Standard Life | Update on FATCA
On February 5, 2014, Canada signed an inter-government agreement with the United States to comply with FATCA, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. The new legislation becomes effective July 1, 2014.
How does this new legislation affect my clients and my business?In accordance with the new legislation, financial institutions in Canada, like Standard Life, are required to enquire as to the US citizenship or US tax residency status of investors purchasing individual products. Only non-registered investment products apply to this legislation. As our point of contact with clients, you are required to confirm that you have seen documents that attest to a client’s status. How have Standard Life’s application forms changed?Applications will be updated to include a question related to this new legislation, asking clients their citizenship status for US tax purposes. New applications will be posted on Advisor Portal July 1, 2014. (Changes to the Standard Life Mutual Fund application were made for the launch of two new funds on May 26 but the application clearly states that the question is not to be answered until July 1, 2014.) What are the deadlines for using new applications?We can accept old applications for registered products until July 14, 2014. New application forms must be used for non-registered products beginning July 1, 2014. Here is the schedule for printed application forms:
What will happen if this question is not answered on the application?As a financial institution in Canada we are obliged to put a system in place that reports those investors who do not respond to the question. As our point of contact with clients, we will contact you first when this information is missing, however, eventually we will have to include a step to contact the client directly. Therefore, we ask that you respond as quickly as possible when we follow up for information regarding your client’s citizenship. Where can I get more information about FATCA?Here are sites that offer you more information about this new legislation. As a financial institution, we are not in a position to provide advice related to the legislation, but we encourage you to suggest that your clients who are affected by this legislation speak to a tax professional.
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