Malta:FATCA Reporting Deadline Extended Again
The Maltese Commissioner for Revenue has announced a further extension in relation to the deadline on reporting for FATCA purposes from 15 June 2015 to 3 July 2015.
The FATCA reporting deadline in Malta is normally 30 April. The Commissioner has confirmed that this exception will apply for reporting in 2015 only (i.e. information for calendar year 2014).
The FATCA Agreement between Malta and the United States was signed on 16 December 2013 and entered into force on 26 June 2014.
FATCA seeks to obtain information on accounts held by U.S. taxpayers in other countries. It requires U.S. financial institutions to withhold a portion of certain payments made to Foreign Financial Institutions (FFIs) who do not agree to identify and report information on U.S. account holders. Governments have the option of permitting their FFIs to enter into agreements directly with the IRS to comply with FATCA under U.S. Treasury Regulations or to implement FATCA by entering into one of two alternative Model IGAs with the United States.
More specifically, Malta and the United States signed a Model 1 Agreement. Under this agreement, FFIs in Malta will report the information required under FATCA about U.S. accounts to the Maltese Government, which in turn will report the information to the IRS. This agreement is reciprocal, meaning that the United States will also provide similar tax information to the Maltese Government regarding individuals and entities from Malta with accounts in the United States.
