The IRS has just released Notice 2013-43 and, here we go again, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) implementation guidelines have again been revised. Let's take a brief look at what this means for you.

First, and for those of you still catching up, note that FATCA and the new Chapter 4 added to the Internal Revenue Code requires withholding agents to withhold 30 percent of certain payments to a foreign financial institution (FFI) unless the FFI has entered into an agreement (FFI agreement) with the IRS to, among other things, report certain information with respect to U.S. accounts. Chapter 4 also imposes on withholding agents (meaning your organization - and yes that means non-financial institutions as well) certain withholding documentation, and reporting requirements with respect to certain payments made to certain non-financial foreign entities (NFFEs).

In January of this year the IRS published the final regulations (TD 9610) implementing the new law and laying out the timelines of effective due diligence and compliance dates (including those applying to bilateral agreements between the U.S. and other jurisdictions) - with most such requirements phased in beginning on January 1, 2014.

Needless to say there has been quite a bit of push back from the information reporting community. As a result the IRS is now amending the final regulations to postpone by six months the start of FATCA withholding, and to make corresponding adjustments to various other time frames provided in the final regulations.

If you are a TIR Answer Center subscriber please feel free to log in for a more detailed analysis of what these new due dates and requirements are, and how they will impact your organization.

If you are not a current subscriber then please note that if you subscribe there is an ongoing promotion ending on July 19th whereby you get a Free 2013 Form Compliance Guide and Non-Resident Alien Supplement (over 260 pages of updated guidance that includes a full breakdown of the recent changes to Forms W-8, 1042-S, and W-9 (thus saving you $350 off the price of buying these guides separately).