Articles
Gain deeper insight with articles that give our considered opinion and predictions of where the industry will go next.
The Challenges of GATCA
The global anti-tax evasion frameworks that comprise GATCA have as many commonalities as they have differences, so it makes sense to approach regulatory compliance in a holistic fashion.
In this post, we explore how smaller firms are responding to the pressures of compliance...
FATCA Misconceptions
For some within the industry, the mere mention of ‘FATCA’ is enough to spark compliance-nightmare flashbacks.
The ever unpopular FATCA regulations have now been with us for seven years. But, despite its relative longevity, there are a surprising number of misconceptions surrounding FATCA....
Will AEoI be the new Equifax?
What are the data security risks associated with the AEoI framework? In this post, Ross McGill explores some of the risks and issues a stark warning to the financial services industry.
Why W8? – Start re-papering over the cracks now!
QIs and NQIs face a rare opportunity to dramatically increase their W-8 compliance rate by re-papering all existing clients using the IRS' new W-8 forms. Find out how such a project could benefit your firm and why it could be worth it in the long run.
3 Things To Annoy You About W-8s and 3 Things You’ll Love
The IRS just made three HUGE changes to W-8 series of self certification forms used by almost every financial institution across the globe to categorise their non-US customers, and there's a lot to love...
Remember your New Reporting Obligations Under AEoI / CRS
You're just getting over the initial FATCA and QI reporting, submitted all of your 1042-S forms, and now you're looking ahead to September and the deadline for all those 1042 forms. However, you may need to report under AEoI/CRS at the same time. Are you planning ahead to avoid this headache?
Publication 5262 – QI Portal
Continuing the burst of activity, what better way to start a new year, than with a new QI, WP & WT portal and its bed time reading material, Publication 5262, which of course goes hand in hand with the new QI Agreement,Revenue Procedure 2017-15.
QI Status – Is It Really Worth It?
October 24, 2024It’s an age-old question for financial institutions. Should you become a QI, or stay an NQI? This is a decision […]Read more
Operational Issues for QIs and NQIs
October 18, 2024The IRS has just published the very first list of qualified intermediaries and there are some interesting implications for clients […]Read more
Non-Pooling and De-Pooling – What’s The Difference, And What’s The Problem?
October 17, 2024For qualified intermediaries (or QIs), pooling is an important feature of the US tax system that they should be taking […]Read more
Introducing the Tax Compliance Toolkit Training Academy
October 9, 2024Over the years all our experts and specialists have talked about barriers to effective tax compliance. What stops institutions being […]Read more
The Problem For Maltese Residents Investing In The US
October 7, 2024According to the IRS QI List, recently published, there are 17 Qualified Intermediaries (QIs) in Malta, mainly comprising of the […]Read more
The Challenge of Client Onboarding: Integrating KYC & Tax Documentation
August 27, 2024Welcome to a very special post! A few weeks ago, TConsult chairman Ross had the opportunity to speak with Remonda […]Read more
Understanding Your Obligations Under CRS
August 7, 2024CRS, or the Common Reporting Standard, is a key part of the OECD’s Automatic Exchange of Information Framework, otherwise known […]Read more
Things To Do In August – Your Tax Checklist
August 2, 2024In the Northern Hemisphere, August is most commonly known as ‘summer holidays’. Many of us are going on vacation, enjoying […]Read more
八月要做的事 – 您的稅務清單
August 2, 2024在北半球，八月通常被稱為「暑假」。我們許多人都會去度假、享受陽光和充分的休息。但南半球的人則處於冬季之中，仍然非常忙碌。可悲的是，度假並不代表法規也會讓您放假 – 期限就是期限，如果您因為員工放假而錯過截止日，那麼您將無法獲得任何幫助。 因此，如果您想保持領先，以下是您在八月份需要做的事情。 準備您的美國報稅表 信不信由您，現在是時候開始準備1042表單的美國報稅表了。大多數QI和NQI早在一月或二月就已申請展延，這表示您的展延截止日期將會在9月14日。但等到最後一分鐘才準備妥當，絕對不是一個好主意。 您的1042表將需要與您自己所有的1042-S和您提交的任何修訂，還有您從交易對手收到的上游1042-S的總和進行比對。如果您是非預扣式QI，您不需要填寫方格1-59，這可以讓您鬆口氣！相對地，您只需要將總數填入方格59和60。但如果您是預扣式QI，則需要填寫方格1-59。但請記住，每個方格中的金額應與納稅義務期間相符，而不一定與您向美國財政部繳納時的時間相符。 別擔心，這並不像聽起來那麼可怕！感謝新成立的合格與授權中介機構協會(Association of Qualified and Authorised Intermediaries, AQAI)的努力，您今年的1042表不需要電子化。它仍然可以用紙本來完成 – 您只需要確保您得到正確的地址，並且非常確定您以掛號方式寄送。如果IRS說他們沒有收到(這已經發生過好幾次)，您就需要能夠證明寄送的情況以避免問題。這可能而且確實讓不少公司陷入困境。 我們最近遇到一家微型QI公司，他們無法證明自己寄出1042表單。IRS拒絕收件，然後又拒絕了他們定期審查豁免的請求。所以現在他們有6個月的時間完成定期審查並做認證。這都是因為他們沒有郵資證明！這是一個如此簡單的錯誤，但對於微型QI來說，成本加起來很容易就超過他們徵收的稅款。 還有一點關於1042報稅表的注意事項。如果有人幫您準備1042，而且他們已獲得報酬，那麼他們將需要有IRS核發的PTIN，而且必須顯示在1042表第一頁的下方。 準備W-8更新 您需要做的另一件大事是開始計劃更新所有到期的W-8。大多數公司都知道，這些表格的有效期為三年，從簽署的那年年底算起。這表示所有在2021年簽署的W-8將於2024年12月31日到期。如果您像許多公司一樣，使用這些W-8來收集FATCA狀態和租稅協定優惠申請，那麼更新程序就非常重要，並可能佔用大量資源。尤其是，如果W-8申報了協定優惠，而客戶沒有續期，您就需要將他們的稅率從較低的協定稅率變更為法定的30%。對於QI而言，這需要將他們的資產轉入不同的稅率池帳戶，這對您來說並不理想。您的客戶可能也會相當不高興！因此，如果您打算在9月進行更新，您最好在8月之前就制定好計劃。 […]Read more
誰想成為責任長官?
July 29, 2024究竟什麼是責任長官? 線索其實就在名稱裡。是公司的「長官」(通常是董事)，且他們必須「負責」。 當然，這不能說明什麼，不是嗎？ 當談到FATCA和QI法規時，QI和FFI協議已清楚界定這些人員的職責，法規本身也有直接引用。 重要的是要記住這不是遊戲。這些都是具有法律約束力的合約義務，貴公司必須對其負責，而您作為指定的責任長官(Responsible Officer，簡稱RO)，是貴公司指定代表公司承擔這些義務的人。 這兩個框架也是反逃稅法規的一部份，所以您不能將這些推給下一層人員。QI和FFI協議規定公司有義務指派RO，這些協議也定義了應報告的違規事項，根據我們的經驗，這些事項通常是重大缺失和違約事件。所以問題來了，您是擔任這個角色的適當人選嗎? 授權(authority)的重要性 令人驚訝的是，許多金融公司並未掌握責任長官這個職位的重要性，而更令人驚訝的是，我們遇過的許多責任長官實際上並不符合責任的標準。因此，讓我們來回顧一下。 責任長官的標準被描述為擁有「足夠權限」執行組織合約條款的人。這不能委託給其他人的另一個原因，也是為什麼責任長官通常是董事，或至少是部門主管。但這裡有一個問題，那就是大多數金融公司在某種程度上都是各自為政。他們的管理結構只會在組織的最高層會面，說得直白一點，最高層的人可能知道大局，但他們對營運層面上發生的事情知之甚少。執行層級的人員也是各自為政，這意味著他們通常知道自己部門發生了什麼事，但可能不瞭解為什麼要求他們做某事，而且對具體的QI或FATCA法規知之甚少或完全不瞭解。他們對企業其他地方的情況也了解有限，當然也沒有權限！ IRS對此的解決方案不是根本解決問題 – 而是在合約中讓責任長官承擔責任。 例如，在QI合約中，營運週期包含4個部份： 記錄帳戶持有人 – 這影響到客戶開戶、年度帳戶審查和KYC。 預扣稅款 – […]Read more
