Is your Information Being Shared?
The ATO has recently declared it has undertaken its first automatic sharing of bank information with the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS). This has resulted in over 30,000 financial accounts worth over $5 billion being provided to the US under the new US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FACTA). In exchange, the ATO will also receive data from the IRS about Australians with financial accounts in the US.
What this information is hoped to do is increase compliance measures for citizens of each respective country while abroad, reducing tax evasion and helping detect cases of undeclared offshore income.
Starting in 2017, about 100 countries will be sharing non-resident data under the OECD Common Reporting Standard (CRS). It has been stated that automatic exchange of financial account information is the first step in implementing a new wave of transparency measures globally by Governments and tax administrations. This is intended to be the new international standard in eliminating tax evasion, ensuring proper disclosure of taxpayer’s offshore income.
If you require any assistance or further information in regards to the above article, please do not hesitate to contact the accountants and tax lawyers at The Quinn Group on (02) 9223 9166 or submit an online enquiry.
