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ZONE TAX OFFSET

The zone tax offset is a tax concession. Zone tax offsets is offered by the Australian Tax Office for people who live and work in remote areas of Australia. This tax offset can provide significant tax savings to those eligible Australian taxpayers.

Remote areas are classed as either zone A or zone B. There are also special areas within these zones. The zone rebate or offset falls into two main categories, the zone tax offset which is for residents of specific areas within or near Australia and the overseas defence forces tax offset which is for ADF or U.N. forces in overseas localities. To qualify for the tax offset, you must have lived or worked in a remote area (not necessarily continuously) for:

• 183 days or more during 2014–15; or
• 183 days or more during the period 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2015 (including at least one day in 2014–15) and you did not claim a zone tax offset in your 2014 tax return.

If you lived in a zone for less than 183 days in 2014–15, you may still be able to claim a tax offset as long as you lived in a zone for a continuous period of less than five years after 1 July 2009 and: 

• You were unable to claim in the first year because you were there for less than 183 days; and
• The total of the days you were there in the first year and in 2014–15 are 183 or more.
• Areas included in zone A and zone B:

Zone A: Apart from areas offshore between the equator and Australian territorial limit, this also includes Macquarie Island; The Cocos (Keeling) Islands; Australian Antarctic Territory; Heard Island and the McDonald Islands; Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Island; Christmas Island, and islands adjacent to the zone A coastline but excludes oil rigs located in that zone.

Zone B: Includes islands adjacent to zone B parts of the mainland and Tasmania, with special areas including King Island, and Furneaux Group of islands.  

Tax Offset Amounts
Tax offset amount for a single person is as below:

 

Zone A	Zone B	Special area	Overseas Forces
$338	$57	$1,1173	$338

 

For dependents, there is a list of dependent offset base amount in ATO with the zone wise percentage which will also be added with the single person’s tax offset amount.
If you are going to file online tax return and claim zone tax offset, it’ll be better for you to calculate your zone tax offset amount earlier to save time. You can also avail the online instructions for tax return from ATO on how to file your tax return online.