US and Japanese issues statement on FATCA

The US and Japanese authorities have issued a joint statement to facilitate the implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).  The statement is intended to clarify the details of the cooperation between the US and Japanese authorities as well as procedures to be taken by Japanese financial institutions regarding the implementation of FATCA.

The Japanese authorities have committed to direct Japanese financial institutions to, amongst other things:

• register with the IRS by 1 January 2014; and
• obtain consents and report as follows:
  • for existing accounts identified as US accounts, request from each account holder their US federal taxpayer identification number and consent to report, and if such consent is not obtained, report the aggregate information; and
  • for new accounts identified as US accounts, obtain from each account holder their consent to report as a condition to account opening

Related Link:

http://www.fsa.go.jp/inter/etc/20130611/01.pdf