We posted on Wednesday, July 10, 2013 "FACTA Registration is Set To Begin in July!" which discusses that starting on July 15, 2013, the United States is scheduled to begin registering foreign financial firms
with U.S. customers for a new anti-tax evasion law know as FATCA. Today the IRS issued Notice 2013-43, which provides Six-Month Extension for FATCA Withholding!
with U.S. customers for a new anti-tax evasion law know as FATCA. Today the IRS issued Notice 2013-43, which provides Six-Month Extension for FATCA Withholding!
This notice provides a six-month extension for when withholding will begin (i.e., payments after June 30, 2014) and for implementing new account opening procedures as well as related requirements to comply with FATCA.
In the preamble to the final regulations, Treasury and the IRS announced their intent to create a FATCA registration website, which would serve as the primary way for FFIs to interact with the IRS to complete the required registration, agreements, and certifications. The preamble stated that the FATCA registration website would be accessible to FFIs no later than July 15, 2013.
After approval of its registration, each PFFI and registered deemed-compliant FFI would be assigned a global intermediary identification number (GIIN), which would be used both for reporting purposes and to identify the FFI’s status to withholding agents. The preamble provided that the IRS would electronically post the first list of PFFIs and registered deemed-compliant FFIs (IRS FFI List) on December 2, 2013, and would update the list on a monthly basis. To ensure inclusion on the December 2013 IRS FFI List, FFIs would need to register by October 25, 2013.
After approval of its registration, each PFFI and registered deemed-compliant FFI would be assigned a global intermediary identification number (GIIN), which would be used both for reporting purposes and to identify the FFI’s status to withholding agents. The preamble provided that the IRS would electronically post the first list of PFFIs and registered deemed-compliant FFIs (IRS FFI List) on December 2, 2013, and would update the list on a monthly basis. To ensure inclusion on the December 2013 IRS FFI List, FFIs would need to register by October 25, 2013.
Modification of Phased Timeline for Implementation
Comments have indicated that certain elements of the phased timeline for the implementation of FATCA present practical problems for both U.S. withholding agents and FFIs.
In addition, while comments from FFIs overwhelmingly supported the development of IGAs as a solution to the legal conflicts that might otherwise impede compliance with FATCA and as a more effective and efficient way to implement cross-border tax information reporting, some comments noted that, in the short term, continued uncertainty about whether an IGA will be in effect in a particular jurisdiction hinders the ability of FFIs and withholding agents to complete due diligence and other implementation procedures.
In consideration of these comments, and to allow for a more orderly implementation of FATCA, Treasury and the IRS intend to amend the final regulations to postpone by six months the start of FATCA withholding, and to make corresponding adjustments to various other time frames provided in the final regulations, as described in section III.
In addition, as described in section IV below, Treasury and the IRS intend to provide a list of jurisdictions that will be treated as having in effect an IGA, even though that IGA may not have entered into force as of July 1, 2014.
Undeclared Income from a Foreign Bank or Brokerage Account?
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Read more at: Tax Times blog
