2019] FCA 1679 under s. 2(1).