Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is a United States (US) federal law. FATCA targets tax non-compliance by U.S. taxpayers with foreign accounts and the objective is the reporting of foreign financial assets.
The Republic of Cyprus and the US concluded an agreement to improve international tax compliance, which came into force in December 2014. The Republic of Cyprus agrees to report to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) specified information about the U.S. accounts maintained by all relevant (foreign) Financial Institution (FFIs) located in the Republic of Cyprus.
Ancoria Bank, being an FFI, complies fully with the provisions of FATCA. Therefore, Ancoria Bank:
- Has registered with the IRS and has been assigned the following Global Intermediary Identification Number (GIIN) LQGM40.99999.SL.196
- Identifies U.S. accounts pursuant to due diligence rules
- Reports specified information about their U.S. accounts to Cyprus tax authorities, which in turn, reports such information to the IRS on an automatic basis
Common Reporting Standard
The Common Reporting Standard (CRS), formally referred to as the Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information and approved by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Council on July 2014, calls on jurisdictions to obtain information from their financial institutions and automatically exchange that information with other jurisdictions on an annual basis. It sets out the financial account information to be exchanged, the financial institutions required to report, the different types of accounts and taxpayers covered, as well as common due diligence procedures to be followed by financial institutions.
The Republic of Cyprus has entered into a Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) to improve international tax compliance by further building on the relationship with respect to mutual assistance in tax matters. The MCAA is a multilateral framework agreement that provides a standardised and efficient mechanism to facilitate the automatic exchange of information in accordance with the Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Information in Tax Matters (“the Standard”). Financial Institutions are required to report information regarding certain accounts and follow related due diligence procedures.
Ancoria Bank complies fully with the CRS. Therefore, Ancoria Bank follows due diligence rules to collect financial information that underpin the automatic exchange. Such information is reported to Cyprus tax authorities, which in turn, reports such information to other local tax authorities.
