Foreign Tax Information FAQs

We've put together some answers to commonly asked Foreign Tax Information questions.

The Federal Government has introduced new information-gathering and reporting requirements for financial institutions in an effort to prevent tax evasion. FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) and CRS (Common Reporting Standard) are standards adopted by the Australian Government to improve the tax information shared between Australia and other countries.

Under these standards, we are required to identify and report information on foreign tax residents to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). The ATO may then provide this information to the relevant tax authority where the customer is a resident for tax purposes.

For further information please visit ato.gov.au.

A foreign tax resident is an individual or entity who is:

a United States citizen; or
a resident for tax purposes of any country other than Australia.

US citizens include:

anyone born in the US; and
those born outside the US whose parents are US citizens.

You will be asked to complete a self-certification when you open a new account or request certain services from us. You should consult a tax professional if you are unsure whether you are a foreign tax resident.

If you are a foreign tax resident, you will be asked to identify which country you are a tax resident of and to provide your Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) when completing the self-certification.

If you have a TIN but don’t know what it is, you should contact your country’s tax authority to obtain it.

If you cannot obtain a TIN, you should select the applicable Reason Code on the self-certification section of the form.

All Australian financial institutions must report foreign resident tax information to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) on an annual basis. The ATO may then provide this information to the relevant tax authority where the customer is a resident for tax purposes.

If you do not answer the self-certification questions during the account application process we are unable to open the account. There may be implications for not providing your TIN. For further information consult a tax professional.

You can provide this information to us over the counter in a Branch or by contacting us on 13 19 87.