Strategy to obtain US Amex

[albyd]

Thanks for sharing @DAC1 might be within the expected range then. I guess there are costs to help us facilitate this hobby.

Re ITIN, thanks @Phoenix-1 for sharing the IRS document. I haven’t read the whole document as I keep getting interrupted and have been trying to on my iPhone. In short, is there any ‘renewal’ required or just a matter of keeping it alive by lodging a return in year 3 onwards? Is it quite simple to do ourselves (like etax in AU or do we need to engage the services of a local (for a premium)? I’d hate to have gone to such an effort to set this all up just to have to start again. I’ve earnt a modest amount of interest from US bank interest. I imagine I wouldn’t have much more than that to report.

Will reporting such a low income mean you can’t then report your true AU income when applying for a US CC?

I know the US taxes all its citizens’ income worldwide. What’s the story with AU holders of an ITIN?

 

[DAC1]

In short, is there any ‘renewal’ required or just a matter of keeping it alive by lodging a return in year 3 onwards?

Lodging a return once every 3 years should do it.

Is it quite simple to do ourselves (like etax in AU or do we need to engage the services of a local (for a premium)?

Pretty easy to do yourself. You can print the forms out from the IRS site and mail them in. That’s how I have done it/plan to keep doing it.

Will reporting such a low income mean you can’t then report your true AU income when applying for a US CC?

I know the US taxes all its citizens’ income worldwide. What’s the story with AU holders of an ITIN?

Not necessarily but you might have an issue if you receive a 4506-C request from Amex (which anecdotally they are doing more and more).

Australian holders of an ITIN who maintain tax residency outside of the USA (and are a NRA for US purposes) should only be taxed on income derived in the USA. You should similarly report any US derived income in your Australian tax return. You may also benefit from either the Australia-US tax treaty (which can neutralise double taxation) or from lower (or nil) US taxes under US tax law (for example, NRAs are not subject to US tax on US bank interest).

 

[blacksultan]

Does anyone know the answer to this? If you just file a low income, let's say $100 in Vegas winnings, does that put any risk to the cards you've opened given you'd show as such low US income? Any service that can do the filing for you? Would appreciate any experience that can be shared here - definitely don't want the ITIN to expire..I believe

I believe the itin may expire for Yh purpose of the IRS but one can still use it for credit card applications as it would still be linked to gbe credit file .

 

[albyd]

Thanks @DAC1 appreciate your replies