Liberty and justice for all United States persons abroad

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. @ Karen
    Watching now … nicely done! You explained how easy it was back then to just follow what seemed to be a logical path, never thinking that logic isn’t a part of the US tax system. Great discussion about the absolute frustration of super-annuation too.

  5. @Karen @All

    Rebekha Sharkie Australian MP has and American Mother
    Andrew Hastie Australian MP has an American wife.

    Has anyone contacted them?

  6. Malcolm Roberts studied for an MBA at the University of Chicago. US-born wife.

    Malcolm and his wife Christine, established a small company providing specialised leadership and management services around Australia and overseas.

  8. 13 IRS Tax Rules Trump Tax Plan Won’t Change

    4. Beware foreign accounts. Foreign bank accounts may generate income, but you won’t receive a Form 1099. Still, reporting them is key. If balances exceed $10,000 in the aggregate any time during the year, you also must file an FBAR. With FATCA, IRS scrutiny is high, and how you transition from failures to report in the past to present compliance can be delicate. Beware, so far, the IRS has collected $10 billion from offshore compliance.

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2016/11/14/13-irs-tax-rules-trump-tax-plan-wont-change/?utm_source=followingimmediate&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20161114#885f92f10dbe

  11. Just spoke to QSUPER (qsuper@qsuper.qld.gov.au)
    They said they take in consideration comments from members. Previously in one of their publications they warned US citizens of their tax issues.
    To get the word out may it be helpful to write to your Super fund and ask them to do the same. If all Supers publicize this issue and WARN US Citizens might help the Treasury negotiate the Tax Treaty

  15. This week I was at my bank putting in a cheque into my bank account. The teller who was processing the cheque turns to me and says that my account was flagged (I didn’t have the nerve to ask why). He then asked me if I was an Australian citizen. I said yes. He than tells me that he just un-flagged my account and went back to processing my cheque. He just made me paranoid. I don’t remember ever putting place of birth on any of the bank accounts that I opened in the last twenty years.

  17. @Ellen – I’ve heard of several instances in Australia where bank employees either didn’t really understand the rules (e.g. that US citizenship trumps all others when it comes to FATCA) or wanted to avoid the paperwork of identifying a US citizen. I think we’re actually pretty lucky here that FATCA is not always being enforced very strictly.

  18. @Jac Dac
    I have joined https://www.facebook.com/groups/FixTheTaxTreaty but I use my real name on my Facebook account.

    @Karen
    I don’t believe all frontline bank employees in Australia know about FATCA. Plus I feel my hybrid Australian/American accent is not picked up as being American. I did lie to a bank employee once – I said I did live in Canada when I was young (which was true) but I was born in Australia (which wasn’t true). I try to avoid going into banks.

  19. Further to Jak Dak’s comment above, to Australians (citizens of other countries) wondering how their Australian and USA taxpayer money is / has been spent. (Surely must be *fake news*.)

    https://sputniknews.com/us/201611241047774465-australia-cuts-ties-clinton-foundation/

    Reports from the Clinton Foundation list the Commonwealth of Australia and the Australian Agency for International Development as having collectively donated somewhere between $20- to $50 million. The Foundation also has a sister company called the Clinton Health Access Initiative however, which appears to have also received funding from Australian taxpayers.

    “Since 2006, Australia has contributed $88 million to [the Clinton Health Access Initiative] and its sister organization, the Clinton Foundation,” Bishop said in a statement on September 22, 2014.

    Documents released in July by Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade provided a different number from both, however, listing 11 separate grants to the Clinton Foundation, and a “China Clinton Foundation” that totaled almost $71 million. These disparities prompted Republican Representative Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, the vice-chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, to bring the issue to the attention of the IRS. In July, she told the Daily Caller that “reports have shown that the Clinton Foundation has failed to accurately report tens of millions of dollars in foreign government grants, including some while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state.”

    “This should be troubling to all Americans as it gives the appearance that there could be a pay-to-play arrangement between the Clintons and foreign governments while the interests of the American people were pushed aside. The tax-exempt status of the foundation should be reviewed immediately,” Blackburn said at the time.

  21. The other day I submitted a Freedom of Information request to the ATO. In particular I asked for:

    All records of any Australian financial accounts (“U.S. Reportable Accounts” as defined in the FATCA IGA) registered in my name that have been sent to the IRS under the FATCA IGA. I am requesting this information for both the data that was sent to the IRS in September 2015 (as reported in The Australian on 25 Sept. 2015), and the data that was due to be sent to the IRS by 30 Sept. 2016.

    I have received confirmation that the ATO has received my FOI request – along with a request for an extension of the statutory 30 day period for a response due to the upcoming holiday period. The extended deadline for a response from them is 29 January.

    You can find the ATO FOI request form online – it’s a pdf form that you can complete on your computer email directly to the ATO.

  22. Niels Marquardt, CEO AmCham Australia and former US Consul General, Sydney, speaks on the need to move away from citizenship-based taxation, Sunday Live, Sky TV, 20 Nov 2016.

    “. . . [approx. 0:17] And I just think we need to move toward a territorial tax régime, so we’re not taxing citizens who live overseas or even non-citizens. Australians. It’s a big issue for many Australians who’ve lived in the United States and come back, that they continue to be taxed by the IRS. We need to fix that. . . .”

    Thanks for the video, JakDac.

  25. Further to this comment regarding the superannuation site launched by Phil Hodgen – Phil has now pulled the site with the following notice on the front page:

    The Site is Offline
    Sorry everyone. We had an idea and failed horribly, in multiple ways.

    We wanted to share an expedient method for solving superannuation tax problems, and we put our foot in it. This was not our shining moment.

    Next time, we will do it better. We still want to show people a way to solve super problems, cheaply and simply.

    Send me your complaints, brickbats, and insults. 🙂

    And, a massive thank you to my friends who emailed me and said “Seriously? This is not up to your usual standards.”

    I am so thankful to have people around me who will tell me the truth.

    Phil Hodgen

    phil (at) hodgen (dot) com

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