As of the 1st of July 2017, all Australian banks are required to collect information about foreign tax residents (under the Common Reporting Standard – CRS, & Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act - FATCA). As a result, all customers are required to let us know if they are a tax resident of any country other than Australia. If you are a foreign tax resident, you may need to supply your TIN (tax identification number). For those who are only Australian tax residents it is not compulsory to quote your Tax File Number, however if you do not provide your Tax File Number, Rabobank is legally obliged to deduct withholding tax (currently 49%) on behalf of the ATO from any interest earned.
Rabobank is committed to complying with all its Australian legal obligations including FATCA and CRS, which aim to counter cross border tax evasion by automatically exchanging financial account information of individuals and entities who are deemed to be foreign tax residents of Australia.
To facilitate a global exchange of information, all financial institutions, including Rabobank, are required to collect, and check, tax residency information from their customers and report it to their local tax authority (the ATO), who in turn will automatically exchange that information with overseas tax authorities such as the Inland Revenue in New Zealand and the IRS in the USA.
When you open a new account or invest in a new financial product, you must tell us about your tax residency by completing and signing our Tax Residency Self Certification Form and provide additional information as required. Without this information, we will be unable to open the account.
Further, if you have an existing account or if our records indicate you could be a foreign tax resident, Rabobank may contact you to confirm your country(ies) tax residence.
If your circumstances change, you need to tell us.
If you are a tax resident in any country other than Australia, you need to tell us:-
- The country(ies) you are a tax resident of; and
- Your Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) or equivalent
If you are a tax resident in more than one country, you must provide the TIN (or equivalent) for each country.
If you are opening a account on behalf of a legal entity (e.g. company, trusts, partnership, association, our Tax Residency Self Certification form requires you to provide (and sign) these details:-
- Country of tax residence of the entity;
- Nature of the entity’s business; and
- In some circumstances, details of the individuals who control or beneficially own the entity, or have specific connections to the entity. This includes their country of tax residency and TIN (or equivalent) if they themselves are foreign tax residents.
Under the regulations, passive entities must supply information about the tax residency for all Controlling Persons.
All customers must certify their country of tax residence by completing and signing a Tax Self Certification form as part of the application process. By signing the Tax Self Certification form, you declare and agree that the information you have provided to us is correct, and that you will notify us if your circumstances change. Penalties, (civil and criminal) may apply for providing false or misleading information.
Rabobank may seek additional information or clarification where required and will annually send information of the foreign tax resident identified to the ATO. The information may then be shared by the ATO with the tax authority of the country where you (or your entity) are a tax resident.
We report the information provided in the Tax Residency Self Certification form, as well as details about the accounts and products you have with us, including the balance or value of your accounts and total amounts of interest or payments credited.
The criteria for determining tax residency varies considerably from country to country. If you require assistance to determine your tax residency, you should consult a tax adviser. The OECD and ATO websites (see below) also contains further information regarding CRS and FATCA.
A TIN is a unique identification number officially issued by your country of tax residence. For instance, in Australia, it is our Tax File Number (TFN).
We only disclose information that we are legally required to. All information reported is subject to privacy laws and binding international treaties.
To learn more please visit: www.ato.gov.au or www.oecd.org
Rabobank and its affiliates do not provide tax advice. Any discussion of tax matters contained in this webpage has general application only. Rabobank customers should see their own advice based on their particular facts and circumstances from an independent professional tax adviser.