The Commissioner for Revenue has published today a unified set of guidelines on automatic exchange of financial account information here. These guidelines incorporate further clarifications and salient changes which include:
- A clarification on entity classification pertaining to Cell Companies in line with the previous determinations issued by the Commissioner for Revenue.
- The elimination of Holding and Treasury Company FI in FATCA. In this regard, Holding and Treasury Companies of FIs which do not fall within the definition of a Financial Institution are no longer deemed as Financial Institutions.
- Clarification on Distributed Ledger Technology Assets to align it with the Guidelines issued by the Commissioner for Revenue on this matter for tax purposes.
- More complete notes on Registration and Modifications of Domestic Registrations and the introduction of guidance on the cancellation of domestic registration and GIIN.
- Clarifications on reporting obligations pertaining to structures with underlying structures which do not have a separate legal personality.
- The definition of Passive Income has been aligned in its entirety with the Income Tax Act to ensure more certainty.
- Current CBI / RBI Guidelines will be extended to FATCA.
- Changes in deadlines limited to the “Excel Spreadsheet” Submissions.
- Detailed Guidelines on the Completion of Data Elements.
- Updated information on Recalcitrant Accounts / Undocumented Accounts.