The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act of the United States of America

FATCA

In March 2010, the United States Government (US) passed the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), which requires all foreign Financial Institutions (FFIs) around the world to identify and report certain information on US Account holders or US owned foreign entities to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) effective July 1, 2014. US account holders or ‘Specified US Persons’ may or may not be a primary account holder.

FATCA is a US tax law that is designed to prevent tax evasion and improve tax compliance of US taxpayers who earn income from investing in offshore investment vehicles and FFIs. As part of the Inter-Governmental Agreement (“IGA”) signed by the government of Jamaica and the US in May 2014, Jamaican FFIs are required to transmit information to the Tax Administration of Jamaica (TAJ) for onward submission of the information received to the US Internal Revenue Service. In signing the agreement, FFIs agree to:

adopt new account opening procedures to determine if the account holder is a US person or entity
Identify existing accounts owned by US taxpayers, and report on certain information about account holders with US $50,000 or its equivalent and above to the IRS on an annual basis.

The Term “Specified US Person/Entity” or person with US Indicia includes:

A Citizen of the United States (including a person born in the U.S., but resides in another country)
A U.S. lawful permanent resident status (including Green card holders, Passport holders)
“Tax residents” or persons who have stayed in the U.S. for 183 days or more
Entities formed under U.S. laws and Entities with 10% U.S. beneficial ownership
A person with a U.S. address and telephone number on file (including a U.S. P.O. Box)
Standing Instructions on file to transfer funds to an account maintained in the U.S.
An ‘In care of” address or a “hold mail” address is the sole address the FI has on file for the account holder
Power of Attorney or signatory authority granted to persons with U.S. addresses
Non resident aliens whom meet the substantial presence test.

The term “Certain Information” includes:

Member(s) Name
Mailing Address
US Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) of each specified US Person/Recalcitrant member (members who refuse to give us the relevant information/documentation to pass on)
Account Number
Account Balance/Value as at the end of the calendar year or immediately before closure if the account was closed during the calendar year, and
Income for the year (Gross Interest/dividends, and interest and other income credited to the account).

In order to align with the requirements of FATCA and the IGA, Cumax Limited will be making changes to the information and documentation that we collect to update our Customer database.

Cumax Limited values the relationship and trust we have with our clients.  We thank you for your continued support and for selecting us as your financial partner.

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