Income tax: insurance: where an Australian life assurance company has directed its overseas representatives to purchase and dispose of overseas investments on its behalf, is the resulting profit foreign income for the purposes of the former section 112B of the Income Tax Assesment Act 1936 ?

Yes. Where the life company has directed its overseas representatives and the contracts to buy and sell the overseas investments are entered into outside Australia, the profit is foreign income for the purposes of the former section 112B.

In this Determination, an 'overseas investment' means: . shares or debentures in a non-resident company listed on an overseas stock exchange, . foreign government securities, . futures registered on overseas exchanges, . options relating to any of the above.

The question of whether foreign exchange gains on a transaction are foreign income for the purposes of the former section 112B is not dealt with in this determination.