Asked to confirm tax residency by my bank

meer53

GingerBob wrote: »

It's a funny thing - it only happens when I read about the low-down antics of banks, insurance companies, credit reference agencies, TV Licensing, the DVLA, private parking companies, local government and various other blagging organisations.

There is a really simple solution, stop reading posts on an internet forum about all of the above. You really are quite tedious.

meer53

diamonds wrote: »

"not applicable - no changes"

No changes to what ? They're asking because they don't have the information.

diamonds

agrinnall wrote: »

So "english" is your prime and your "forth" (sic) language? No wonder it's hard work to comprehend what you write sometimes.

Go get some legal training then...dont fault others for doing it

diamonds

meer53 wrote: »

No changes to what ? They're asking because they don't have the information.

No changes to held information by bank.

Ballard

diamonds wrote: »

No changes to held information by bank.

They didn't ask for the information previously so they don't know whether or not you are liable to foreign tax. Saying 'no change' does not tell them what they need to know. HSBC will require customers to actively tell them that they have no obligations to overseas tax authorities.

This is not a way for HSBC (or any other bank) to sell you anything. They are merely complying with the regulations as they stand. The regulations will have changed over the years. For new customers the information is gathered at account opening time. Some existing customers wouldn't have been asked when they opened their accounts as it wasn't a requirement at the time.

Despite likely protestations to the contrary from some posters, this isn't something that the banks are looking forward to. Believe it or not it's an expensive exercise and they get nothing out of it.

DevCoder

diamonds wrote: »

No changes to held information by bank.

Information they don't have, they don't have a valid self certification of your tax status.

The bank is not allowed to certificate on your behalf. You must provide the required information and sign it.

Its just an extension of the old W8,W8-BEN, W8-IMY and W9 tax certification forms.

It takes minutes to complete, the most complex part is understanding if you are an active or passive NFFE if you are a shareholder (of a share property company for example) but even this is straightforward with the various flow diagrams out there.

DevCoder

As Ballard says, the administrative headache/cost is immense and the implications of having clients failing to comply means they will have very little choice other than to close their account of mark them as "recalcitrant" (in effect bad guys).

This fatca/crs/aeoi requirement is not enforced by the bank, its enforced by the tax offices of the various governments. /the requirement is a complete PITA for banks.

diamonds

Ballard wrote: »

They didn't ask for the information previously so they don't know whether or not you are liable to foreign tax. Saying 'no change' does not tell them what they need to know. HSBC will require customers to actively tell them that they have no obligations to overseas tax authorities.

This is not a way for HSBC (or any other bank) to sell you anything. They are merely complying with the regulations as they stand. The regulations will have changed over the years. For new customers the information is gathered at account opening time. Some existing customers wouldn't have been asked when they opened their accounts as it wasn't a requirement at the time.

Despite likely protestations to the contrary from some posters, this isn't something that the banks are looking forward to. Believe it or not it's an expensive exercise and they get nothing out of it.

Incorrect, they get to trade in USA.

diamonds

krisdorey wrote: »

Information they don't have, they don't have a valid self certification of your tax status.

The bank is not allowed to certificate on your behalf. You must provide the required information and sign it.

Its just an extension of the old W8,W8-BEN, W8-IMY and W9 tax certification forms.

It takes minutes to complete, the most complex part is understanding if you are an active or passive NFFE if you are a shareholder (of a share property company for example) but even this is straightforward with the various flow diagrams out there.

No change to USA/IRS status as when such account was opened.

Declaring no change states your records are upto date, ie nothing to declare, not a USA anything.

diamonds

krisdorey wrote: »

As Ballard says, the administrative headache/cost is immense and the implications of having clients failing to comply means they will have very little choice other than to close their account of mark them as "recalcitrant" (in effect bad guys).

This fatca/crs/aeoi requirement is not enforced by the bank, its enforced by the tax offices of the various governments. /the requirement is a complete PITA for banks.

The bank can ask HMRC if it wants the info of your tax status.