# FBAR & FATCA Questions



## Tracy.B (Apr 10, 2021)

[Two Part Long Post] Hi I’m at a loss and I’m hoping that someone can help or direct me to the right place to start? I’ve been living in the US since 2008, I’m a permanent resident since 2011 and my husband files his tax return every year as joint. I was unaware that every year I was supposed to file a FBAR. I only have my Superannuation which is $48k USD, there have been no employer or personal contributions going into it since July 2008. They have my overseas address on file. I also have a Australian Credit card that I have used since being in the US, I pay on that monthly from my husbands earnings which he has already paid tax on as I haven’t worked in the US. My credit card debt is $6kUSD and I’ve been paying that monthly through PayPal to my mother in Australia and she pays it for me online as when I first moved to the US my bank told me I couldn’t set up direct monthly payments because Australia doesn’t have routing numbers. As far as the FBAR goes does superannuation just sitting there that I can’t withdrawal from until retirement age class as something I have to report yearly to the IRS, or does my husband answer yes on his joint taxes that I have this overseas investment? As far as FATCA my CC bank sent me a form to complete asking me to verify I’m no longer a resident of Australia and a resident of America, well they’ve had my overseas address for 12 years so this confuses me. Is it against the law for me to use my Australian credit card when I’m no longer a resident even though I’m paying it down every month? As far as I was aware a credit card is not a asset so does not need to be filed in a FBAR? I did come across someone who didn’t file FBAR for the past 7 years as she was also unaware, her investments were under $100k and the IRS just asked her for the past 7 years statements and she was not fined, I’m scared out of my mind that I’ll be fined 12 years worth due to the fact I just had no idea.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

OK - your credit card has nothing to do with FATCA. Use it in good health, though the bank may still need to have a W-9 (or W8-BEN) on file for you "just in case." Those FATCA forms that the bank asks you for are CYA documents for the bank and relate to their obligation to "know their customers." 

You may want to ask over on the Expat Tax section here about the superannuation account. We've had lots of questions regarding these as, apparently, they cause all sorts of issues and headaches for Australians now resident overseas. Depends on how much is in it, and a few other factors, but most folks seem to have come to terms with how to handle it. I will leave it to those with actual experience to advise you on this.


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## Tracy.B (Apr 10, 2021)

Bevdeforges said:


> OK - your credit card has nothing to do with FATCA. Use it in good health, though the bank may still need to have a W-9 (or W8-BEN) on file for you "just in case." Those FATCA forms that the bank asks you for are CYA documents for the bank and relate to their obligation to "know their customers."
> 
> You may want to ask over on the Expat Tax section here about the superannuation account. We've had lots of questions regarding these as, apparently, they cause all sorts of issues and headaches for Australians now resident overseas. Depends on how much is in it, and a few other factors, but most folks seem to have come to terms with how to handle it. I will leave it to those with actual experience to advise you on this.


Thank you for the info on FATCA, so basically when I send back the FATCA form which verifies my country of residence, has my SSN etc it’s just for their records? I’m anxious that they’ll fine me or something crazy! I’ll ask the FBAR question in the Tax forum too, thank you!


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## Moulard (Feb 3, 2017)

Tracy.B said:


> As far as FATCA my CC bank sent me a form to complete asking me to verify I’m no longer a resident of Australia and a resident of America, well they’ve had my overseas address for 12 years so this confuses me.


I have posted at length on your other post, but I will answer this part here...

Until very recently an Australian Financial Institutions will not have cared that you had an overseas address. Australia has signed enabling legislation for both FATCA and CRS which means that banks are now required under Australian law to confirm tax residency of their customers and then are required to report those accounts to the ATO so that the ATO can meet reporting obligations under the international agreements. Banks are required to ask about tax residency for all new acccounts, old accounts that exceed certain balance thresholds and those that have indicators that the account holder may be a tax resident of another country. 

They cannot actually rely on a mailing address to determine whether you are a tax resident - a mailing address is simply that, where you want mail from the bank delivered- but it is an indicator that you may be a tax resident of that country.


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## Tracy.B (Apr 10, 2021)

Moulard said:


> I have posted at length on your other post, but I will answer this part here...
> 
> Until very recently an Australian Financial Institutions will not have cared that you had an overseas address. Australia has signed enabling legislation for both FATCA and CRS which means that banks are now required under Australian law to confirm tax residency of their customers and then are required to report those accounts to the ATO so that the ATO can meet reporting obligations under the international agreements. Banks are required to ask about tax residency for all new acccounts, old accounts that exceed certain balance thresholds and those that have indicators that the account holder may be a tax resident of another country.
> 
> They cannot actually rely on a mailing address to determine whether you are a tax resident - a mailing address is simply that, where you want mail from the bank delivered- but it is an indicator that you may be a tax resident of that country.


Thank you, so I can just send in the FATCA form back to the ATO and that’s that? I can still pay on this monthly and I shouldn’t be concerned about any tax implications or trouble? It’s just so my bank can report correctly to the ATO that I’m a resident of the US? My balance is under $10k AUD/$6k USD, I’m not sure what the threshold is.


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## Moulard (Feb 3, 2017)

On the Australian side, submit the form you received to declare your US tax residency to your Australian bank, credit union or what ever type of institution that issued the credit card, and that is all you need to do. They will report the balance of the account to the ATO who in turn reports it to the IRS Your Super Fund is exempt from FATCA reporting to the ATO, so you will NOT get a similar form from them.

On the US side, you would have to report both accounts on FinCen Form 114 (aka the FBAR) as the combined value is over $10kUSD.






Report Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts | FinCEN.gov







www.fincen.gov





So long as you are filing jointly in the US, you are likely to be under the filing threshold for Form 8938 (the FATCA form filed with your US tax return) for a while yet.


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