Questions for the ATO

Another year, another deadline. The ATO has until 30 September to hand over another tranche of Australian bank details to the IRS under the FATCA IGA. Last year they were almost a week early when they handed over details of more than 30,000 accounts containing more than $5 billion for an average balance greater than $160,000. What will they send this year? Continue reading “Questions for the ATO”

Has FATCA affected you?

As we approach another September 30th, the ATO is surely preparing their next data dump for the IRS. As we wait to see how much of our private financial data has been shared with a foreign nation, I thought it would be useful to find out how FATCA has affected normal Australians. I have put together a short survey. Please share it with your Australian-resident friends – whether or not they are US-tainted. Banks are asking everyone whether they’re American, not just people, like me, who can’t get rid of their accent!

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The thin edge of the wedge?

On Wednesday (31 August) the Israeli High Court temporarily blocked preparations for Israel to share data with the IRS under Israel’s FATCA IGA. (Article in Haaretz)(pdf)  This is a temporary injunction, with a court date of 15 September for arguments to be heard against the Israeli FATCA IGA. The plaintiffs in the case argued that FATCA violated their rights to privacy and equal treatment and that there was no compelling public purpose to the law. Similar lawsuits against FATCA have been filed in Canada and the US.

Continue reading “The thin edge of the wedge?”

Entrapment!

For US expats who moved to Australia decades ago, the idea that they should be filing annual US tax returns may be unreal. Many have been non-compliant for years. Because of this, FATCA and the resulting compliance push have (probably on purpose to some extent) entrapped long-term expats, who have found that the rules have changed while they weren’t looking.

One major area where long-term expats have been entrapped is superannuation. Even the IRS has no idea how to report super. There are two main alternatives during the accumulation phase (this applies to most accumulation accounts) – either just the contributions are taxable in the Continue reading “Entrapment!”