Who is Impacted
Anyone with Automatic Exchange of Information (AEoI) filing requirements under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) or the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) will be interested in staying connected with updates from tax authorities in various jurisdictions, including the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Treasury Department, and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to find new and changing information as a result of the global COVID-19 crisis.
What Changed
Over the last few weeks, a number of countries have published guidance regarding reporting in the year 2020. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, many have delayed the reporting dates for this year among other changes. Here are a few of note:
New May Deadlines
FATCA and CRS Deadline: 31 May 2020. See FATCA Announcement and
Links:
New June Deadlines
CRS Deadline: 30 June 2020. See Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions)
Links:
CRS and FATCA Deadline: 30 June 2020.
Links:
CRS Reportable Jurisdictions, see Appendix 1.
New July Deadlines
CRS Deadline: 15 July 2020. See Government of Bermuda Website.
Links:
FATCA and CRS Deadline: 31 July 2020
Rule Updates: The French Tax Administration published FAQs on its CRS self-certification.
Portal Updates: Portal will close on 3 August 2020.
Links:
CRS Deadline: 31 July 2020. See Malaysia Portal.
Links:
New August Deadlines
CRS Deadline: 31 August 2020.
Links:
New September Deadlines
CRS and FATCA Deadline: 18 September 2020.
Rule Updates: The Authorising Person (“AP”) and Principal Point of Contact (“PPoC”) does not have to be an individual. Please keep in mind that the regulations require the AP and PPOC must be two different persons, excepts where the Authority specifies – that the Financial Institution elects to appoint an entity that is licensed under regulatory laws of the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority as the AP and PPOC.
On the new DITC Portal, the FI can chose to either have an individual or an entity as the PPoC or AP. See Guidance for Institutional Users for FATCA and CRS.
Portal Updates: The Cayman Islands Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) Portal offline. The DITC are developing a new Portal (called the DITC Portal) for registration (notification) and reporting purposes, which will eventually encompass all legislative frameworks. This new portal will launch in June 2020. All functionality (notifications and reporting) will be available at that time. In recognition of the change in launch date, the deadline for 2019 FATCA and CRS reporting (only) will be 18 September 2020.
All user accounts from the AEOI Portal will be migrated to the new DITC Portal along with their assigned FIs. APs and PPoCs should expect an email from the DITC in June, which will contain steps on how to log onto the DITC Portal. Further details on this process will be posted here in due course.
Links:
US IRS
In the last two weeks, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) posted the following changes:
FATCA Filing Extension. On March 30, the IRS announced that it will provide an extension of time for a Reporting Model 2 FFI or a Participating FFI to file the FATCA Report (Form 8966). The filing deadline for the FATCA Report will be extended from March 31, 2020 to July 15, 2020. Form 8809-I, Application for Extension of Time to File FATCA Form 8966, will not be required for this extension.
For all other updates and additional information please visit the following links:
The IRS:
The Department of Treasury:
The U.S. Government:
https://www.usa.gov/coronavirus (In English)
https://www.usa.gov/espanol/coronavirus (In Spanish)
Update on OECD Tax Work:
Center for Disease Control (CDC):
How to Implement
Visit these websites often to stay informed of changes, both tax and health related!
Share your experiences with us in the comments or e-mail us!