Ireland: FATCA Update
On Friday, 27 June 2014, the Irish Revenue Commissioners (in conjunction with the Department of Finance) finalised the relevant Regulations with respect to FATCA. These Regulations will come into operation on 1 July 2014.
As readers will be aware, the Irish and US Governments signed an intergovernmental agreement (“Irish IGA”) on 21 December 2012 with respect to FATCA and legislation was subsequently included in Finance Act 2013 for the implementation of the Irish IGA. The legislation (Section 891E of the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997 (“TCA 1997”)) specifically permitted Regulations to be made by the Irish Revenue with regard to the various requirements arising under the Irish IGA (such as, the potential registration, due diligence and reporting obligations that may arise).
A consultation period followed to ensure that relevant stakeholders would have an opportunity to review / comment on the draft Regulations and Guidance Notes as issued by the Irish Revenue. In this regard, draft Regulations and Guidance Notes were initially issued on 3 May 2013 with revised drafts of same following on 16 January 2014.
The consultation period has now ended with the Irish Revenue making final Regulations – S.I. No. 292 of 2014. These Regulations come into operation tomorrow, 1 July 2014.
These final Regulations along with the Irish IGA, Section 891E TCA 1997 and draft Guidance Notes set out the framework for Irish Financial Institutions to implement and comply with the provisions of FATCA.
While the Guidance Notes are still currently in draft, it is envisaged that these will also to be finalised in the near future.
