FATCA (metro)

meer53

Whats the issue with filling it in and send it back ? Not caring could lead to your account being closed. All banks ask for this info now, i can't see why you don't do what they ask. Unless you have something to hide ?

LittleVoice

meer53 wrote: »

Whats the issue with filling it in and send it back ? Not caring could lead to your account being closed. All banks ask for this info now, i can't see why you don't do what they ask. Unless you have something to hide ?

Nothing to hide - UK resident only.


My issue was in being asked to provide additional information which no other financial institution has requested in this way


If they need the information and an undertaking that I will tell them of any change within 30 days, then why didn't they include it in the standard sign-up paperwork when I opened the current account towards the end of 2014? FATCA was effective before then. If, as they say, "all banks" are now required by law to collect this information on all customers, why don't they do so in the same way as other banks must be doing? (Answer: they like to be different.)


They have certainly made it easy enough with various ways of responding - in branch, by post or by scanning & submitting by email (and we all know how secure email is).


I opened the account in the first place simply as a back-up in case my Clarity card was declined when abroad (for a short holiday, not when a resident). It hasn't needed to be used in that way and I haven't been overly impressed by them in any event, so closing the account would be no great loss and I may do so myself to simplify things. Of course they have not threatened to do so any way.


Their 7 June deadline seems to be a purely administrative one on their part and not required by law. Perhaps I am wrong on that.

Herbalus

LittleVoice wrote: »

Their 7 June deadline seems to be a purely administrative one on their part and not required by law. Perhaps I am wrong on that.

I believe there is a timescale required by the legislation, which presumably started when they first requested the documents.

You can't expect them to continue offering you banking services if you haven't complied with the (however stupid) legislation that is required for them to run your account. There has to be a cut off point.

You'll probably find your account is closed if you don't respond. That's how it works at another bank I know at least.

henm2

The same applies at HSBC. If the forms are not filled in and sent back it will end up with the account(s) being closed. Also the staff are not allowed to give advice on the filling in of the forms but just refer you to this http://fatca.hsbc.com/en/rbwm/uk

EdSwippet

For what it's worth, the UK rules on FATCA compliance allow banks a decent amount of leeway in how they ask customers to comply. At its simplest, a self-certification of 'no connection to the US' ought to suffice.

In particular there is no requirement for banks to use the IRS's own forms, and banks that direct their customers to a full-on W-8BEN, as HSBC and First Direct have done, are guaranteeing a terrible customer experience. All IRS forms and their accompanying instructions are written in IRS gobblydegook. The W-8BEN is no exception.

gfplux

FATCA has a number of Banks feeling very uncomfortable about any of their customers being a U.S. Tax person. The American Government can impose very large fines on Banks who the believe have aided and abetted any avoidance of US tax.
It can also restrict the entry to the USA of any (Bank) official who they think has been involved. This can be very scary as being arrested at a U.S. Port of entry probably would frighten us all.
I understand it is extremely difficult for any U.S. Person to open a Bank account in Europe now.

river_bank

The US tax their citizens and permanent residents on their worldwide income and has been cracking down on those people keeping funds abroad.

EdSwippet

river_bank wrote: »

The US tax their citizens and permanent residents on their worldwide income and has been cracking down on those people keeping funds abroad.

All well and good for US residents hiding funds outside the US, but what about US citizens who live and work full time outside the US?

All their accounts are given the full-on 'evil offshore account' treatment as if being used for money laundering. Yet in reality they are simply accounts at the bank down the road for these people, who use them for such nefarious purposes as paying the rent or mortgage, settling utility bills, buying groceries and the like. Of course these folk will be "keeping funds abroad".

Forcing UK banks to report (at their expense) to the US IRS on people who live and work full time in the UK, and who may well be UK citizens with only place of birth or parentage as a connection to the US, is gunboat diplomacy. No other country on earth demands anything so outrageous.

Man_on_fire

Heng_Leng wrote: »

We'll need to agree to differ - the people who often want assistance are in places like the Middle East where they pay no/little local tax but have no local rights.

Places such as the rest of the EU, Australia or Canada (where there are double taxation treaties) aren't really an issue as they pay local tax comparable to here and are stable.

You forget all the extra paperwork these people have to complete, so they have to do 2 self assessments, one for each government. Both with potential fines for errors. Even if no tax is due.

I doubt some how US citizens are signing forms in America saying they are not UK, or Eritrea, citizens

gfplux

Like many things in this world, the U.S. government have created a problem where one hardly existed. Hammer to crack a nut comes to mind.