Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is United States legislation passed in March 2010. It requires non-US financial institutions to provide reports to the US regarding their customers who are ‘US persons’ for US tax purposes and who hold accounts with the financial institution. US financial institutions will also have separate reporting obligations.

Please note

The Irish and US Governments have entered into a reciprocal agreement, under which Ulster Bank will report US customers to their local tax authority and not directly to the US IRS. The local tax authority is responsible for sharing this information with the IRS and the bank will play no part in this process.

If you have received a FATCA Tax Status Declaration Form in the post and need help with it, please read our easy-to-understand guide.

Each year financial institutions must report information on all financial accounts (for example, current accounts, savings accounts, deposit accounts, custodial account, certain insurance policies and interests in investment funds) held directly or indirectly by ‘US persons’. As a result Ulster Bank] will review its customers, to ensure all accounts are correctly identified and reported, where required.

Ulster Bank must review its customers, to ensure all accounts are correctly identified and reported, where required. This is because under FATCA, financial institutions must each year, report information on all financial accounts (for example, current accounts, savings accounts, deposit accounts, custodial accounts, certain insurance policies and interests in investment funds) held directly or indirectly by ‘US persons’.

We will be undertaking a review of our customers, as required by regulations, to understand who is (and is not) a ‘US person’ for US tax purposes.

The term ‘US person’ includes, but isn’t limited to, the following:

• A citizen of the US, including any person born in the US but living in another country (who has retained their US citizenship).
• A person living in the US, including US Green Card holders.
• Certain people who spend a significant number of days in the US each year. *
• US corporations, US partnerships, US estates and US trusts.

* To better understand what is meant by ‘certain’ people’ and ‘significant number’, please refer to our glossary.

Rest assured that being classified a ‘US person’ will not affect your day-to-day banking service, but will help us identify customers whose account details may need to be shared with their local tax authority. If you are identified as a 'US person' we will write to you for self-certification.

If you’re an existing Ulster Bank customer, you may need to provide specific documentation, so we can apply the right FATCA classification to your accounts. If you are classified as a ‘US person’, we will be required to report information about you and your accounts to your local tax authority, every year.

Please note that Ulster Bank cannot offer any tax advice about FATCA, and we recommend you contact a professional and tax advisor to discuss your personal tax situation.

FATCA will have minimal impact on most customers, who won’t need to take any action. However, Ulster Bank may still contact you to confirm your status as a ‘non-US person’.

If your entity is classified as a ‘US tax person’ for tax purposes, we must pass on details of the entity’s account(s) to the relevant tax authority.

For more information about FATCA please visit the IRS website.