US Withholding Tax Practical Implications of QI and FATCA

The US QI and FATCA regulations came into being in 2001 and 2010 respectively. They remain today the most challenging cross border tax regulations for financial institutions to comply with and operationalise. There is an increasing trend for financial institutions to become QIs while at the same time, the rules of the QI program become more complex and onerous. Equally, most NQIs have little idea that they are subject to these extra-territorial regulations. The US FATCA anti-tax evasion framework has also evolved through the development of intergovernmental agreements. These are complex and bilaterally jurisdiction specific as well as of multiple types. Most firms are struggling to understand the concepts and how FATCA rules overlap and are affected by QI rules. The original book on this subject by the author continues to be the only book able to explain these regulations in ways that allow financial institutions to understand their compliance obligations and take practical steps to meet them, by hearing about best practice.

This second edition builds on the basic framework of the QI and FATCA frameworks by updating the text to encompass the changes that have occurred since the book’s original publication. This edition will also delete material that has become obsolete or was proposed by the IRS originally but never implemented.

Introduction.- Part I The QI Regulations.- 1. Principles of IRC Code Chapter 3 - 2. Contracts: The QI Agreement—With Commentary.- 3. Documentation.- 4. Withholding and Depositing Tax.- 5. Information Reporting and Tax Returns.- 6. Control and Oversight .- 7. Penalties.- 8. Issues for Non-qualified Intermediaries.- 9. 871(m) and QDD.- PART II FATCA.- 10. An Introduction to FATCA.- 11. Principles of FATCA.- 12. Due Diligence.- 13. Simplifying FATCA.- 14. FATCA Withholding.- 15. Reporting.- PART III: Related Global Tax Initiatives.- 16. International Context.- 17. Conclusions.- 18. Further Reading.

Ross McGill is a well-known author of nine books on international withholding tax and associated regulation as well as anti-tax evasion frameworks (GATCA). McGill sits on several international tax related committees including ISO20022 Securities Evaluation Group. He was an Expert Witness to the European Commission FISCO Group in 2012 and a member of, and editor of, the European Commission Tax Barriers Business Advisory Group Report on in 2013. He has been nominated by multiple financial institutions on two occasions for membership of the US ETAAC and IRPAC tax committees. McGill is Chairman of TConsult Ltd, a specialist consultancy with clients in 15 countries, specialising in providing operational opinion on regulatory compliance to QI, FATCA, AEoI, CRS, MiFID II, GDPR and BEPS amongst others. McGill speaks regularly at conferences including The Network Forum events in Asia, Europe and Africa and has written numerous thought leadership articles for Tax Notes International, theInternational Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD) amongst others.