Zone Tax Offset Calculator- How Much You Can Claim Instantly

Make sure you qualify for a zone tax offset or overseas forces tax offset, then proceed to claim it on your withholding declaration.

What You Can Do With This Calculator

The zone tax offset calculator aids you in determining whether you qualify for a tax offset for being in a zone or overseas forces, as well as the tax offset amount you can claim. You can utilise it for the income years 2014–15 to 2024–25.

The zone tax offset calculator results are based on the information you provide. You should make use of the results as an estimate and for guidance purposes only.

Eligibility for the zone tax offset from 1 July 2015 requires your usual place of residence to be in a zone. If your usual place of residence was not in a zone, you are not eligible to claim the zone tax offset.

In prior years, your usual place of residence did not have to be in a remote area of Australia (zone), as long as you lived or worked in a remote or isolated part of Australia (zone) (not including an offshore oil or gas rig).

If you served overseas as a member of the Australian Defence Force or a United Nations armed force, you may claim an overseas force tax offset.

If you are eligible to claim both the overseas force tax offset and the zone tax offset, only one can be claimed. The zone tax offset calculator will determine which of those tax offsets is most beneficial to you.

Zone Tax Offset Qualification Calculation By the Zone Tax Offset Calculator

You can claim a Zone tax offset if your normal place of residence is based in a remote area of Australia by using the zone tax offset calculator, other than an offshore oil or gas rig.

Remote areas

The remote areas of Australia are grouped into 2 zones, which are named Zone A and Zone B. There are special areas within the Australian zone list. You will need to identify which zone or special area you are situated in, because separate zone allowances apply to each area.

To qualify for the zone tax offset calculator, your normal place of residence must be situated in an Australian zone as of 1 July 2015.

Additional Conditions For Using The Zone Tax Offset Calculator

If your usual place of residence is located in a remote area, you will need to meet the following additional requirements to be eligible for a zone tax offset calculator.

You must have lived in a remote area (not necessarily continuously) for either:

– 183 days or more in 2022-23, or

– 183 days or more in the period 1 July 2021 – 30 June 2023 (including at least one day in 2022-23). Additionally, you must satisfy the requirement that you did not claim a zone tax offset on your 2021-22 return.

If you have lived in a zone for less than 183 days in the period 2022-23, you may be able to claim a tax offset if you satisfy all of the following 3 requirements:

– You have lived in a zone for a continuous period of less than 5 years after 1 July 2015.

– The days you were there during the first year and the period 2022-23 total or exceed 183 days – the time you were in a zone during the period 2022-23 must include 1 July 2022 (the first day of the income year).

– You were unable to claim a zone tax offset in that first year because you lived there less than 183 days.

If you do not satisfy the time requirements mentioned above, you cannot claim the zone tax offset calculator.

The Australian zone list can help you locate the towns that fall in Zones A, B, and the special areas in the zones.

Eligibility For The Overseas Forces Tax Offset Calculator

You may be eligible for the overseas forces tax offset for 2022-23 if you were a member of the Australian Defence Force or a United Nations armed force and served in a specific overseas locality, and the income from that service is not expressly exempt from income tax. However, periods of service for which your income is exempt from foreign employment income are not included in determining your eligibility for the zone tax offset calculator. Your employer can inform you if your service was in a locality that qualifies for the overseas forces tax offset.

To claim the full tax offset, you must have served in the overseas locality for 183 days or more in 2022–23. Unlike the zone tax offset calculator, if you did not use the full 183 days of service in the previous year, you could not add the unused days to your overseas service total to make 183 days. However, your eligibility for a partial zone tax offset calculator may remain if you served in the overseas locality for less than 183 days.

You could still be eligible to claim the whole overseas forces tax offset using the zone tax offset calculator if you’re in an overseas location for a period of time that is less than 183 days, and the sum of days served over that overseas period plus the days served in one or more zones is 183 days or more. If you served as a member of the Australian Defence Force, provided that the days spent in a zone are a defence form of service.

If you qualify for both an overseas forces tax offset and a zone tax offset, you can only claim one option. You must claim the offset that has the larger value.

Work Out Your Zone Or Overseas Forces Tax Offset

Fixed and Basic Amounts The overseas forces tax offset or zone consists of the following amounts:

a fixed amount

a percentage of your basic amount. The fixed amount is a set amount available to anyone in either a zone or an overseas territory that has access to the zone tax offset calculator.

You may also be able to claim a base amount if you maintain:

a child under the age of 21 or a full-time student under the age of 25

an invalid or invalid carer (must be eligible to claim the invalid and invalid carer offset). Your fixed and basic amounts depend on your situation.

Calculate your tax offset using the zone tax offset calculator if your situation is simple to calculate.

To calculate your overseas forces tax, please follow these steps.

Step 1 If you are only going to live or work in one zone or deliver one specified overseas area for at least 183 days, your tax offset is the corresponding amount from Table 1 below, and you cannot include a base amount as you are not entitled to claim the invalid or invalid carer tax offset and you do not have a dependent child or student at any time during the 2022-23 income year.

Calculate A Zone Or Overseas Forces Tax Offset With The Zone Tax Offset Calculator

Check your eligibility for a zone tax offset or overseas forces tax offset, and claim it in your withholding declaration.

Zone Tax Offset Eligibility

You may be able to claim a Zone tax offset if your usual place of residence is in a remote or isolated area of Australia, not including an offshore oil or gas rig.

Remote Areas

Remote areas in Australia are divided into 2 zones called Zone A and Zone B. There are also special areas within the Australian zone list. You will need to work out which zone (A or B) or special area you are in, because different zone allowances apply to each of these areas.

From 1 July 2015, to be eligible for the zone tax offset calculator, your normal residence must be in an Australian zone.

Additional Conditions

If your usual place of residence is in a remote area, you also need to meet the following conditions to qualify for a zone tax offset.

You must live in a remote area (not necessarily continuously) for either:

183 days or more during 2022–23, or
183 days or more during the period 1 July 2021 – 30 June 2023 (including at least one day in 2022–23) and you did not claim a zone tax offset in your 2021–22 tax return.

If you live in a zone for less than 183 days in 2022–23, you may still be able to claim a tax offset if you meet each of the following 3 conditions:

You lived in a zone for a continuous period of less than 5 years after 1 July 2015.
The total of the days you were there in the first year and in 2022–23 is 183 or more. The period you lived in a zone in 2022–23 must include 1 July 2022 (the first day of the income year).
You could not claim a zone tax offset in that first year because you were there less than 183 days.

If you do not meet the above time conditions, you can’t claim the zone tax offset.

A search facility of towns falling in Zones A and B, as well as the special areas in the zones, is available from the Australian zone list.

Overseas Forces Tax Offset Eligibility

You may be eligible for an Overseas forces tax offset if you serve in a specified overseas locality as a member of the Australian Defence Force or a United Nations armed force in 2022–23, and income relating to that service is not specifically exempt from tax. Periods of service for which your income is exempt from foreign employment income are excluded in working out your eligibility for the tax offset. Your employer can advise you whether you serve in a locality that qualifies for the overseas forces tax offset.

To claim the full tax offset, you must serve in the overseas locality for 183 days or more in 2022–23. Unlike the zone tax offset, you can’t carry forward any unused days from previous years to make up for 183. However, if your overseas service is less than 183 days, you may be able to claim part of the tax offset.

You may still be entitled to claim the full overseas forces tax offset if you serve in an overseas locality for less than 183 days and the total number of days served, when added to the number of days spent in one or more zones, is 183 days or more. If you served as a member of the Australian Defence Force, days spent in a zone must be Defence Force service.

If you qualify for both an overseas forces tax offset and a zone tax offset, you can only claim one of them. Claim the higher value offset.

Work Out Your Zone Or Overseas Forces Tax Offset

Forces Tax Offset

Fixed and base amounts

The zone or overseas forces tax offset is made up of the following:

a fixed amount
a percentage of your base amount.

The fixed amount is a prescribed amount available to all people in the zone or overseas area eligible for the tax offset.

You may also be able to include a base amount if you either maintain:

a child under 21 or a full-time student under 25
an invalid or invalid carer (must be entitled to claim the invalid and invalid carer offset).

Your fixed and base amounts are determined by your circumstances.

Work Out Your Tax Offset If Your Circumstances Are Simple

Use the steps to work out your overseas forces tax offset.

Step 1

Your tax offset is the amount in Table 1 below if:

You will live or work in only one zone or serve in only one specified overseas locality for at least 183 days.
You are not able to include a base amount as you
- are not entitled to claim the invalid and invalid carer tax offset and
- either do not have a dependent child or student at any time in 2022–23, or if you did have a dependent child or student, their adjusted taxable income (ATI) was equal to or greater than $282 plus $28.92 for each week you maintained them.

Offset	Amount
Zone A	$338
Zone B	$57
Special Area	$1,173
Overseas forces	$338

(Table from ATO, https://www.ato.gov.au/forms-and-instructions/withholding-declaration-calculating-your-tax-offset/calculate-a-zone-or-overseas-forces-tax-offset)

Child includes:

Your adopted child, stepchild, or child from a former relationship
Your child was born or adopted in 2022-23
The child of your partner
Someone who is your child under the Family Law Act 1975 (such as a child who is a child of A person under a state or territory court order giving effect to a surrogacy agreement).
The child must be studying full-time at a school, college, or university.

If you receive a remote area allowance from Centrelink or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, you must reduce the amount of your zone tax offset by the amount of your remote area allowance.

Work Out Your Tax Offset If Your Circumstances Are Complex

The information that follows will assist you in determining your base amount, if applicable.

Base amount for a dependent child or student for a full-year claim

Your base amount will consist of the maximum amount for each student who was aged 24 years or less on 30 June 2023 and was enrolled in full-time education at a school, college, or university, and for each dependent child who was aged 20 or less on 30 June 2023, who was, for the entire 2022–23 income year:

treated as an Australian resident
maintained by you alone
had an ATI of less than $286.

Dependant	Base amount
Each student under 25 years old	$376
For the oldest non-student child under 21 years old	$376
Other non-student children under 21 years old	$282 for each child

(Table from ATO, https://www.ato.gov.au/forms-and-instructions/withholding-declaration-calculating-your-tax-offset/calculate-a-zone-or-overseas-forces-tax-offset)

If 2 or more people will contribute to the maintenance of a dependent child or student, each person can only claim a fraction of the base amount, and not the whole amount.

You may still be able to claim some of the base amount if the conditions were met for only part of the year, or if your child’s or student’s ATI for the period that you are claiming the base amount for them was $286 or more.

Base amount for a dependent child or student for a part-year claim

If the child or student is an Australian resident for part of the 2022–23 income year
If the student is under age 25 and in full-time study for part of the 2022–23 income year
If the child or student is maintained by you for part of the 2022–23 income year
If the child turns age 21 on 30 June 2023 and is not in full-time study
If the student turns age 25 on 30 June 2023.

Special Circumstances: If You Had A Spouse

A spouse (married or de facto) at any time during the period of 2022–23 means that you are entitled to claim the sole parent base amount only in special circumstances.

To have special circumstances, you generally would have been the financially responsible person and had sole care of the dependent child or student, without the type of support a spouse would generally give during the claim period.

Situations that could create special circumstances:

You were either married or a de facto spouse at any time in 2022–23, but during 2022–23, they separated from or deserted you, and during the period that you will claim the sole parent base amount, you were not in a de facto relationship.
Your spouse is imprisoned for a period of 12 months or more.
Your spouse has been permanently medically certified to be mentally incapacitated to care for the child or student.

If you are in any doubt as to whether a special circumstance applies, contact us.

Joint Or Shared Custody After A Relationship Breakdown

Following the breakdown of a relationship, like a separation or divorce, there are occasions when both parents share care of a child or student. If you can demonstrate that, for part of the year, you had sole care of a dependent child or student, you might claim the base amount for that part of the year. It means more than just defined access visits with the child or student.

We consider you to have sole care of the child or student for the part of the year up to the day the child turned the age of 21 years, or the student turned the age of 25 years, if the dependant:

is not in full-time education and will turn 21 during the 2022-23 year or
is a full-time student and will turn 25 during the 2022-23 year.
You are entitled to claim the base amount for that part of the year before the birthday.

FAQ’S

1.What is the Zone Tax Offset, and who can claim it?

The Zone Tax Offset (ZTO) is a tax offset that is non-refundable for Australian taxpayers who reside in an isolated/remote zone (Zone A, Zone B or special areas).

Australian Taxation Office
To be eligible to claim the offset, you must normally:
Have your normal place of residence for most of the income year in a zone.
Be in that zone for at least 183 days in the year (or meet slightly alternate criteria if not in the zone for 183 days).
Not just work in that zone (e.g. FIFO/DIDO workers that have their home outside that zone may not be eligible).

2. How does a “Zone Tax Offset calculator” work to estimate how much you get?

The calculator obtains your relevant information (zone, time in zone, dependents, taxable income, etc.) and follows the official formula provided to you by the ATO.

An estimated claim consists of:
The offset claim would consist of:
A base fixed amount is determined by which zone or special area you are in.

A percentage of a base rate dependent on the number of dependents and offset it provides you (e.g. dependent children offsets, invalid carer offsets, etc.).

The calculator then combines those to provide you with your estimated offset for the year.