Foreign financial institutions now have until July 15 to file Forms 8966 to the IRS to report information on U.S. taxpayer accounts, the agency said in a list of FAQs on its website. The extension from the original March 31 filing date applies to foreign institutions with agreements with the U.S. to satisfy FATCA reporting requirements, the IRS said.
Foreign banks that have agreements with the IRS to report financial information on U.S. customers are automatically subject to the July 15 deadline extension and do not have to file a Form 8809-I to request more time to file, according to the agency's website.
Under FATCA, which Congress passed in 2010 and which took full effect in 2014, foreign banks and other financial institutions are required to report accounts or other assets held by U.S. customers to the IRS. Foreign banks that don't have agreements with the agency to satisfy the requirements are subject to 30% withholding on payments made to them, according to the IRS.
The IRS did not respond to a request for additional details.
The IRS has pushed back other deadlines in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, including an extension to July 15 of the April 15 tax return filing and payment deadline. The agency clarified Tuesday that payments owed under the Internal Revenue Code Section 965
repatriation provision and the base erosion and anti-abuse tax enacted in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act were also granted the July 15 extension. Those payments were originally due April 15.The FATCA deadline relief comes as Congress works to pass another round of economic stimulus to mitigate fallout from the coronavirus. The legislation includes a planned $1,200 rebate provided to most taxpayers by the IRS and tax breaks for small businesses and large employers.
However, Congress and the U.S. Department of the Treasury have to do more to address the unique needs of Americans living and working abroad, the nonprofit American Citizens Abroad said in a letter dated Monday. Expatriates often have different tax deadlines, and many don't have U.S. bank accounts to receive the planned refundable tax credit, the group argued in the letter.
American Citizens Abroad also argued that the federal government has previously failed to address the unique tax needs of Americans abroad, such as in the drafting and execution of the TCJA, the group said. The government should carefully draft COVID-19 relief to meet those needs, the group said.
The nonprofit didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
--Additional reporting by Natalie Olivo and Stephen Cooper. Editing by Neil Cohen.
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