On 13 August 2015, the Cyprus Tax Department announced (Link) (Link – Greek) the extension of time for financial institutions to file their FATCA reports to 31 August from the previously extended deadline of 14 August 2015.
On 31 July 2015, the Portuguese Secretary for Tax Affairs announced the extension of the reporting deadline from 31 July 2015 to 30 November 2015 through a note on its website (Link – Portuguese). This announcement came prior to the signing of the IGA (Link) which was cited as a central reason for the delayed reporting deadline.
On 11 August 2015, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore issued an updated version of the general FATCA FAQs (Link). One question was added, namely whether all accounts held by sole-proprietors should be treated as Individual Accounts. The Authority’s answer holds that for FATCA, only accounts held by sole-proprietorships that are owned by individuals (and not companies) should be treated as individual accounts.
On 11 August 2015, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore also issued an updated version of the FATCA Filing Process FAQs (Link). The Authority added several questions and updated some of the previous content.
On 10 August 2015, the IRS published a document that includes instructions on how to create an XML file “Adding Multiple Sponsored Entities using a File Upload” (Link). Further instructions on how to upload this file will be included in an updated FATCA Online Registration user guide to be issued in late 2015.
On 7 August 2015, the Indian Government enacted rules relating to FATCA reporting in India and set the deadline for the 2014 reporting year as 31 August 2015. The Indian Government signed an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with the United States on 9 July 2015, to implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) in India (Link).
Effective 8 August 2015, the IRS released Publication 5188: FATCA Metadata XML Schema v1.1 User Guide (Link) on its webpage for FATCA XML Schemas and Business Rules for Form 8966 (Link). This information is intended to support financial institutions and tax authorities in collecting, validating and exchanging information for FATCA Reporting.
On 10 August 2015, the IRS update certain Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on its IDES Technical FAQs webpage (Link). In particular, questions A16 and E18 have been added while questions C16 and C17 have been updated to reflect updates to the FATCA XML Schema Best Practices document (Link). This document contains recommendations regarding the schema, including character restrictions as well as the use of optional and non-optional entity references within the XML content.
On 10 August 2015, the IRS updated the IDES Testing Schedule webpage (Link) to reflect the new testing period as follows:
On 7 August 2015, the OECD issued three new documents providing guidance on the implementation of the global standard on automatic exchange of information. While these documents are helpful, it remains to be seen what suggestions are actually implemented into local regulations and guidance by the countries which have committed to adopting CRS.
These documents include the following:
This 120-page handbook contains information, including FAQs, to primarily support governments in understanding the applicability of CRS and their respective responsibilities to implement this regime. The handbook is intended to be a practical plain language guide to the necessary steps required to properly implement the Common Reporting Standard. The Handbook provides an overview of the legislative, technical and operational issues as well as a more detailed discussion of the key definitions and procedures contained within the Standard. This represents the first edition of what the OECD considers a “living document” which will be updated on a regular basis.
This document is intended to provide a mechanism for jurisdictions seeking to amend current or future Tax Information Exchange Agreements to include a basis for the implementation of automatic and the spontaneous exchange of information.
This 130-page document intends to provide a roadmap to effective tax compliance programs, including the different types of Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Programmes and principle to be applied when designing a successful program. The document also contains and annex containing survey results on voluntary disclosure programs from March 2015 from 47 countries.
