The IRS has recently announced that it plans to launch the portal for Foreign Account Compliance Act (FATCA) certifications as soon as late July or early August. Previously the agency had announced that the portal would not be open in time for the July 1, 2018 deadline, but did not provide an estimate as to when the portal may be made available.
As part of the FATCA compliance requirements, designated Responsible Officers (ROs) of Participating Foreign Financial Institutions (FFIs) and reporting Model 2 FFIs with an FFI agreement effective date of June 30, 2014 must certify that their financial institutions are in compliance with their FFI agreements. Originally, the deadline for making these certifications, which must be done through the IRS’ FATCA portal, was July 1, 2018. However, in light of the fact that the FATCA portal would not be operational by the original deadline, FI’s were provided an additional three month extension from the date the FATCA portal opens to make the requisite certifications.
Speaking at the International Tax Withholding and Information Reporting Conference in New York, Trevon Singh, Senior Analyst (Foreign Payments Practice), IRS Large Business and International Division, confirmed that the deadline for submitting the required certifications will be at least three months after the portal is opened. He went on to state that the agency plans to notify financial institutions of the official certification deadline via the FATCA registration home page between one and two weeks after the FATCA portal is opened. The IRS will also be providing an updated user guide to accompany the portals launch.
It is crucial to note, however, that the portal (and yet to be fixed deadline) applies to FFI Responsible Officer (RO) certifications, not Qualified Intermediary (QI), Withholding Foreign Partnership (WP), and Withholding Foreign Trust (WT) certifications. Generally, the certification due date for QI/WP/WT entities that have selected 2015 or 2016 for their periodic review will be July 1, 2018, which can be extended to Sept. 1, 2018, and should be made through the QI/WP/WT Application and Account Management System.
Despite the assurance of additional time upon launch of the portal, Responsible Officers should ensure that they have all of the necessary information to complete the RO FATCA certification filings, including the FI’s FATCA classification, which will be required to use the portal, as soon as possible, in order to be ready when the portal is made available.
More information regarding the FATCA Certifications can be found on the IRS Draft FATCA Certifications webpage.
For information regarding Qualified Intermediary (QI) certifications, please see our prior alert: Key updates in U.S. tax information reporting have operational impact.
For more information regarding U.S FFI Responsible officer certifications, see our prior alert: FFI Certification deadline extended; new CRS Self-Certification Form.
For information on RSM’s FATCA services, see or our FATCA landing page.
