Bank Accounts To Be Blocked If Not Self-Certified By April 30. What To Do

Bank Accounts To Be Blocked If Not Self-Certified By April 30. What To Do

Bank accounts opened between July 1, 2014 and August 31, 2015 need to submit self-certification by April 30 to comply with FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) provisions, without which the accounts would be blocked, the income tax department said. “The account holders may be informed that, in case self-certifications are not provided till April 30, 2017, the accounts would be blocked, which would mean that the financial institution would prohibit the account holder from effecting any transaction with respect to such accounts,” the Central Board of Direct Taxes or CBDT said in a statement.

Here are 10 things to know:

1) FATCA allows automatic exchange of financial information between India and the US.

2) India had entered into an agreement with the United States for implementation of the Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) with effect from August 31, 2015.

3) Investors are required to provide details such as country of tax residence, tax identification number from such country, country of birth, country of citizenship etc.

4) If the accounts are blocked due to lack of self-certification, then transactions by the account holder in such blocked accounts will be permitted once the self-certification is obtained and due diligence is completed, the tax department said.

5) Earlier, the financial institutions had to obtain self-certification from account holders by August 31, 2016, in respect of all individual and entity accounts opened from July 1, 2014-August 31, 2015.

6) Mutual funds and other financial institutions had also asked customers to comply with the new norms.

7) In view of the difficulties faced by stakeholders, the tax department had on August 31, 2016, extended the deadline for complying with self-certification norms.

8) The financial institutions were advised to continue to work on completing the required due diligence, including obtaining self-certifications.

9) The purpose of FATCA is aimed at ensuring that individuals pay tax on income generated from their wealth parked overseas.

10) FATCA obliges such banks and financial institutions to report such information about citizens having accounts with them.

Source: NDTV