Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) withholding and account due diligence requirements are being extended six months, to July 1 from February 1.
The delay is being instituted to allow U.S. negotiators more time to complete agreements with foreign jurisdictions and to help ensure efficient implementation of the law, the U.S. Treasury Department and IRS announced Friday.
Other key FATCA deadlines, including expected timelines for the implementation of withholding on gross proceeds from sales of U.S. securities and pass-through payment withholding, remain unchanged.
The first report of information under FATCA continues to be due in 2015 and will include information about accounts maintained during 2014
Treasury has signed FACTA intergovernmental agreements with nine foreign jurisdictions and is in talks with over 80 more.
FATCA targets non-compliance by U.S. taxpayers using foreign accounts and establishes a global approach to combatting offshore tax evasion. FATCA requires U.S. financial institutions to withhold a portion of payments made to FFIs who do not agree to identify and report information on U.S. account holders.
