Foreign Account Tax Account Compliance Act (FATCA) Responsible Officer certifications are due by July 1, 2025, for the certification period ending December 31, 2024. Entities that are required to certify must submit their certifications by the due date to be in compliance with obligations under FATCA. Noncompliance may result in revocation of an entity’s FATCA status, among other consequences.
The FATCA registration system – through which certifications must be completed – now requires all users to sign in using of the IRS’s credentialed service providers, Login.gov or ID.me.
FATCA Certification Requirements
FATCA generally requires foreign financial Institutions (FFIs) and certain other non-financial foreign entities to report on the foreign assets held by their U.S. account holders or be subject to withholding on withholdable payments.
Under the FATCA certification requirement, the Responsible Officer of applicable entities must answer and submit to the IRS the answers to various questions to confirm their entity’s compliance with FATCA requirements. These include two types of certifications: (1) a Certification of Preexisting Accounts, relating to an entity’s preexisting accounts at the time of their initial registration, and (2) a Periodic Certification, relating to an entity’s compliance with ongoing FATCA requirements.
The due date for submitting both FATCA certifications is July 1 following the third full calendar year after the date the entity registered and received a Global Intermediary Identification Number (GIIN). Each subsequent certification period is every three calendar years following the previous certification period.
FATCA Certifications must be completed and submitted online through the FATCA registration system. To access the FATCA registration system, users must now have a Login.gov or ID.me profile.
There is no exemption or waiver from the certification requirement. After the deadline for submitting the FATCA certifications, the IRS reviews entities that have been identified as requiring a FATCA certification for the certification period. This review includes identifying events of default, for which the IRS will issue a notice of default or notice of termination.
If an entity fails to remediate an event of default and does not appeal an IRS decision to terminate, the IRS will initiate the process of terminating the entity’s FATCA status in the FATCA registration system. The entity’s registration will be terminated and its GIIN will be removed from the FFI List.
BDO Insight
If you foresee any challenges with your upcoming FATCA certification, BDO provides a range of services to assist FFIs with this process.
Please visit BDO’s International Tax Services page for more information on how BDO can help.