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Tax Administration Act, 2011 (Act No. 28 of 2011)

Regulations

Regulations for purposes of paragraph (a) of the Definition of "International Tax Standard)" in Section (1) of the Tax Administration Act, 2011 (Act No. 28 of 2011), promulgated under section 257 of the Act, Specifying the Changes to the OECD Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information in Tax Matters

Section V : Due Diligence for Pre-existing Entity Accounts

 

The following procedures apply for purposes of identifying Reportable Accounts among Pre-existing Entity Accounts.

 

A. Entity Accounts Not Required to Be Reviewed, Identified or Reported. Unless the Reporting Financial Institution elects otherwise, either with respect to all Pre-existing Entity Accounts or, separately, with respect to any clearly identified group of such accounts, a Pre-existing Entity Account with an aggregate account balance or value that does not exceed U.S. $250,000 as of 29 February 2016, is not required to be reviewed, identified, or reported as a Reportable Account until the aggregate account balance or value exceeds U.S. $250,000 as of the last day of any subsequent Reporting Period.

 

B. Entity Accounts Subject to Review. A Pre-existing Entity Account that has an account balance or value that exceeds U.S. $250,000 as of 29 February 2016, and a Pre-existing Entity Account that does not exceed U.S. $250,000 as of 29 February 2016 but the account balance or value of which exceeds U.S. $250,000 as of the last day of any subsequent Reporting Period, must be reviewed in accordance with the procedures set forth in paragraph D.

 

C. Entity Accounts With Respect to Which Reporting Is Required. With respect to Pre-existing Entity Accounts described in paragraph B, only accounts that are held by one or more entities that are Reportable Persons, or by Passive NFEs with one or more Controlling Persons who are Reportable Persons, shall be treated as Reportable Accounts.

 

D. Review Procedures for Identifying Entity Accounts With Respect to Which Reporting Is Required. For Pre-existing Entity Accounts described in paragraph B, a Reporting Financial Institution must apply the following review procedures to determine whether the account is held by one or more Reportable Persons, or by Passive NFEs with one or more Controlling Persons who are Reportable Persons:

 

(1) Determine Whether the Entity Is a Reportable Person.
(a) Review information maintained for regulatory or customer relationship purposes (including information collected pursuant to AML/KYC Procedures) to determine whether the information indicates that the Account Holder is resident in a Reportable Jurisdiction. For this purpose, information indicating that the Account Holder is resident in a Reportable Jurisdiction includes a place of incorporation or organisation, or an address in a Reportable Jurisdiction.
(b) If the information indicates that the Account Holder is resident in a Reportable Jurisdiction, the Reporting Financial Institution must treat the account as a Reportable Account unless it obtains a self-certification from the Account Holder, or reasonably determines based on information in its possession or that is publicly available, that the Account Holder is not a Reportable Person.

 

(2) Determine Whether the Entity is a Passive NFE with One or More Controlling Persons Who Are Reportable Persons. With respect to an Account Holder of a Pre-existing Entity Account (including an Entity that is a Reportable Person), the Reporting Financial Institution must determine whether the Account Holder is a Passive NFE with one or more Controlling Persons who are Reportable Persons. If any of the Controlling Persons of a Passive NFE is a Reportable Person, then the account must be treated as a Reportable Account. In making these determinations the Reporting Financial Institution must follow the guidance in subparagraphs D(2)(a) through (c) in the order most appropriate under the circumstances.
(a) Determining whether the Account Holder is a Passive NFE. For purposes of determining whether the Account Holder is a Passive NFE, the Reporting Financial Institution must obtain a self-certification from the Account Holder to establish its status, unless it has information in its possession or that is publicly available, based on which it can reasonably determine that the Account Holder is an Active NFE or a Financial Institution other than an Investment Entity described in subparagraph A(6)(b) of Section VIII that is not a Participating Jurisdiction Financial Institution.
(b) Determining the Controlling Persons of an Account Holder. For the purposes of determining the Controlling Persons of an Account Holder, a Reporting Financial Institution may rely on information collected and maintained pursuant to AML/KYC Procedures.
(c) Determining whether a Controlling Person of a Passive NFE is a Reportable Person. For the purposes of determining whether a Controlling Person of a Passive NFE is a Reportable Person, a Reporting Financial Institution may rely on:
(i) Information collected and maintained pursuant to AML/KYC Procedures in the case of a Pre-existing Entity Account held by one or more NFEs with an account balance that does not exceed U.S. $1,000,000; or
(ii) A self-certification from the Account Holder or such Controlling Person of the jurisdiction(s) in which the Controlling Person is resident for tax purposes.

 

E. Timing of Review and Additional Procedures Applicable to Pre-existing Entity Accounts.

 

(1) Review of Pre-existing Entity Accounts with an aggregate account balance or value that exceeds U.S. $250,000 as of 29 February 2016 must be completed by the last day of February 2018.

 

(2) Review of Pre-existing Entity Accounts with an aggregate account balance or value that does not exceed U.S. $250,000 as of 29 February 2016, but exceeds U.S. $250,000 as of the last day of February of a subsequent Reporting Period, must be completed within the Reporting Period following the Reporting Period in which the aggregate account balance or value exceeds U.S. $250,000.

 

(3) If there is a change of circumstances with respect to a Pre-existing Entity Account that causes the Reporting Financial Institution to know, or have reason to know, that the self-certification or other documentation associated with an account is incorrect or unreliable, the Reporting Financial Institution must re-determine the status of the account in accordance with the procedures set forth in paragraph D.