IRS Delays FATCA Reporting Obligation Deadline by Six Months

In order to allow for a more orderly implementation of FATCA, Treasury and the IRS have postponed by six months the start of FATCA withholding, and made corresponding adjustments to various other time frames provided in the final regulations. IRS Notice 2013-43. A primary reason for extending the deadline was that certain elements of the phased timeline for the implementation of FATCA were presenting practical problems for both U.S. withholding agents and foreign financial institutions. In addition, while comments from foreign financial institutions overwhelmingly supported the development of intergovernmental agreements (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 foreign financial institutions and withholding agents to complete due diligence and other implementation procedures.

Withholding agents generally will be required to begin withholding on withholdable payments made after June 30, 2014, to payees that are foreign financial institutions with respect to obligations that are not grandfathered obligations, unless the payments can be reliably associated with documentation on which the withholding agent can rely to treat the payments as exempt from withholding.

Passed as part of the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (HIRE), FATCA creates a new reporting and taxing regime for foreign financial institutions with U.S. accountholders. FATCA adds a new Chapter 4 to the Internal Revenue Code, essentially requiring foreign financial institutions to identify their customers who are U.S. persons or U.S.-owned foreign entities and then report to the IRS on all payments to, or activity in the accounts of, those persons.

The Act broadly defines foreign financial institution to comprise not only foreign banks but also any foreign entity engaged primarily in the business of investing or trading in securities, partnership interests, commodities or any derivative interests therein. According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, investment vehicles such as hedge funds and private equity funds will fall within this definition. Firms meeting the definition must enter into agreements with the IRS and report information annually in order to avoid a new U.S. withholding tax.

According to IRS Notice 2013-43, the FATCA registration website is projected to be accessible to financial institutions on August 19, 2013. Other key dates for registration, however, will be extended by six months. Thus, after the FATCA registration website opens, a financial institution will be able to begin the process of registering by creating an account and inputting the required information for itself, for its branch operations, and, if it serves as a lead financial institution, for other members of its expanded affiliated group. All input information will be saved automatically in the registration system and associated with the financial institution’s account. For the period from the opening of the FATCA registration website through December 31, 2013, a financial institution will be able to access its account to modify or add registration information, including to indicate the appropriate registration status, as such status is established, for example, by the signing of an IGA.

Prior to January 1, 2014, however, any information entered into the system, even if submitted as final, will not be regarded as a final submission, but will merely be stored until the information is submitted as final on or after January 1, 2014. Thus, financial institutions can use the remainder of 2013 to get familiar with the registration process, to input preliminary information, and to refine that information. On or after January 1, 2014, each financial institution will be expected to finalize its registration information by logging into its account on the FATCA registration website, making any necessary additional changes, and submitting the information as final.

In order to allow for a more orderly implementation of FATCA, Treasury and the IRS have postponed by six months the start of FATCA withholding, and made corresponding adjustments to various other time frames provided in the final regulations. IRS Notice 2013-43. A primary reason for extending the deadline was that certain elements of the phased timeline for the implementation of FATCA were presenting practical problems for both U.S. withholding agents and foreign financial institutions. In addition, while comments from foreign financial institutions overwhelmingly supported the development of intergovernmental agreements (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 foreign financial institutions and withholding agents to complete due diligence and other implementation procedures.

Withholding agents generally will be required to begin withholding on withholdable payments made after June 30, 2014, to payees that are foreign financial institutions with respect to obligations that are not grandfathered obligations, unless the payments can be reliably associated with documentation on which the withholding agent can rely to treat the payments as exempt from withholding.

Passed as part of the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (HIRE), FATCA creates a new reporting and taxing regime for foreign financial institutions with U.S. accountholders. FATCA adds a new Chapter 4 to the Internal Revenue Code, essentially requiring foreign financial institutions to identify their customers who are U.S. persons or U.S.-owned foreign entities and then report to the IRS on all payments to, or activity in the accounts of, those persons.

The Act broadly defines foreign financial institution to comprise not only foreign banks but also any foreign entity engaged primarily in the business of investing or trading in securities, partnership interests, commodities or any derivative interests therein. According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, investment vehicles such as hedge funds and private equity funds will fall within this definition. Firms meeting the definition must enter into agreements with the IRS and report information annually in order to avoid a new U.S. withholding tax.

According to IRS Notice 2013-43, the FATCA registration website is projected to be accessible to financial institutions on August 19, 2013. Other key dates for registration, however, will be extended by six months. Thus, after the FATCA registration website opens, a financial institution will be able to begin the process of registering by creating an account and inputting the required information for itself, for its branch operations, and, if it serves as a lead financial institution, for other members of its expanded affiliated group. All input information will be saved automatically in the registration system and associated with the financial institution’s account. For the period from the opening of the FATCA registration website through December 31, 2013, a financial institution will be able to access its account to modify or add registration information, including to indicate the appropriate registration status, as such status is established, for example, by the signing of an IGA.

Prior to January 1, 2014, however, any information entered into the system, even if submitted as final, will not be regarded as a final submission, but will merely be stored until the information is submitted as final on or after January 1, 2014. Thus, financial institutions can use the remainder of 2013 to get familiar with the registration process, to input preliminary information, and to refine that information. On or after January 1, 2014, each financial institution will be expected to finalize its registration information by logging into its account on the FATCA registration website, making any necessary additional changes, and submitting the information as final.