Key dates
What are your obligations?
You must now provide Canadian financial institutions with information about your tax residence and U.S. citizenship.
Consider consulting an independent tax specialist if you need help to clarify your situation.
*If you are a resident of a country other than Canada, please ensure that you have the Tax Identification Number (TIN) for all your countries of residence on hand for tax purposes.
How to make the update online?
How to make the update in person?
To learn more, consult our document detailing your obligations and reporting accounts.
In March 2010, The U.S. Treasury Department signed into law the “Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act” (known as FATCA), to enable U.S. tax authorities to counter tax evasion by U.S. taxpayers (U.S. Persons) who hold accounts outside the United States.
This U.S. law has implications for a wide range of financial products including depository and custodial accounts, regardless of their currency, whether held by individuals or entities.
The term U.S. Person means:
On February 5, 2014, Canada and the United States signed an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) under the Convention between the United States of America and Canada to improve information exchange and to integrate the FATCA-related dispositions to the Canadian legislative framework.
This agreement is consistent with Canada’s support for the G8 and G20 commitments to develop a global standard for the automatic exchange of fiscal information.
On June 20th, 2014, Bill C-31, in which Part 5 enacts the IGA, received Royal Assent. The dispositions of this agreement are thus implemented through an amendment to the Canadian Income Tax Act (Part XVIII – Enhanced International Information Reporting) that provides Canadian financial institutions a local legislative framework on which to rely on for the application of FATCA related compliance procedures.
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is responsible for administering the legal framework.
Under the provisions of the Canadian Income Tax Act, effective July 1st, 2014, Canadian financial institutions are required to determine whether financial Accounts are held by U.S. Persons and annually report information on those accounts to the CRA.
Accounts held by U.S. Persons, Specified U.S. Persons (entities) and Passive non-financial non-U.S. entities controlled by one or more U.S. Persons are reportable to the CRA.
Canadian financial institutions will report information on their U.S. account holders directly to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), which guarantees that the collection and use of the information is consistent with the Canadian Privacy Act. In addition, information exchanged between the CRA and IRS is protected by the provisions of the Convention between the United States of America and Canada with respect to taxes on income and capital gains.
National Bank understands the importance of uncompromised ethics in ensuring respect for our clients and the communities we serve as well as compliance with laws and regulations. It will continue to comply with all laws and regulations applicable throughout the jurisdictions in which it conducts business activities.
National Bank related entities have also been registered with the IRS and were attributed a GIIN (Global Intermediary Identification Number).
Please note that National Bank will implement the required procedures while minimizing impact on its customer service.