The regulations set out FATCA due diligence and reporting obligations for UK financial institutions, explains Jo Summers
The International Tax Compliance Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/878) are now partially in force. These regulations were made to give effect to a number of agreements between the UK and other jurisdictions, with the stated aim of improving international tax compliance. The regulations cover:
- the US/UK FATCA agreement;
- new EU money laundering rules (in Council Directive 2011/16/EU, known as the DAC); and
- automatic exchange of information agreements between the UK and various countries (known as the CRS).
The regulations came into force for the FATCA rules on 15 April 2015, whereas the DAC and CRS rules only come into force on 1 January 2016. The regulations are designed to bring together the reporting obligations and due diligence requirements under the various agreements. Put more simply, the intention is to make it impossible for people to hide money from the tax authorities, no matter how hard they try!
Jo Summers recently led a webinar on FATCA as part of the Private Client Section’s webinar programme for 2015. To listen, please click here .
