27/03/20

US: IRS extends FATCA filing deadline amid pandemic.

As published on internationalinvestment.net, Thursday 26 March, 2020.

The Internal Revenue Service is giving foreign banks and financial institutions more time to file their forms about US taxpayers with overseas bank accounts by extending the FATCA reports deadline from March 31 to July 15.

The extension from the original March 31 filing date applies to foreign institutions with agreements with the U.S. to satisfy FATCA reporting requirements, according to the IRS.

Under the intergovernmental agreements the Treasury has signed with tax authorities in other countries, there are two models for reporting the information on US taxpayers, one in which the banks report it to their own government, which in turn shares it with the IRS, and the other in which the banks report the information directly to the IRS, and another under.

The IRS said the filing deadline for the FATCA Report (Form 8966) will be extended from March 31, 2020 to July 15, 2020. Form 8809-I, Application for Extension of Time to File FATCA Form 8966, will not be required for this extension.

FATCA was passed in 2010 and forces banks wanting to operate in the US to report any assets held by American citizens overseas. While the measure is aimed at tax avoidance, it has created problems for many American expats and dual nationals who have been rejected by retail banks seeking to avoid hassle and risk.

Foreign banks that don't have agreements with the agency to satisfy the requirements are subject to 30% withholding on payments made to them.

The IRS and Treasury Department have been granting various forms of tax relief in response to the coronavirus outbreak, including pushing back the tax filing and payment deadline for US taxpayers to July 15.