Foreign Tax Resident

• For new clients, we are prohibited from opening an account if the required tax information is not provided.  Delays in providing this information may result in investments being issued at unit prices as at the date this information is provided (rather than application date).
• For existing clients, we may be required to treat you as a foreign tax resident if any information requested is not provided.

Tax Residency rules differ by country. Whether an individual is a tax resident of a particular country is often (but not always) based on the amount of time a person spends in a country, the location of a person’s residence or place of work.

For the US, tax residency can be as a result of citizenship or residency.  US citizenship is generally assigned to anyone born in the US and must be officially renounced to no longer be valid.

If you have questions about your tax residence status, contact the ATO, the tax authority of your country of residence, or seek advice from a tax agent or advisor.

We are obliged to report foreign tax resident information to the ATO, who may pass this information on to the relevant overseas tax authority.

Certain entities controlled by foreign tax residents are required to be reported to the ATO, including details of the foreign taxpayers who own or control these entities.

The tax information requested in application or ID forms is explained in the ID Forms Terminology section on this page.  Further information can also be obtained from the ATO. 

The tax information requested in application or ID forms is explained in the ID Forms Terminology section on this page.  Further information can also be obtained from the ATO.

If your client has any questions about their tax residence status, they can contact the ATO,  the tax authority of their country of residence, or seek advice from a tax agent or advisor.

All new clients investing into non-superannuation products will be required to provide tax information at account opening. Product disclosure documents and application forms will provide guidance on the account opening process.

Financial Institutions are required to perform reviews of pre-existing clients to identify any that may be required to provide tax information. Perpetual will contact clients and advisors if any of their clients are considered to be potential foreign residents for tax purposes and request that additional tax information be provided about these clients.

• For new clients, we are prohibited from opening an account if the required tax information is not provided.  Delays in providing this information may result in investments being issued at unit prices as at the date this information is provided (rather than application date).
• For existing clients, we may be required to treat existing clients as foreign tax residents if any information requested is not provided.

• A TIN is the number assigned by each country for the purposes of administering tax laws. This is the equivalent of a Tax File Number in Australia
• A US TIN consists of a Social Security Number for an individual or an Employer Identification Number for an entity.
• The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) provides information on TINs for a range of jurisdictions at the following link

If you are a foreign tax resident and do not have a TIN, one of the reason listed in application/ID forms must be provided, specifically:

Reason A - The country of tax residency does not issue TINs to tax residents

Reason B - The individual has not been issued with a TIN

Reason C - The country of tax residency does not require the TIN to be disclosed

Under foreign resident tax reporting regimes, a Financial Institution is an entity (e.g. company, partnership or trust) that engages in one of the following:

• Accepts deposits in the ordinary course of a banking or similar business (depository institution).
• Holds as a substantial portion of its business (equals or exceeds 20 % of the entity's gross income) in financial assets for the account of others (custodial institution).
• Is an investment entity including entities that trade in financial assets or that are investing, administering, managing funds, money, or certain financial assets on behalf of other persons.
• Is an insurance company.
• Is an entity that is a holding company or treasury centre that is a part of a group that includes one of the above.

If you are not certain whether you are a Financial Institution, then it is unlikely that you are one.

Further information regarding these definitions can be found at the ATO website. 

A Global Intermediary Identification Number (GIIN) is a unique ID number that non-US Financial Institutions receive from the IRS when they register as a Financial Institution for FATCA  purposes.

Where a Financial Institution does not have a GIIN they will need to provide their FATCA status.

Some common FATCA statuses include:

• Deemed Compliant Financial Institution
• Excepted Financial Institution
• Exempt Beneficial Owner
• Non Reporting IGA Financial Institution
• Nonparticipating Financial Institution
• US Financial Institution

A Non-Participating CRS jurisdiction is a country that is not party to the OECD Common Reporting Standard.  CRS Participating Jurisdictions are published on the Perpetual website.

Australia and Singapore have signed up to CRS and therefore are not Non-Participating CRS jurisdictions.

Super Funds are considered to be Financial Institutions however they are classified as exempt beneficial owners and exempt from any FATCA or CRS obligations.

• Non-Financial Entities (NFEs) include all entities not specifically defined as Financial Institutions (refer above).
• Active NFEs are entities that primarily (> than 50%) earn revenue or hold assets related to earning income that is not considered to be passive income.  Passive income includes dividends, interests and royalties. 
• Active NFEs therefore are generally engaged in carrying on a business (such as a goods or services business), whereas passive entities earn income from investments.
• More information on the definition of Active and Passive Entities can be found in Section VIII in the Annexure of the OECD ‘Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information’ at www.oecd.org.

A controlling person is a natural person (an individual) who exercises control over an Entity.

Settlors are natural or legal persons who transfer ownership of their assets to trustees by means of a trust deed or similar arrangement.

The Common Reporting Standard (CRS) is a global standard for the collection, reporting and exchange of financial account information for foreign tax residents.

Under CRS, Financial Institutions are required to identify clients that non-resident taxpayers or entities with substantial non-resident taxpayer owners or controlling persons and report information about these clients to the local tax authority (the ATO), who pass this information on to the relevant foreign tax authority.

CRS commenced in Australia on 1 July 2017.

The CRS has been developed by the international Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and further information can be found on the OECD CRS site.

FATCA aims to identify US taxpayers, whereas CRS aims to identify all non-resident (non-Australian) taxpayers.  Australia has adopted the ’wider approach’ for CRS, with the effect that all non-resident taxpayers are required to be reported, rather than only the countries participating in CRS. 

If you are a tax resident of a country that is not participating in CRS, while we are required to collect your tax residency status and report this to the ATO, the ATO will not pass this information on to your local tax authority.

New customers will be asked about your tax residency status as part of the account opening process.

Existing customers may be contacted to provide tax residency status if this information is required as part of foreign tax resident reporting pre-existing client reviews.

Tax Residency rules differ by country. Whether an individual is a tax resident of a particular country is often (but not always) based on the amount of time a person spends in a country, the location of a person’s residence or place of work.

For the US, tax residency can be as a result of citizenship or residency.  US citizenship is generally assigned to anyone born in the US and must be officially renounced to no longer be valid.

Australia is one of many countries that has passed laws and entered into international agreements for the reporting of foreign tax residents.

As a result, Australian Financial Institutions are required to identify foreign tax residents and report their details and relevant financial account information to the ATO. The ATO will then exchange this information with countries who have passed similar laws.

Members of superannuation and pension funds are excluded from foreign resident tax resident reporting requirements.

Superannuation fund investors (including self-managed super funds) in non-superannuation investments, such as Managed Investment Schemes, are not reportable under foreign tax resident reporting regimes as they are defined as’ Financial Institutions – Exempt Beneficial Owners’.

Perpetual will only disclose your information to the ATO under foreign tax resident reporting regimes if we are legally required to do so.

1. Australian Taxation Office (ATO)
2. The US Internal Revenue Service (for FATCA)
3. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (for CRS)