EU & International Developments / All

The FATCA obligations outlined in Ireland’s IGA with respect to registration, due diligence, reporting, etc. only extend to Irish entities that are classified as Financial Institutions under Ireland’s IGA.

The IRS released the Final Form W-8BEN-E “Certificate of Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding and Reporting (Entities)”.

The “Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act” was introduced to improve tax compliance and reduce overseas tax evasion by US persons.

The evolving IGAs and final US Regulations provide some welcome practical improvements over previous proposals. Nevertheless, the core challenges of compliance, including the need to review and assess every legal entity and business unit within your organisation, remain.

The Irish Government signed an Intergovernmental Agreement (“IGA”) with the United States on 21 December 2012, confirming that Ireland’s compliance with the US FATCA regime will be governed by domestic Irish tax legislation with reporting directly to the Revenue Commissioners.

The OECD has released its widely anticipated Action Plan (“Plan”) on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (“BEPS”).

EU FTT under enhanced cooperation: summary of European Parliament amendments European Union – Enhanced cooperation procedure – Financial Transaction Tax

In February, the European Commission published revised proposals for a financial transaction tax (FTT). Colm Rogers highlights some of the actions which financial institutions, including those outside the FTT zone, may need to consider.

On February 14, 2013, the European Commission issued its proposal for a Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) to be adopted by 11 Member States under enhanced cooperation.