IRS Modifies FATCA FAQs to Address Trustee-Documented Trusts

The IRS updated its FATCA FAQs on the IRS website to explain how trustees of "trustee-documented trusts" are registered.Most Model 1 and Model 2 Intergovernmental Agreements under FATCA treat trusts with at least one trustee that is a Reporting U.S. Financial Institution, Reporting Model 1 Foreign Financial Institution ("FFI"), or participating FFI as certified deemed-compliant financial institutions, which means that the trust itself does not register under FATCA and the trustee is responsible for reporting all information with respect to U.S. reportable accounts of the trust. The new FAQ provides that trustees of such trusts should register under FATCA with the IRS using the same procedures as Sponsors registering as Sponsoring Entities. The FAQ further advises that, if the trustee is required to register itself based on its own FATCA status, it should do so with a separate registration and thus have two Global Intermediary Identification Numbers ("GIIN") – one for its own use and one as trustee of a trustee-documented trust. The FAQ makes clear that the trust itself does not register and does not get its own GIIN.

The full set of FATCA FAQs can be found on the FATCA page at www.irs.gov.

See: Updated IRS FATCA FAQs.
See also: Cabinet FATCA Materials (available to Cabinet subscribers only).

For more information, please contact Daniel Mulcahy and Mark Howe.