Zone or overseas forces

You may be entitled to claim for living in a zone or serving in an overseas force if you:

• lived or worked in a remote or isolated area of Australia, not including an offshore oil or gas rig, or
• served overseas as a member of the Australian Defence Force or a United Nations armed force.

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

Zone tax offset

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

• a fixed amount, and
• a 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 be able to include a base amount if you:

• maintained a child under 21 or full time student under 25; or
• were entitled to claim the Invalid and invalid carer offset.

Your fixed and base amounts are determined by your circumstances.

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
• 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 if all the following conditions apply:

• you lived in a zone for a continuous period of less than five years after 1 July 2009
• you were unable to claim in the first year because you were there less than 183 days, and
• the total days you were there in the first year and in 2014–15 is 183 or more. The period you were in a zone in 2014–15 must include the first day of the income year.

Remote areas are classed as either zone A or zone B. There are also special areas within these zones. If you do not know which zone your area is in, see table 2 below. If your area is not listed, go to Australian zone list to check whether it is in a zone.

Overseas forces tax offset

You may be eligible for an overseas forces tax offset if you served in a specified overseas locality as a member of the Australian Defence Force or a United Nations armed force in 2014–15, and your income relating to that service was not specifically exempt from tax. Periods of service for which your income was ‘exempt foreign employment income’ are excluded in working out your eligibility for the tax offset.

Your employer will be able to advise you or you can check whether you served in a locality that qualifies for the overseas forces tax offset.

If your overseas service was less than 183 days, you may be able to claim part of the tax offset.

To claim the full overseas forces tax offset:

• you must have served in the overseas locality for 183 days or more in 2014–15, or
• the total number of days served in the overseas locality, when added to the number of days spent in one or more zones, must be 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.

Completing your tax return

1. Your tax offset is the amount in table 1 below (the fixed amount) if:

• you lived or worked in only one zone or served in only one specified overseas locality for at least 183 days,
  
  and
• you are not able to include a base amount as
  • you were not entitled to claim the invalid and invalid carer tax offset,
    
    and
  • you either did not have a dependent child or student at any time in 2014–15 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.
   

Table 1: Tax offset amounts

Your circumstances	Zone A	Zone B	Special area	Overseas forces
You were able to claim the fixed amount only (you were not able to include a base amount)	$338	$57	$1,173	$338

Do the circumstances in step 1 apply to you?

No	You must use the Zone or overseas forces tax offset calculator to work out your tax offset, and then go to step 3.
Yes	Read on.

2. If you are claiming an overseas forces tax offset, go to step 3.

If you are claiming a zone tax offset and you received a remote area allowance from Centrelink or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, take this amount away from your zone tax offset.

3. Enter the amount of your tax offset.

Table 2

Western Australia
Town	Zone	Town	Zone
Balladonia	Special	Madura	Special
Bidyadanga (Lagrange)	A	Marble Bar	A
Boulder	B	Meekatharra	Special
Broome*	A	Mount Magnet	Special
Carnarvon	A	Mullewa	B
Coolgardie	B	Newman*	A
Dampier	A	Norseman	B
Deakin	Special	Northampton	B
Denham	Special	Onslow	Special
Derby	A	Pannawonica	A
Esperance	B	Paraburdoo	A
Eucla	Special	Port Hedland*	A
Exmouth	Special	Ravensthorpe	B
Fitzroy Crossing	Special	Rawlinna	Special
Goldsworthy	A	Roebourne	A
Halls Creek	Special	Shay Gap	A
Kalgoorlie*	B	Southern Cross	B
Kambalda	B	Tom Price*	A
Karratha	A	Turkey Creek (Bow River)	Special
Kununurra	Special	Wiluna	Special
Laverton	Special	Wittenoom	A
Leinster	Special	Wyndham	Special
Leonora	B

* Locations within 250 kilometres of these localities are also in the relevant zone.

Queensland
Town	Zone	Town	Zone
Airlie Beach	B	Hughenden	Special
Atherton	B	Ingham	B
Augathella	B	Innisfail	B
Ayr	B	Julia Creek	Special
Barcaldine	B	Karumba	Special
Blackall	B	Kowanyama	Special
Boulia	Special	Longreach	B
Bowen	B	Mackay	B
Burketown	Special	Mareeba	B
Cairns	B	Mossman	B
Camooweal	A	Mount Isa*	A
Cardwell	B	Normanton	Special
Charleville	B	Port Douglas	B
Charters Towers	B	Proserpine	B
Clifton Beach	B	Quilpie	B
Cloncurry	A	Sarina	B
Collinsville	B	Stamford	Special
Cooktown	Special	Tambo	B
Coppabella	B	Thargomindah	Special
Cunnamulla	B	Townsville	B
Doomadgee	Special	Tully	B
Georgetown	Special	Weipa	Special
Greenvale	B	Windorah	Special
Helen Vale	Special	Winton	B
Home Hill	B

* Locations within 250 kilometres of these localities are also in the relevant zone.

Northern Territory
Town	Zone	Town	Zone
Alice Springs*	A	Nguiu	Special
Alyangula	Special	Ngukurr	Special
Angurugu	Special	Nhulunbuy (Gove)	Special
Batchelor	A	Numbulwar	Special
Borroloola	Special	Oenpelli	Special
Darwin	A	Papunyah	Special
Elliott	Special	Pine Creek	A
Galiwinku	Special	Ramingining	Special
Hermannsburg	A	Santa Teresa	A
Jabiru	Special	Tennant Creek	Special
Katherine*	A	Tindal	A
Lajamanu (Hooker Creek)	Special	Yirrkala	Special
Maningrida	Special	Yuendumu	Special
Milikapiti	Special	Yulara	Special
Milingimbi	Special

* Locations within 250 kilometres of these localities are also in the relevant zone.

South Australia
Town	Zone	Town	Zone
Amata Aboriginal Community	Special	Nullarbor	Special
Coober Pedy	Special	Oodnadatta	Special
Cook	Special	Penong	Special
Innamincka	Special	Roxby Downs	Special
Leigh Creek	Special	Tarcoola	Special
Marree	Special	Woomera	B

 

New South Wales
Town	Zone	Town	Zone
Bourke	B	Lightning Ridge	B
Brewarrina	B	Menindee	B
Broken Hill	B	White Cliffs	Special
Cobar	B	Wilcannia	B
Collarenebri	B

 

Tasmania
Town	Zone	Town	Zone
Furneaux Group Islands	Special	Queenstown	B
King Island	Special	Rosebery	B

 

Islands and territories
Town	Zone	Town	Zone
Australian Antarctic Territory	Special	Macquarie Island	Special
Cocos (Keeling) Islands	Special	McDonald Islands	Special
Heard Island	Special	Norfolk Island	Special
Lord Howe Island	Special	Palm Isles Group	Special

If your area is not listed, go to Australian zone list to check whether it is in a zone.

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