The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) was enacted by the US to target non-compliance with US tax laws by US persons using non-US accounts. FATCA requires Financial Institutions (FI) outside the US to report on the assets held by their US account holders or be subject to withholding tax on certain payments. Singapore has entered into an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with the US to facilitate the FATCA obligations of FIs in Singapore, and has been reporting financial account information to the US since 2015.
If you are a Reporting Singapore Financial Institution (SGFI), you will have to register for FATCA with IRAS. You are required to conduct due diligence on all US Financial Accounts you maintain and report the relevant account information in a timely and accurate manner to IRAS in an annual return.
If you are an individual holding an account with a Reporting SGFI, you may be affected by FATCA in several ways. You may refer to the Basic information for account holders of Financial Institutions for more information.
FATCA Overview
FATCA was enacted by the US in March 2010 to target non-compliance with US tax laws by US persons using accounts outside the US. FATCA requires all FIs outside the US to report, on a regular basis, information about Financial Accounts held by US persons to the US IRS. FIs that fail to comply will face a 30% FATCA-related withholding tax on certain payments made from the US to them.
Singapore entered into a Model 1 IGA with the US to facilitate the discharge of SGFIs’ obligations arising under FATCA. Under the Agreement, instead of having to report financial account information of US persons directly with the US, reporting SGFIs will benefit from simplified compliance procedures and will instead report such account information to IRAS. IRAS will subsequently provide the reported information to the US Internal Revenue Service (“US IRS”).
In Singapore, the FATCA Regulations in the Income Tax Act requires and empowers all reporting SGFIs to put in place necessary processes and systems to collect such financial account information from their US account holders to IRAS.
What’s New
| Date | What's new |
|---|---|
| 18 October 2024 | IRAS has introduced a new function within the “View CRS/FATCA Return Status” Digital Service in myTax Portal to allow RSGFIs to download the error listing details of their submitted return that was accepted with error or rejected by IRAS. Please refer to the AEOI Digital Services webpage and the View CRS/FATCA Return Status Digital Service User Guide (PDF, 630KB) for more details |
| 18 October 2024 | Updated FATCA Fillable PDF Form Reporting SGFIs that intend to submit their FATCA returns using Fillable PDF forms must use the FATCA Fillable PDF Form Version (PDF, 385KB) with effect from 16 Oct 2024. |
| 8 October 2024 | IRAS FATCA File and Record Level Validations (PDF, 260KB) document updated:
|
| 21 June 2024 | IRAS FAQs on FATCA (PDF, 508KB) document updated: FAQ B.8 has been updated to remind Reporting SGFIs to follow the procedures specified in sections 3.02, 3.03 and 3.04 of the U.S. IRS’ Notice 2023-11, which was released in January 2023, so as not to be treated as in significant non-compliance with its FATCA obligations by the U.S. Competent Authority. |
| 6 May 2024 | FATCA Return Filing for Reporting Year 2023 All Reporting SGFIs must submit their FATCA return(s) to IRAS, setting out the required information in relation to every US Reportable Account that was maintained in calendar year 2023, by 31 May 2024. Please submit your FATCA return early so that you have time to resolve any unexpected issues during the submission process. Enforcement actions will be taken against Reporting SGFIs that do not submit their FATCA returns on time. Please refer to the FATCA Filing webpage for more information. |
| 15 March 2023 | Instructions for reporting the Taxpayer Identification Number (“TIN”) data of preexisting accounts that are US Reportable Accounts and the US TIN of the US Person is not available for Reporting Years 2022, 2023 and 2024 The Foreign Financial Institution Temporary U.S. Taxpayer Identification Number Relief (“Notice 2023-11” (PDF, 69KB)), issued by the US Internal Revenue Service in January 2023, provides temporary relief procedures for Reporting SGFIs to follow if they fail to obtain and report the required US TIN of US Persons of preexisting accounts that are US Reportable Accounts for Reporting Years 2022, 2023 and 2024. Where Reporting SGFIs maintain preexisting accounts that are US Reportable Accounts without the required US TIN of the US Persons, and the Reporting SGFIs fulfil the 4 conditions stated in Section 3.03 of Notice 2023-11, they should insert the relevant TIN codes for each US Account Holder or Controlling Person whose required US TIN is not available when they report such accounts to IRAS for Reporting Years 2022, 2023 and 2024. Reporting Year 2022 is considered to be a transition year, and to be eligible for relief, Reporting SGFIs must either use the TIN codes issued as per FAQ No. B.5 and B.6 of the IRAS FAQs on FATCA (PDF, 450KB) or the updated TIN codes. For Reporting Years 2023 and 2024, Reporting SGFIs must use the updated TIN codes that identify features of these accounts that may explain why the Reporting SGFI cannot report a U.S. TIN. Please refer to FAQ No. B.8 of the IRAS FAQs on FATCA (PDF, 450KB) and the updated IRAS Supplementary XML User Guide for Preparing the FATCA Reporting Data File ("Supplementary Guide") (PDF, 255KB) documents for more information on the updated TIN field code and related scenarios. |
You may refer to past updates at FATCA Update History.
- FATCA Registration – Register as a Reporting SGFI
- FATCA Filing – File annual returns or nil returns to IRAS by 31 May
- FATCA Compliance – Ensure completeness and accuracy when collecting the required information on account holders
FATCA Resources
FATCA Domestic Legislation
The domestic legislative provisions to implement the FATCA are set out at:
- Part 20B of the Income Tax Act 1947 – International Agreements to Improve Tax Compliance. This contains the enabling provisions to implement the FATCA in Singapore; and
- Income Tax (International Tax Compliance Agreements)(United States of America) Regulations 2015 ("FATCA Regulations 2015"). This incorporates the requirements of the 2014 FATCA Model 1 IGA (PDF, 495KB), signed by Singapore and the US, into Singapore’s domestic legislative framework. These regulations entered into force on 18 March 2015 are relevant for reporting years before 2021.
- Income Tax (International Tax Compliance Agreements)(United States of America) Regulations 2020 ("FATCA Regulations (2020)"). This incorporates the requirements of the 2018 reciprocal FATCA Model 1 IGA (PDF, 430KB), signed by Singapore and the US, into Singapore’s domestic legislative framework. These regulations entered into force on 1 January 2021 and are relevant for reporting years 2021 and beyond.
IRAS E-Tax Guide and FAQs
Please click on the following links for:
- IRAS FATCA FAQs (PDF, 484KB)
- IRAS FATCA e-Tax Guide (PDF, 1,168KB)