USA Taxes for Aussies

It depends on your circumstances, and anyone who answers without asking about them is guessing. America has no equivalent of superannuation, so your fund has to be slotted into a US category — and which one it lands in changes the outcome significantly. The things that move the answer are your visa, how much control you hold over the fund, whether the contributions came from your employer or from you, and the treaty between the two countries. Get the category wrong and you can either report something you never needed to, or miss something you did. This is the single most common question we are asked, and the one most often handled incorrectly by a firm that only sees one country. 

Possibly, and for longer than most people expect. Leaving the country is not the same as leaving the tax system, and residency is a test rather than a postcode. Australia looks at where your life actually sits — your home, your family, your work, and how long you genuinely intend to be away — and it is a question of fact rather than something you elect. America then runs its own separate test on its own calendar. The two do not always agree, so you can look like a resident of both countries in the same year, or of neither. Australian-sourced income and Australian property can keep you lodging here regardless.

More than most people expect, and the ones that cause trouble are usually the forgotten ones — an old savings account, a term deposit you stopped thinking about, or a joint account you share with a parent. Reporting obligations for Australians in America extend well beyond the accounts you would naturally describe as investments, and they sit separately from your tax return. The practical first step is to list every Australian account and asset with your name on it, including the ones you would never think to mention, and hand that list to someone who works across both systems.

Renting out your Australian home from the US puts one lot of rental income in front of two tax offices that measure it differently, and both want to see it. Separately, what happens when you eventually sell depends on your residency position at the time you sell, which is why keep, rent or sell is a decision worth making deliberately rather than by default. The timing of that decision matters more than most people realise, and it is far cheaper to plan before you leave than to unpick afterwards. 

If you kept them when you moved, this is one of the first things worth having looked at. Holdings that were completely sensible while you lived in Australia can be treated very differently once America is taxing you, and the difference is not obvious from the outside — it does not show up on your statement. Australian managed funds and ETFs in particular sit in a category the US treats unfavourably. It is considerably easier to deal with before the growth happens than after. 

Not a question anyone should answer before seeing your Australian structure. The decision follows you: it shapes your tax on both sides, your risk, and how easily you can sell the business one day. An LLC is frequently the default American recommendation and frequently creates problems for Australian owners, because the two systems treat it differently. What actually goes wrong is rarely a single bad choice — it is choosing on autopilot and staying there for five years because nobody sat down and did the sum both ways. Setting up the wrong thing is harder to unwind than setting up nothing.