Adrian Portelli’s rationale for moving to Dubai, at least in his telling, is pretty simple.
asserted
rationale → move → telling
Australia is “chasing away success”, according to the Melbourne-born billionaire, and entrepreneurs like him will keep leaving with one-way tickets because of exceedingly harsh tax settings.
uncertain
entrepreneurs → chase → settings
“I don’t trust the government,” Portelli told Karl Stefanovic in a new episode of the broadcaster’s controversial podcast.
asserted
Portelli → trust → podcast
“They’ve really come down on me.
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They → come → me
“I’ve had regulatory issues to ATO [Australian Taxation Office] issues, and I just can’t handle it.”
asserted
I → have → it
Portelli has more than 1 million followers on social media and in August, he told them he was relocating to the Middle East, in response to this year’s federal budget, and its sweeping changes to capital gains and property taxes that sparked warnings that innovation in Australia would be stifled.
asserted
innovation → have → Australia
Critics, including other young entrepreneurs, united to lobby against changes to capital gains taxes for business.
asserted
Critics → include → business
Broadly, Portelli and Stefanovic’s discussion suggested wealthy Australians could vote with their feet and shift their lives and their businesses overseas, to countries where the regulatory burden is less prohibitive.
uncertain
burden → suggest → countries
Portelli is doing so and more are intending to follow his lead, according to Victoria Wells, a Melbourne lawyer who started her firm, Ape Law, in the United Arab Emirates in 2022.
uncertain
who → do → 2022
Last month, Wells and partner Stephan Roberto, along with Bali-based influencer couple Matt Cameron and Felicity Morgan, launched the business “Project Get Out”, to capitalise on Australians – particularly those working in tech – wanting to shift overseas.
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Australians → base → tech
They received 1000 inquiries shortly after launching – just as Portelli went viral for his move.
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Portelli → receive → move
But experts warn that it is not always straightforward for relocating Australians to cash in on lower tax rates.
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it → warn → rates
Deakin Business School lecturer Dr Kerui Zhai said Australia’s higher personal income taxes and the changes to capital gains tax were among the incentives for entrepreneurs to relocate to the UAE, where they could obtain “significant tax savings”.
uncertain
they → say → savings
But he pointed out that companies with income largely derived from Australia would “probably still be subject to Australian corporate tax”.
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companies → point → tax
About 25,000 Australians live and work in Dubai.
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Australians → live → Dubai
Expats from across the world comprise about 88 per cent of the broader UAE population, which hovered at 11 million in 2025, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
uncertain
which → comprise → Affairs
While some have left due to the war in Iran, Professor Sunita Jogarajan, from the University of Melbourne Law School, said there was a long-term increase in Australians making the move since the pandemic, with destinations such as Bali and Singapore also spruiking tax benefits to attract expats.
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destinations → leave → expats
“I can see it from the cases going through the Administrative Review Tribunal.
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I → see → Tribunal
There just was not as many [cases related to Australians’ tax status] as before,” Jogarajan said.
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Jogarajan → relate → status
Tribunal records show the ATO has indeed been pursuing Australians living overseas deemed to be tax residents to pay their share, regardless of where they are.
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they → show → share
‘I’ve had regulatory issues to ATO issues, and I just can’t handle it.
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I → have → it
Engineer Trong Quy sought a refund of $524,943.29 from the tax office for the period between 2016 and 2020 because he claimed Dubai was his primary place of residence.
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Dubai → seek → residence
But in March last year, he lost his final bid for a refund, as the tribunal ruled he was a resident of Australia.
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he → lose → Australia
The tribunal judgment said: “Despite not treating Australia as his home in the relevant years, the applicant maintained connections with Australia that are objectively inconsistent with his ‘abandoning’ residence in Australia and making Dubai a ‘permanent’ (in the sense of not temporary) home.”
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Dubai → say → home
These connections included that Quy’s family home was in Perth, where his wife and daughters lived.
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wife → include → Perth
Quy also acknowledged that he left other personal belongings in Australia “including winter clothing (not required in Dubai’s climate) and two guitars that he had been restoring”.
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he → acknowledge → that
Earlier this year, oil and gas executive Ragnar Bulie won against the ATO, after it sought to make him pay tax on income earned in Singapore between 2018 and 2022.
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him → win → 2018
Bulie, who is from Norway and owns property in Australia, lived in Singapore during that time while his wife and children resided in Australia.
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wife → own → Australia
He was earning about $700,000 per year, according to the tribunal’s judgment.
uncertain
He → earn → judgment
“Mr Bulie’s economic and personal relations to Singapore were, in composite, stronger than his economic and personal relations to Australia during the relevant period,” the tribunal ruled.
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tribunal → rule → period
Portelli earned his estimated $1.44 billion fortune – according to The Australian Financial Review’s Rich List – from his subscription-based lottery business that recently expanded into petrol stations.
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that → earn → stations
Before his move overseas, the federal government unveiled legislation to outlaw his business model.
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government → unveil → model
Discussing his plans for a new business, a “streamlined way for Australians to import goods”, Portelli told Stefanovic “they froze my accounts”.
“I couldn’t pay my wages, I couldn’t pay staff.
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I → discuss → staff
I couldn’t pay my bills.
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I → pay → bills
They just froze it all,” he said, without explaining exactly who took the action against him.
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who → freeze → him
“My accountant said he has never seen anything like this.
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he → say → this
He genuinely said they have abused their power.
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they → say → power
“They are chasing young entrepreneurs, very talented [Australians].
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They → chase → entrepreneurs
People of wealth and success are moving.
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People → move → wealth
They are fleeing.”
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They → flee → ?
…and 27 more, not listed.
The Aporia
