On 13 April 2017 the Cayman Islands ('Cayman') Department for International Tax Cooperation ('DITC') made announcements regarding various international automatic exchange of information ('AEOI') regimes including: the Common Reporting Standard ('CRS'); the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act ('FATCA'); the UK Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories ('UK CDOT'); and the European Union Savings Directive ('EUSD').

Key changes

The Announcements are repeated in full below, but the following are the key changes:

CRS Guidance Notes:

There is a new set of Guidance Notes. This is not yet available on the DITC/Tax Information Authority ('TIA') website but is available here.

Reportable Jurisdictions – The list has been updated to include Jersey.

AEOI Portal :

CRS Notification – The AEOI portal should be able to take Notifications in the week of 10 May 2017. Notifications have to be complete by 30 June 2017.

CRS Reporting – The AEOI portal should be able to take Reports in the week of 12 June 2017. Reports have to be complete by 31 July 2017. CRS reporting must be completed using the CRS XML schema v1.0 or the manual entry form on the AEOI Portal.

FATCA – The portal should be able to take Reports and Notifications by the week of 10 May 2017.

FATCA Notifications – The deadline for 2017 will be 30 June 2017.

FATCA Reporting – The deadline for 2017 will be 31 July 2017. This is also the deadline for correcting any errors in respect of FATCA reports for 2014 and/or 2015. FATCA reporting must be completed with the new IRS FATCA XML v2.0 schema or the manual entry form on the AEOI Portal which is based on that schema.

Solomon Harris

We at Solomon Harris continue to monitor and cover the introduction of international AEOI regulations, including US FATCA and the CRS and keep a close eye on updates to the Cayman AEOI Portal.

AEOI Regime Announcement
CRS
  1. The TIA has today issued CRS Guidance Notes version 2.0, which accompany this advisory.
  2. The list of Reportable Jurisdictions has been updated to include Jersey for 2017, and also the 2018 Reportable Jurisdictions.

    1. The list is included in Appendix 4 to the Guidance Notes and will also be published by Gazette Notice.
    2. Cayman Financial Institutions that are in liquidation or being wound up in 2017 are required to fulfil their reporting obligations (i) for the year 2016, with respect to 2017 Reportable Jurisdictions, and (ii) for that part of 2017 in which they are in existence, with respect to both 2017 and 2018 Reportable Jurisdictions.
  3. AEOI Portal:

    1. A new AEOI Portal User Guide regarding FATCA/UK CDOT/CRS will be available later this month or in early May.
    2. The CRS notification function on AEOI Portal is scheduled for the week of 10 May 2017.
    3. The CRS reporting function on AEOI Portal is scheduled for the week of 12 June 2017.
    The DITC recommends that Cayman Financial Institutions complete their CRS notification obligation as early as possible, rather than wait until the CRS reporting function is first available.
  4. CRS reporting must be completed with the CRS XML schema v1.0 or the manual entry form on the AEOI Portal which is based on that schema.
  5. The Individual and Entity Self-Certification forms are being revised and will be available on the DITC's CRS Legislation webpage and, at that time, will also be included in Appendix 5 of the CRS Guidance Notes v2.0 on that webpage.
FATCA
  1. The FATCA notification and reporting function on the AEOI Portal will be available at the same time as the CRS notification function is made available.
  2. The FATCA notification deadline is aligned with that for the CRS this year, i.e. 30 June 2017.
  3. The FATCA reporting deadline is aligned with that for the CRS this year, i.e. 31 July 2017.
  4. FATCA reporting must be completed with the new IRS FATCA XML v2.0 schema or the manual entry form on the AEOI Portal which is based on that schema.
  5. The deadline for correcting any errors in respect of FATCA reports for 2014 and/or 2015 is 31 July 2017. The DITC's AEOI News & Updates webpage will provide further guidance on corrections required for certain types of FATCA reporting errors.
UK CDOT
  1. As a reminder, Reporting Financial Institutions and trustees of Trustee Documented Trusts should have completed all remediation due diligence work for Pre-Existing Accounts under UK CDOT by 30 June 2016.
  2. For reporting in 2017 with respect to the 2016 reporting year, a Cayman Financial Institution which has reporting obligations under UK CDOT:

    1. Will not be able to use the UK CDOT reporting function on the AEOI Portal.
    2. Must instead include in its single CRS file (i.e. whether CRS XML schema / manual entry) in respect of the UK as Reportable Jurisdiction:

      1. all information that would be reportable under UK CDOT; and
      2. if it is has reporting obligations under the CRS, any information that is reportable under the CRS with respect to the UK as Reportable Jurisdiction which are not already reported by virtue of 2.b.i above
  3. For reporting in 2018, onwards there will be no reporting on the basis of 2.b.i above and all reporting on UK Persons will be on the basis of 2.b.ii above.
EUSD Reporting of Savings Income Information for EUSD purposes is not required from this year onwards because this information will be covered by reporting under the CRS.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.