Q: Are all Thai commercial banks complying with FATCA?
A: Yes, all Thai commercial banks are FATCA compliant banks. They have entered into agreements to comply with FATCA, and will collect information from 1 July 2014 onwards which support identification of customers’ as either U.S. individuals or U.S. owned juristic status.
Q: Why do Thai individuals or juristic customers have to complete a self-identification questionnaire?
A: Under FATCA, from 1 July 2014, banks must conduct identification due diligence on all customers executing certain types of transactions with them, (e.g. opening a new deposit account, purchasing investment units, fund units or certain life insurance policies, etc.,) to determine if the customer is a U.S. person or an entity owned, either directly or indirectly, by U.S. person, based on certain indications of U.S. status. To help facilitate this process, Thai commercial banks have jointly created a standardized self-certification questionnaire for customers to confirm their FATCA status. A U.S. person status is not determined merely by U.S. citizenship. Customers may have other indications of U.S. status, such as U.S. place of birth, U.S. address, etc.
Q: What are the indications of potential U.S. status?
A: Under FATCA, the indications of potential U.S. status include:
For individuals
- U.S. citizenship, U.S. place of birth, U.S. permanent residence (i.e., green-card);
- a current residence or contact address in the U.S.;
- a U.S. telephone number;
- a power of attorney authorizing other persons with U.S. residence to handle accounts on the individual’s behalf;
- a temporary residence in the U.S. or having been present in the U.S.A. for more than 183 days.
For juristic entities
- a place of incorporation in one of the States of the U.S.;
- being a U.S. related company with U.S. shareholders owning shares, either directly or indirectly, in excess of 10 percent
Q: What is the required action if customers who are U.S. persons or appear to be U.S. persons wish to enter into financial transactions?
A: Customers will be requested to complete any of the following self-identification form:
- Form W-9 to verity their U.S. individual or juristic status and identify their Tax Identification Number (TIN);
- Form W-8BEN to verify their non-U.S. individual status, together with supporting documents; or
- Form W-8BEN-E to verify their non-U.S. juristic status, together with supporting document.
Q: Will the banks impose withholding tax on U.S. individuals or juristic customers on behalf of the IRS?
A: If U.S. individuals or U.S. owned juristic customers cooperate and comply with the FATCA requirements, the banks will have no duty to withhold tax on behalf of the IRS but will merely compile and report information on these accounts and financial transactions to the IRS.
Q: Are the banks required to report information of all customers to the IRS? What is the schedule of such report?
A: The banks will report information of their U.S. individual or juristic customers only, such as account names, addresses, TINs, account numbers, account balances, etc. This report is made on an annual basis.
* The banks reserve the right to request additional documents from customers and/or to comply with their agreements with customers who open an account.
* This document is intended only to provide information to customers of financial institutions and commercial banks, and is not advice or an offer of any advice on the U.S. taxation law. Should you have any questions relating to such law, please seek advice from your professional tax adviser or obtain additional information on
www.irs.gov/FATCA