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Financial regulators, governments and banks across the world had made substantial changes to protect the long-term safety of both the financial system and your interests.
One of these regulations is the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), effective from 1 July 2014 that primarily aims to prevent tax evasion by US taxpayers using non-US financial institutions and offshore investment instruments.
The degree to which you will be affected will vary, depending on the type of accounts or products you hold with us, our branches and subsidiaries ("Hang Seng").
We, as a member of the HSBC Group, are committed to being fully FATCA compliant in all countries and regions where we operate. Though other banks and financial organisations will also be affected by the adoption of FATCA, their approach may differ to that of us.
To comply with the regulations, we may need to engage you from time to time to understand you better. To establish your FATCA status, we may need to obtain certain documents, including Hang Seng declarations and/or US tax forms (together with certain supplementary information, if any). If you have multiple relationships with us, you may be approached by different members or businesses of us. In light of laws or regulations in different countries and regions, we appreciate your response to all our requests to help us serve you better and capture your information accurately.
Please send the completed documents to: PO Box 11280, Central Post Office, Hong Kong; or hand them in to the team at your local branch.
Please read the information carefully and select the document that is appropriate to you. We cannot provide tax advice. If you are unsure, you should seek advice from a tax advisor.
FATCA stands for the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. It is a US legislation to prevent tax evasion by US taxpayers.
Introduced by the US Department of Treasury (Treasury) and the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the purpose of FATCA is to encourage better tax compliance by preventing US Persons (see glossary) from using financial organisations such as banks to avoid US taxation on their income and assets.
A significant number of countries and regions worldwide are expected to sign Inter-Governmental Agreements (IGAs) relating to FATCA compliance with the United States government. These IGAs will result in the FATCA legislation becoming part of these countries’ and territories' local laws (please refer to glossary for IGA definition).
Banks and other financial organisations will be required to report information on financial accounts held directly or indirectly by US Persons annually.
We have made a commitment to being fully FATCA-compliant in all countries and regions where we operate. Thus, we will be reviewing our customer base to confirm the FATCA status of our customers. Where necessary we may need to engage you from time to time to understand you better, such as requiring you to provide us with further information and documentation.
FATCA legislation will affect both personal and business customers who are treated as a 'US Person' for US tax purposes. The FATCA legislation will also affect certain types of businesses with US owners.
The term US Person includes the following (but is not limited to):
For more information regarding FATCA, please visit the IRS website or contact your tax professional.
The FATCA legislation became effective from 1 Jul 2014.
We are committed to becoming fully FATCA-compliant in all countries and regions where we operate according to the legislative timeline.
No. Other banks and financial organisations will also be affected. However their approach to ensuring compliance with FATCA may differ to that of us.
To comply with FATCA, we will:
In certain circumstances and where customers fail to provide the appropriate documentation or when doing business with non-compliant entities, we may be required to apply 30% US withholding tax on certain types of US income paid to such customers.
Please refer to the glossary for the definitions of US Persons, Foreign Financial Institutions, Non-Financial Foreign Entities and Withholding tax.
FATCA legislation will impact both personal customers/sole proprietorship and business customers who hold an account, policy or agreement with Hang Seng.
No. If you or your account hold any of the following criteria, we may engage you to establish your status as either a US Person or Non-US Person according to FATCA:
If you are considered a US Person (see glossary), we may need to engage you from time to time to understand you better. You may also wish to visit the IRS website to determine if you need to complete and submit any additional IRS forms.
If you are a specified US Person (see Glossary), we will be required to report information about you and your account to the local tax authority or the IRS on an annual basis.
We will correspond with affected customers in due course. For any detailed queries on the FATCA legislation, and what it may mean for you, please consult a professional tax and/or legal adviser for specific tax and/or legal advice.
For most customers, FATCA will have minimal impact, and there will be no action required. However, we may still engage you to establish your status as a non-US Person if we have reason to believe you are potentially a US Person for FATCA purposes.
If a change in circumstances makes any information on a certificate or other documentation for FATCA incorrect, then the person named on the certificate / documentation must inform us within 30 days of the change and provide a new certificate or documentary evidence.
FATCA does not replace the existing US tax regimes, it may however add additional requirements and complexity to the existing tax rules you may already follow. We recommend you contact a professional tax adviser to discuss your personal tax situation.
We will advise you of the FATCA documentation requirement. It may include US tax forms (also referred to as withholding certificates or W forms) or self-declarations of FATCA status. For the full list of documents required, please also refer to the IRS website.
A joint account which has one US Person is treated as a US account and therefore the entire account is subject to the FATCA legislation.
FATCA is an ongoing process. If your account information changes, we may need to engage you from time to time to help us understand you better including requiring you to provide us with further information and documentation so that we are able to update your account status under FATCA.
FATCA is an ongoing process. If any of your account information changes, e.g. change of telephone number, address or nationality etc., please inform Hang Seng within 30 days of the change and we may need to engage you in order to update your status under FATCA.
The information reported to the IRS or to the local tax authority will depend on your FATCA status. This information will typically be of a personal nature (for example, Name, Address, US Taxpayer Identification Number), and of a financial nature (e.g. Account number, Account balance/Value).
No. The impacts of FATCA are wider than just US companies. To identify customers which are reportable under FATCA, we will be reaching out to business customers globally to determine their status, and communicate with customers who need to take further action. The following criteria will be considered (but not limited to) to determine if you are a US Person under FATCA:
In order to establish your tax status under FATCA, we may need you to provide additional information/documentation. This documentation could be a Hang Seng declaration or a US tax form from the IRS. We will be communicating with affected customers the need to complete these documents, detailing when they will need to be completed by.
FATCA does not replace the existing US tax regimes, it may however add additional requirements and complexity to the existing tax rules you may already follow. Should you need further advice on your tax status or FATCA classification/status, you should contact a professional tax and/or legal adviser.
Banks and financial organisations may have different ways to collect customer information to confirm their tax status under FATCA. This may mean that in some instances we will collect documentation which is different than another bank. We cannot offer advice on your FATCA tax status or classification. If you need further support you should visit the IRS website or contact a professional tax adviser.
FATCA is an ongoing process. If your account information changes, we may need to engage you from time to time to help us understand you better including requiring you to provide us with further information and documentation so that we are able to update your account status under FATCA.
The purpose of FATCA is to prevent US Persons (see glossary) from using financial organisations such as banks to avoid US taxation on their global income and assets. We will therefore report information to the IRS or local tax authority on all accounts held directly or indirectly by US Persons. In addition, we may also need to report information about customers who do not provide the required documentation to us.
The information reported to the IRS or the local tax authority will depend on your FATCA status. This information will typically be of a personal nature in relation to the substantial US owners of a business (for example, name, address, US Taxpayer Identification Number), and of a financial nature (e.g. account number, account balance / value).
Your firm will be classified as a reportable legal entity under FATCA.
We will advise you of FATCA documentation requirement. It may include US tax forms (also referred to as withholding certificates or W forms) or self-declarations of FATCA status.
Yes. We will either send you the relevant forms or direct you to a website where you can download them.
If you are considered as a US Person, we may need to engage you from time to time to help us understand you better including requiring you to provide us with further information and documentation. Please visit the IRS website for further information.
In general, please respond to the request for FATCA documentation by the date stated in the communication.
We are committed to be fully compliant with FATCA.
If you choose not to comply with our requests for documentation to establish your status under FATCA within the regulatory timeframe, we may:
We will continue to review the impact of the legislation and will correspond with affected customers in due course. For more information regarding FATCA, please visit the IRS website, or contact your professional tax adviser for advice.
If you have multiple relationships with us, you may be approached by different members or businesses of us. In light of laws or regulations in different countries and regions, we appreciate your response to all our requests to help us serve you better and capture your information accurately.
Please note that we are unable to offer tax and legal advice. For tax and legal related questions please contact your professional tax and legal advisers and refer to the IRS website.
FFI is the abbreviation for Foreign Financial Institution. It refers to a non-US Financial Institution. The FATCA legislation contains an extensive definition of FFI and includes entities such as banks, custodian institutions, investment funds and certain types of insurance companies.
Withholding certificates, also referred to as W-forms, are US IRS tax forms.
Form W-9 is a Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification. This US Tax Form is provided by an account holder to confirm and certify their US status. The W-8 series forms are currently used by non-US persons (including corporations) to certify their non-US status. The form establishes that one is a non-resident alien or non-US corporation, to avoid or reduce tax withholding from US source income. These forms will permit a non-US customer to self-certify their status under FATCA.
An IGA is an agreement between the US and specific countries/territories to build FATCA compliance into latter’s legal framework so that they can implement FATCA. An IGA will require financial institutions to provide the information on US accounts which they hold either:
The IRS is the United States government agency responsible for tax collection and tax law enforcement.
A NFFE (Non-Financial Foreign Entity) is a non-US incorporated/established entity that does not meet the definition of an FFI and includes:
A US IRS specific term: Tax Identification Number.
For an individual this would be their US social security number, for an entity their employer identification number.
The term "Specified United States Person" means any United States person other than:
The term "United States Person" means:
The term "United States Citizen" means:
A 30% withholding tax applies under FATCA on "withholdable payments" in respect of financial institutions that do not comply with the FATCA requirements and/or customers who do not provide the requisite FATCA documentation.
The term withholdable payment means:
Various exceptions apply, including income connected with a US business.
The following information is for general reference only. Please don’t consider it as tax or legal advice. Hang Seng Bank, our branches and subsidiaries (“Hang Seng”) don’t guarantee that it is accurate and complete. We are not responsible for any errors and are not liable for any loss or damage that results from reliance upon this information. Please seek professional legal and tax advice specific to your own situation. Please also read our Online Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.
Please take the Chinese translation for reference only. In case of any discrepancy between the English version and the Chinese version, the English version shall prevail.
The following information is for general reference only. Please don’t consider it as tax or legal advice. Hang Seng Bank, our branches and subsidiaries (“Hang Seng”) don’t guarantee that it is accurate and complete. We are not responsible for any errors and are not liable for any loss or damage that results from reliance upon this information. Please seek professional legal and tax advice specific to your own situation. Please also read our Online Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.
Please take the Chinese translation for reference only. In case of any discrepancy between the English version and the Chinese version, the English version shall prevail.