The provisions of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) were enacted in the United States (US) in March 2010.
The US and Cyprus governments signed a MODEL 1 Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) on 2 December 2014 for the automatic exchange of the reported information with the US’s Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Under the MODEL 1 IGA, Cyprus Financial Institutions that fall within the scope of FATCA had to register with the IRS by the end of the year and become FATCA compliant. However, Cypriot Financial Institutions that fall within the scope of FATCA were advised to register by the 22 December 2014 in order to be included in the list of registered companies for 2014.
Registering with the IRS and obtaining a GIIN (Global Intermediary Identification Number) imposes certain additional due diligence procedures and reporting obligations on US persons. FATCA is focused on strengthening information reporting and withholding compliance with respect to US persons who invest directly or indirectly through the ownership of foreign interests. To achieve this goal, FATCA requires Foreign Financial Institutions (FFIs) to provide information to IRS on accounts held directly or indirectly by US persons.
FATCA imposes a 30% withholding tax on Foreign Financial Institutions (FFIs) that fall within the scope of FATCA and do not comply with FATCA’s requirements. The 30% withholding tax on certain US source income will be imposed regardless of whether the FFI has US owners or clients.
Before a financial institution can become FATCA compliant, it should take certain steps to determine the impact FATCA may have on its operations and plan the route towards compliance in an efficient and effective manner.
Most financial institutions need to proceed with enhanced due diligence procedures for customer onboarding systems to be FATCA compliant for new accounts, while launching a separate work stream to identify and analyse pre-existing accounts.
MAP S.Platis is committed to its goal of supporting the financial industry with expert guidance and advice on upcoming legislation to assist our clients with this challenging task. Additionally, MAP S.Platis, through its affiliated regulatory reporting technology provider, MAP FinTech, offers Financial Institutions a fully automated service called “FATCA Reporting” that can help Financial Institutions file their annual reports automatically.
Our multidisciplinary team can provide comprehensive and holistic solutions tailored to each client’s individual needs for a smooth FATCA implementation. These include:
- Analysis of FATCA’s impact on your business and its operations;
- Development of an action plan for compliance;
- Guidance in completing FATCA relevant forms;
- Assistance in the implementation of internal FATCA required procedures;
- FATCA reporting;
- Providing support on FATCA’s future requirements and developments, and;
- Training and education.
For more information, please feel free to contact us.
