Blog Post
Parliament has just passed legislation that requires local banks, on an annual basis, to provide detailed information to the Tax Office who will then automatically share that information with the relevant foreign tax authority where an Australian bank account is held by a foreigner or a company, trust or other entity that is controlled by a foreigner. The purpose of the new legislation is a global crackdown on people holding funds offshore and not declaring income to their home country tax authority. It is a multi-way, reciprocal arrangement with many national governments planning on gathering and cross-sharing information under the…