U.S.A.: FATCA: Getting ready for FATCA: account structures and related certification for intermediaries
Further to Announcement A14071 dated 16 May 2014, that launched the first phase of certification renewal in relation to the implementation of FATCA for certain types of account holders, we are now able to provide you with the new account structures and related withholding statements for FATCA compliant account holders acting on behalf of third parties, and are either a:
- Qualified Intermediary assuming primary Non-Resident Alien (NRA) withholding responsibility but not the backup withholding and Form 1099 reporting responsibilities (hereafter referred to as QIB); or
- Qualified Intermediary neither assuming primary Non-Resident Alien (NRA) withholding responsibility nor the backup withholding and Form 1099 reporting responsibilities (hereafter referred to as QIC); or
- Non-Qualified Intermediary (NQI) neither assuming primary Non-Resident Alien (NRA) withholding responsibility nor the backup withholding and Form 1099 reporting responsibilities (hereafter referred as to NQI)
FATCA on Clearstream Banking procedures
FATCA adds a new dimension to the current QI regime as it operates in parallel to the existing withholding tax system (NRA and backup withholding), therefore additional information and requirements must be taken into consideration for withholding and reporting purposes.
Consequently, we have adapted the account structures that we currently offer to meet these requirements in the most efficient way. New account structures have also been developed for this purpose.
An overview of the account structure possibilities and certification requirements based on (1) the intermediary responsibilities you are endorsing, (2) the status of the underlying beneficiaries for whom you hold the securities on the account and (3) the type of account structure you need, can be found in the attached document “Withholding statements for U.S. tax certification purposes”.
Omnibus structures are available nevertheless we strongly encourage our customers to segregate their assets whenever possible to reduce the burden and risks related to “per payment” allocation for both FATCA and QI purposes.
The following elements must be taken into consideration at account level whenever applicable, on top of the Chapter 3 requirements that remain in effect:
For reporting purposes, information in regards to FATCA recipient code and FATCA exemption codes will have to be provided whenever applicable. These codes can be found within the 1042-S instruction (http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1042s.pdf). Whenever possible, the withholding statements have been designed to allow you to provide such information via the statement. When the account structure selected does not allow for “one-time” certification, a “per payment” FATCA allocation must be provided.
In order to avoid duplicate reporting between the FATCA “U.S. accounts” reporting (Form 8966 or equivalent sent to local tax authorities of IGA countries) and the Chapter 61 reporting (Form 1099) to U.S. non-exempt recipients, the IRS allows PFFIs1 or RDCFFIs2 to include under certain conditions, documented U.S. non-exempt recipients3 in a “U.S. payee pool”. Therefore, such FFI that does not endorse backup withholding and 1099 reporting responsibilities no longer has to provide payee specific information to the upstream withholding agent. This implies from a procedure perspective that these U.S. recipients must no longer be segregated on a designated account. Please note that the election to perform U.S. payee pool reporting must be selected in the IRS Form W-8IMY provided to certify the account.
We request that customers provide us with the new FATCA certification documents4 no later than 31 December 2015.
Customers that have a status or require an account set-up that is not covered by the scenarios included within this announcement or within A14071, are requested to contact us.
Further information
For more information about FATCA, please see our About FATCA web page or send your queries to fatca@clearstream.com.
For further information about procedures, customers may contact the Clearstream Banking5 Tax Help Desk or Clearstream Banking Client Services or their Relationship Officer.
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1. Participating Foreign Financial Institutions.
2. Registered-deemed compliant Foreign Financial Institutions.
3. This excludes any recipients that should suffer withholding tax (should it be under Chapter 4, Chapter 3 or Section 3406).
4. The Clearstream Banking S.A. or Clearstream Banking AG version, as appropriate, must be sent to Clearstream Banking S.A., Attn. OTL - Tax Services, 42 Avenue John F. Kennedy, L-1855 Luxembourg.
5. Clearstream Banking refers collectively to Clearstream Banking AG, registered office at 61, Mergenthalerallee, 65760 Eschborn, Germany and registered in Register B of the Amtsgericht Frankfurt am Main, Germany under number HRB 7500 and Clearstream Banking S.A., registered office at 42, avenue John F. Kennedy, L-1855 Luxembourg, and registered with the Luxembourg Register of Commerce and Companies under number B-9248.