Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is United States legislation passed in March 2010. It requires non-US financial institutions to provide reports to the US regarding their customers who are ‘US persons’ for US tax purposes and who hold accounts with the financial institution. US financial institutions will also have separate reporting obligations.

Please note

The UK and US Governments have entered into a reciprocal agreement, under which Ulster Bank will report US customers to their local tax authority and not directly to the US IRS. The local tax authority is responsible for sharing this information with the IRS and the bank will play no part in this process.

Each year financial institutions must report information on all financial accounts (for example, current accounts, savings accounts, deposit accounts, custodial account, certain insurance policies and interests in investment funds) held directly or indirectly by ‘US persons’. As a result Ulster Bank will review its customers, to ensure all accounts are correctly identified and reported, where required.

Ulster Bank must review its customers, to ensure all accounts are correctly identified and reported, where required. This is because under FATCA, financial institutions must each year, report information on all financial accounts (for example, current accounts, savings accounts, deposit accounts, custodial accounts, certain insurance policies and interests in investment funds) held directly or indirectly by ‘US persons’.

Rest assured that being classified a ‘US person’ will not affect your day-to-day banking service, but will help us identify customers whose account details may need to be shared with their local tax authority. If you are identified as a 'US person' we will write to you for self-certification.

If you’re an existing Ulster Bank customer, you may need to provide specific documentation, so we can apply the right FATCA classification to your accounts. If you are classified as a ‘US person’, we will be required to report information about you and your accounts to your local tax authority, every year.

Please note that Ulster Bank cannot offer any tax advice about FATCA, and we recommend you contact a professional and tax advisor to discuss your personal tax situation.

If your entity is classified as a ‘US tax person’ for tax purposes, we must pass on details of the entity’s account(s) to the relevant tax authority.

The UK Crown Dependencies (Jersey, Guernsey and Isle of Man) and British Overseas Territories (Gibraltar) have all agreed to share tax information with the UK government. This will allow for the automatic exchange of tax information for UK taxpayers.

As part of the agreement, Ulster Bank must write to certain customers who are or have been resident in Gibraltar or the Crown Dependencies for tax purposes. We’ll write with another reminder in 2016.