1.1 If we do not assist You with FATCA and CRS compliance:
1.1.1 A result of the USA Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and the UK’s and over 100 other countries’ participation in the OECD’s Common Reporting Standard (the Common Reporting Standard), the International Tax Compliance Regulations 2015, SI 2015/878 (the Regulations) require the entity concerned to determine whether it is a Financial Institution (FI) or either a Non-Financial Foreign Entity (NFFE) or Non-Financial Entity (NFE) and, if the latter (a NFFE or NFE), whether it is passive or active. If it is a FI, it must in most cases register with HMRC (or in certain circumstances directly with the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS)) and file annual returns.
1.1.2 You will be responsible for compliance with the Regulations and any obligations arising from FATCA and the Common Reporting Standard, both in terms of the initial categorisation and, if necessary, the subsequent registration of the entity concerned with HMRC (or other applicable authority) and the filing of annual returns.
1.1.3 Unless agreed specifically in this or a separate Engagement Letter, we are not responsible for your compliance with the Regulations. In particular, We are not responsible for the categorisation of any UK entity into either a Financial Institution (FI) or an active or passive Non-Financial Foreign Entity (NFFE) or passive Non-Financial Entity (NFE) nor, if a FI, for its registration with HMRC (or other applicable authority) and subsequent submission of the required annual returns.
1.1.4 However, if requested to do so We can provide advice on the completion of the forms supplied by FIs under the Regulations and used by them to determine the status of an entity. We can also provide advice on setting up the appropriate systems to identify and report on Your clients or beneficiaries who are US citizens, US tax residents and residents of OECD CRS signatory countries who are potentially affected by FATCA or The Common Reporting Standard.
1.2 If we assist You with FATCA and CRS compliance:
1.2.1 We will assist with the categorisation of the entity concerned into either a Financial Institution (FI) or a Non-Financial Foreign Entity (NFFE) or Non-Financial Entity (NFE) (passive or active) for the purposes of the Regulations. If the entity concerned is determined to be a FI, we will assist where required to ensure that the entity concerned has adequate systems to identify foreign citizens (whether US citizens and tax residents or tax residents of other countries who have signed up for the Common Reporting Standard), who are or who may become beneficiaries (or other “account holders” as defined for these purposes) to whom payments may be made or benefits provided. We can also assist you with the initial online registration with HMRC.
1.2.2 Please note that we are UK tax specialists but not specialists in the tax rules of other countries than the UK. Hence we cannot assist you in complying with the FATCA and CRS laws or regulations of other countries than the UK.
Effective April 4 2024