Saint Kitts and Nevis, BASSETERRE, (30 September 2015): Financial institutions that are required to comply with the United States of America’s (USA’s) Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) are asked to note that the US Treasury Department has issued Notice 2015-66 which provides for some relief from the deadline of 30 September 2015 for exchange of information by Foreign Governments that have a signed Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) or have reached an agreement in substance with the USA. The date for transmitting the information has been extended to 30 September 2016.
In accordance with Notice 2015-66, the Competent Authority for the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis has sought and received an extension by which to comply with FATCA reporting, given that all of the internal procedures to effect compliance with FATCA have not yet been completed. The Competent Authority will issue a subsequent notice advising Financial Institutions of the date by which they should enrol and submit the required accounting information.
Financial institutions are also asked to note that the Foreign Account Tax Compliance (United States of America) (Implementation and Enforcement of Inter-Governmental Agreement) Act was passed by the National Assembly on 15 September 2015 and is expected to be gazetted shortly. The enactment of this legislation will facilitate compliance by Financial Institutions with the reporting requirements of FATCA. Moreover, the legislation provides for the confidentiality of the information being transmitted and the restriction in the use of such information.
Please contact the Office of the Competent Authority at (869) 465-8485 or fatca@sknird.com should you have any queries.