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Singapore – Key Dates For Compliance With FATCA Obligations Proposed.

15 October, 2014

 

The Ministry of Finance, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (“MAS”), and the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (“IRAS”) have issued a joint Consultation Paper on Proposed Regulations to Help Financial Institutions Comply with US FATCA. The consultation paper seeks feedback on:

 

  • the draft Income Tax (International Tax Compliance Agreements) (United States of America) Regulations 2014 (“Regulations”); and
  • the draft FATCA e-Tax Guide (“Guide”).

The following financial institutions (“reporting SGFIs”) will be required to comply with the requirements set out in the Regulations and the Guide:

 

  • any financial institution that is a tax resident in, or incorporated, formed or established under the laws of Singapore, but excludes any branch of the financial institution located outside Singapore; or
  • a branch located in Singapore of a financial institution that is not tax resident in, nor incorporated, formed, or established under the laws of Singapore.

Since the MAS announced on 6 May 2014 that Singapore and the US had substantially concluded discussions on an Intergovernmental Agreement (“IGA”) to facilitate compliance with the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”) by reporting SGFIs, a critical question has been the deadlines to be imposed. The draft Guide sets out the following deadlines in respect of compliance:

 

Deadlines Milestones
22 December 2014  Final deadline for reporting SGFIs to register with the US Inland Revenue Service and obtain their Global Intermediary Identification Number, for inclusion in the US IRS FFI List by 1 January 2015. 
31 May 2015 Reporting SGFIs must submit FATCA information to IRAS relating to Reporting Year 2014. If the SGFI maintains no reportable accounts, a nil return is required. 
30 June 2015  Reporting SGFIs must complete due diligence procedures for Pre-existing High Value Individual Accounts with a balance or value that exceeds USD 1m as of 30 June 2014. 
30 June 2016  Reporting SGFIs must complete due diligence procedures for:

  • Pre-existing Entity Accounts with a balance or value that exceeds USD 250k as of 30 June 2014; and
  • all Pre-existing Individual Accounts with balance or value between USD 50k and USD 1m as of 30 June 2014.

 

The draft Regulations and the e-Tax Guide also set out the reporting regime and include information on the following:

 

  • The financial institutions that must report;
  • The account holders and financial accounts that are subject to reporting;
  • Exempt financial institutions, account holders, and financial accounts;
  • The due diligence procedures required to identify the reportable accounts; and
  • The information to be reported.

The documents may be obtained from the Ministry of Finance website (www.mof.gov.sg) at this link: http://app.mof.gov.sg/pc_fatca_2014_downloads.aspx

 

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For further information, please contact:

 

Elaine Chan, Partner, WongPartnership

elaine.chan@wongpartnership.com

 

Joy Tan, Partner, WongPartnership

joy.tan@wongpartnership.com

 

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