Tax reporting

• FATCA stands for the ‘Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act’ and was introduced by the United States’ Department of Treasury and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in 2010, which later came into force in 2014. The UK, Isle of Man and Jersey agreed via Intergovernmental Agreements (‘IGAs’) to report account information of US Persons to the US authorities designed to encourage better tax compliance by preventing US persons from using banks and other financial institutions to evade tax on their overseas income and assets.
• For Nedbank Private Wealth to remain compliant with FATCA, there is a requirement to provide all the relevant client or entity data to the respective tax authority in which an account is held.

• CRS is a global standard proposed by the OECD in 2014. Countries around the world came together and agreed to exchange tax information to prevent individuals and entities from using banks and other financial institutions to evade taxation on their income and assets.
• The purpose of CRS is to share account information about taxpayers holding assets and monies offshore with their tax authority.
• Approximately 100 jurisdictions around the world signed up to CRS. Nedbank Private Wealth is subject to the FATCA and CRS across the jurisdictions that we operate in and are therefore under a legal obligation to report financial account information to the local tax authorities.
• Nedbank Private Wealth is to committed to the tax transparency measures and will fully comply with the local regulations.

• Our clients are directly impacted because they need to provide the required tax related information to us in accordance with the FATCA and CRS regulations.
• We are also required to obtain all client information as described in the FATCA and CRS regulations. This is required for all client types including individuals and entities.
• We are legally required to report all reportable accounts to our local tax authority to ensure we are compliant with the FATCA and CRS requirements.

• We will request information or documentation from you in the following circumstances:
  • As part of the onboarding (account opening) process if you are a new client.
  • If you are an existing client of Nedbank Private Wealth for whom we do not currently have the necessary information.
  • If you are an existing client and there is a change of circumstance on your account(s), which may indicate a change in your status for FATCA and CRS reporting purposes.
    • Essentially, a change in circumstance refers to any change that results in the addition or alteration of client information or changes to controlling person information linked to that client.
  • If you have closed your account during the current year, we will still be required to confirm whether your account is reportable for FATCA and CRS purposes and its details need to be included in the Nedbank Private Wealth FATCA and CRS submission to the tax authorities for that period.

• We wish to assure our clients of our continued service and support. Should you have any questions, please contact your private banker or alternatively, you can email our dedicated tax reporting inbox – [email protected]

• We are required by law to obtain the required information and/or documentation from our clients. We will try to assist you, although our employees are not tax advisers and will not be able to provide tax advice. For this you may wish to consult an independent tax adviser.

• Nedbank Private Wealth will ask you to confirm your FATCA and CRS status through the completion of a self-certification form and an IRS ‘W’ series form where applicable.

• Some clients may have to complete a form for each relationship type. In other words, some clients will self-certify in
  • their individual capacity;
  • their capacity as a controlling person, e.g. a guardian of a minor’s account; or
  • as a controlling person of a legal entity, e.g. a trustee of a trust, shareholder of a company.

Please note: If you do not self-certify, we may be required, under the regulations, to report a non-compliant or uncooperative client to the tax authorities. This may result in further action being taken against you by your tax authority. We will also continue to monitor any non-compliance by our clients and where required take appropriate steps to ensure that Nedbank Private Wealth is not being used for tax evasion purposes.