Royalties in Australian Tax and Treaties: From Source Rules to Withholding Tax and Elusive Intangibles

This article examines the development of Australia’s taxation of cross-border royalties, from early source-based assessment to final withholding tax, and its interaction with tax treaties and OECD norms. It highlights how royalty classification has become a critical boundary between source-state taxation and non-taxation and identifies pressure points in recent case law.