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The Isaac Brock Society

FATCA and Australia – Part 1 of 2

January 2020:  This thread continues at FATCA and Australia – Part 2 of 2.

 

Let’s Fix the Australia/US Tax Treaty! The Australia/US tax treaty needs urgent revision to prevent double taxation. Get involved at www.FixTheTaxTreaty.org

Australian Americans Overseas 640 x 640

Posts on The Isaac Brock Society website concerning FATCA and Australia

For articles on other websites, see Media and Blog Articles

For general discussion of FATCA, see  FATCA Discussion Thread

For links to some websites and contact info (government, organisations, tax information), see Australia Information Links

***If clicking on a comment link brings you to the wrong page, click here  to get on the most recent page of comments. (alternatively, to reach the most recent comment page, go to  the url in the bar at the top of your browser and delete everything after October 2018

25: John Richardson and Karen Alpert Session in Brisbane Australia Oct 25, 2018

August 2018

01: U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia and Netherlands form international tax enforcement group

January 2018

08: Investing with One Hand Tied Behind Your Back – an Australian Perspective on United States Tax Rules for Non-Resident Citizens

July 2017

18: Australian Greens Senator @LarissaWaters resigns because of her CANADIAN place of birth-Too bad she was born in Canada

March 2017

13: What Lessons Can Be Learned from the Sad Stories of “IRS Compliant” Australians Shaun and Mary?

November 2016

30: “Solving U.S. Citizenship Problems” – Online January 9, 2017 (Australia)

August 2016

25: Let’s Fix the Australia/US Tax Treaty!

May 2016

15: Australia: Dealing with Superannuation

February 2016

19: #Australia funds America’s #FATCA #Ethnic Identification System

September 2012

27: Last Day to make a FATCA submission to the Australian Govt

07: Australia and FATCA

August 2012

28: Australian Government wants YOU to tell them what to do about FATCA

July 2012

20: Australian Financial Services Council lobbies Washington for FATCA exemption

 

1,187 thoughts on “FATCA and Australia – Part 1 of 2”

  3. In Australia questions were put to the Embassy and the Treasury

    As I understand it, and please correct me if I am wrong, in Australia the ATO can check income earned on accounts but not the balance for tax purposes.

    The biggest issue causing headaches – and prompting the record number of US Aus dual citizens to quit – is the confusion about the tax treatment of superannuation accrued by dual citizens.

    Does the government have any plans to review the treaty to address the inequity in the treatment of superannuation earned by dual American Australian citizens in Australia?

    Nothing from Embassy at all.
    Re Treasury

    Thank you for your enquiry.

    The FATCA regime requires the reporting of the bank account balance in addition to the gross amount of interest paid or credited to the account. This is required for US persons meaning those who are US citizens or are otherwise US tax residents. Australian financial institutions report this information to the ATO and the ATO exchanges this information with the IRS.

    Separately, Australia has a domestic investment income reporting system whereby investment bodies including banks report information to the ATO on residents and non-residents. This is the Annual investment income report (AIIR). Interest income received on the account is reported, but not the account balance or value.

    You may find our instructions on filing AIIR paper reports useful background (noting that most AIIR reports are lodged electronically with the ATO).https://www.ato.gov.au/uploadedFiles/Content/MEI/downloads/SBIT42589.pdf

    Commencement of tax treaty negotiations requires agreement from both nations’ governments.

  5. I didn’t know about the NZ and Australian connection re the background of Peter W. Hogg, the Canadian author of a letter to our Canadian government, raising objections to the FATCA IGA on constitutional grounds ex. “..”To the extent that any implementing legislation adopts provisions similar to those found in the Model IGA, in my opinion, the legislation would violate s. 15 of the Charter,” he writes. “The source of this problem is the fact that the Model IGA requires financial institutions to treat people differently based on such innate characteristics as place of birth or citizenship.”..” http://www.greenparty.ca/sites/greenparty.ca/files/attachments/peter_hogg_fatca.pdf
    https://www.greenparty.ca/en/2014-10-02/stub-401

    Our top Canadian constitutional scholar Peter W. Hogg ( “Peter is the author of Canada’s only comprehensive treatise on constitutional law (Constitutional Law of Canada………..Peter’s writings are cited by the Supreme Court of Canada more frequently than those of any other author. ” ) was born in NZ, and educated in Australia and NZ (as well as the US and Canada):
    Admitted to the Ontario Bar – 1973
    Admitted to the Victoria Bar (Australia) – 1968
    Admitted to the New Zealand Bar – 1962
    Ph.D., Monash University, Australia – 1970
    LL.M., Harvard University – 1963
    LL.B., University of New Zealand – 1962
    http://www.blakes.com/English/WhoWeAre/FindPerson/Pages/Profile.aspx?EmpID=101698

    If he had such strong opinions about the unconstitutionality of theCanadian IGA, I wonder what he would say about the constitutionality/or lack thereof of the FATCA IGA that Australia and NZ have implemented?

  7. @all

    Has anyone had any contact with our AUS MPs? Do they they understand the problem FATCA is causing? Is it like the PINK ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM where they ignore it or simply make excuses to justify it

    Any comments

  9. @billy – do check out http://fixthetaxtreaty.org/

    I’ve met with my MP – here’s the letter I wrote to ask for a meeting: http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/fatca-and-australia/comment-page-26/#comment-7266319 – he sent my letter on to the Treasurer, but then the election was called, so we didn’t get a response. Last month my MP emailed to say he had sent our letter to the Treasurer again now that Parliament is back in session.

    Last time we went through this (in 2014), this is the response we got: http://fixthetaxtreaty.org/2016/08/29/pursue-with-us/

  12. Updated our MP on the new website Fix the Tax Treaty
    Be good to get a response

    Dear MP
    Just an update on FATCA relating to our prior meetings and discussions on how it affects Australian citizens and lawful permanent residents with a USA tainted background.
    There is a FATCA activist movement in Australia by Dr Karen Alpert – she’s set up a website Fix the Tax Treaty. http://fixthetaxtreaty.org/
    The recent SMH article outlines her case, she moved here from the USA in 1995, it recently cost them $70,000 to renounce formally from the USA.
    http://www.smh.com.au/national/us-citizens-renouncing-because-of-tax-laws-affecting-australian-superannuation-20160910-grdb0a.html
    As you are aware there are many who have lived in Australia for decades, made it their home, and have relinquished US citizenship by becoming Australian citizens, but are trapped and cannot formally renounce due to costly and punitive U.S exit tax implications on assets built on Australian soil.
    Now that Karen Alpert is free, as an Australian citizen, she can appear publicly without fear of hiding “under the radar”.
    Karen, among others have encountered the same frustrations with dealing with treasury and politicians that always refer back stating it’s the US government that has to fix the treaty, not the Australian government.
    When will Australia stand up for its sovereignty and lawfully protect its citizens with a tainted U.S background

  22. @badger – yes, it’s great that Phil Hodgen has added a superannuation site. However, it’s still very early days at the new site. There’s nothing on it that links it back to Hodgen’s firm and it’s very bare bones (not quite ready for prime time). I’m hoping they flesh it out and make the articles just a bit more authoritative. It could be an excellent resource.

  23. There are now three posts on the new superannuation blog at http://www.superannuationtaxusa.com/ and I’m a bit disappointed. Not saying the information is incorrect – just that it doesn’t tell the whole story. It doesn’t address any of the complexity or nuance that comes from the variety of superannuation entities and arrangements in Australia. It makes it sound like there’s only one possible interpretation of super under US tax law, when even the IRS is confused about how US law applies to this foreign structure. There are no links to other opinions or sources of information. And, if you come to the site directly from a search engine, there is absolutely no indication of the affiliation of the blog authors or that it is sponsored by a tax law firm; there’s not even an “about” page.

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