My mother lives in Europe. My brother, who resides in the United States, and I, an Australian Resident for Tax Purposes, have both been appointed executors in my mother's Will and are 50/50 beneficiaries of her estate. My mother's estate holds property and company shares, which we as executors will sell before local taxes in Europe get paid and the remaining cash gets distributed to both beneficiaries.
I understand from info provided by the ATO that this is a very straight-forward situation and I do not have to pay inheritance tax in Australia, however I'd like to receive the ATO's view on this statement I found on [link removed by moderator].
"Firstly, what is an overseas estate? One that does not have an Australian executor. If just one of the executors is an Australian resident for tax purposes then Australia will grab the estate as a resident for tax purposes."
Is this correct? What implications will being an Executor to my mum's overseas estate have on the tax I need to pay in Australia?