The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) requires a foreign financial institution to appoint a “Responsible Officer” who is obligated to submit periodic compliance certifications to the Internal Revenue Service attesting to the institution’s compliance with various FATCA duties.  For most Participating Foreign Financial Institutions (FFIs) and Reporting Model 2 FFIs, the first deadline for their Responsible Officers to submit such compliance certifications is July 1, 2018.  The first certification required to be filed addresses the FFI’s due diligence with respect to pre-existing accounts (referred to as a “Certification of Pre-Existing Accounts”), and the second certification addresses the FFI’s compliance with various FATCA obligations (referred to as a “Periodic Certification”).  Both of these certifications will be used by the IRS to measure each FFI’s FATCA compliance.

Yesterday the IRS published long-awaited drafts of the compliance certifications in order to assist Responsible Officers in preparing to meet the upcoming certification deadline. The following variations of the Certification of Pre-Existing Accounts are now available in draft form:

• Participating Foreign Financial Institution (Including Reporting Model 2 FFIs)
• Consolidated Compliance Group
• Registered Deemed-Compliant FFIs – Local FFI
• Registered Deemed-Compliant FFIs – Restricted Funds
• Sponsoring Entity of Sponsored FFIs

The following variations of the Periodic Certification are now available in draft form:

• Participating Foreign Financial Institution (Including Reporting Model 2 FFIs)
• Consolidated Compliance Group
• Registered Deemed-Compliant FFIs – Local FFI
• Registered Deemed-Compliant FFIs – Nonreporting Member of PFFI
• Registered Deemed-Compliant FFIs – Qualified Collective Investment Vehicle
• Registered Deemed-Compliant FFIs – Qualified Credit Card Issuer or Servicer
• Registered Deemed-Compliant FFIs – Restricted Funds
• Sponsoring Entity of Sponsored FFI
• Sponsoring Entity of Sponsored Direct Reporting NFFEs
• Sponsoring Entity of Sponsored FFI and Sponsored Direct Reporting NFFEs
• Trustee Documented Trusts
• Direct Reporting NFFEs

Yesterday’s announcement by the IRS also appears to contain a bit of good news regarding the upcoming compliance deadline.  It appears that the July 1 deadline will be extended by up to 90 days, because the IRS FATCA Registration Portal will evidently not be ready to accept compliance certifications before July 2018.  Here is the text of the IRS announcement:

The due date for submitting both FATCA certifications (one that relates to an entity’s preexisting accounts (“COPA”) and another that relates to the entity’s compliance with various FATCA requirements (“periodic certification”)) is July 1 following the third full calendar year after the date the entity registered and received a GIIN. The update to the FATCA Registration Portal containing FATCA certifications will not be available prior to July 2018. For entities that have certifications due by July 1, 2018, please note, any Responsible Officer (RO) that is required to certify will have no less than 3 months from deployment of the certifications on the FATCA Registration Portal to submit them.

We are continuing to monitor developments in this area and will post updates as they become available.

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