Guernsey Issues Amended Legislation And Updated Draft Guidance Notes On FATCA-Based Reporting

On 31 March 2015 amendments were made to the Income Tax (Approved International Agreements) (Implementation) (United Kingdom and United States of America) Regulations, 2014 (the "2014 Regulations") which brought FATCA-based reporting into force under Guernsey law. FATCA-based reporting is implemented in Guernsey pursuant to the UK-Guernsey IGA, signed on 22 October 2013 and the US-Guernsey IGA, signed on 13 December 2013 (together the "IGAs"). On 30 April 2015 the States of Guernsey Income Tax ("ITO") published updated draft Guidance Notes relating to the implementation of FATCA-based reporting in Guernsey. The changes to domestic law and further clarification in draft Guidance have been made in response to specific questions and comments received from industry in the lead up to the deadline of 30 June 2015 for filing reports in Guernsey under the US-Guernsey IGA. The changes are also relevant to reports made under the UK-Guernsey IGA, the first of which is due to be