Island eighth on Fatca list

The local registrations as 'foreign financial institutions' for the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act far outstrip those made in Jersey and the Isle of Man to date and are part of 77,000 made worldwide by 23 May. In terms of number of registrations, the island ranks eighth worldwide.

'These statistics show that Guernsey is taking Fatca very seriously,' said Deloitte tax partner Jo Huxtable, pictured.

'This is the first stage but this shows that businesses understand what Fatca means and that many of them have taken action.

'It wasn't necessary to be on this list to demonstrate compliance, but obviously Guernsey businesses are being proactive and taking the regime seriously.'

The deadline for registration is the end of the year. Entities in an IGA jurisdiction (including Guernsey, Isle of Man and Jersey) are required to have a registration code by 1 January 2015.

The IRS has indicated that registration would be required by 22 December to be guaranteed to be on the IRS list by 1 January.

'It could be that some people are just holding back, waiting for the guidance notes to be finalised, and it might be that they continue to wait until they are final. But people are realising that they cannot put it off much longer.'

Foreign financial institutions are defined as non-US entities that accept deposits, hold financial assets for others, or are engaged in investing or trading. Both financial and non-financial firms can be caught within the definition.

Due to its breadth, Fatca impacts virtually all non-US entities, directly or indirectly, receiving most types of US source income.