THE 360 NEWSLETTER

As a reminder, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”) was implemented a few years ago in an effort to prevent non-compliance by U.S. taxpayers with foreign accounts.

As such, Investia is required to identify accounts deemed to be U.S. reportable and report them to the Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”) on an annual basis. Similarly, in compliance with the Common Reporting Standard (“CRS”), Investia must also report tax residency information to the CRA for clients whose tax residence is located in a participating jurisdiction outside of Canada.

To ensure compliance with these requirements, Investia monitors the completion of the FATCA/CRS fields in Univeris on an ongoing basis and will follow up with Representatives for any missing fields.

Important Reminders:

• The “Foreign Tax Reporting” section on Univeris must be completed in full for each new client and existing client who hold an open/non-registered account for whom a KYC update is required, regardless of whether or not the client is subject to foreign tax reporting.
  
  It is important to note that even if the client is not subject to foreign tax reporting, the box “No” must be checked in this section to ensure compliance with our obligation. If the client is subject to foreign tax reporting, the Taxpayer Identification Number (“TIN”) must be provided in Univeris.

• For entity accounts (e.g., corporations, charitable organizations, partnerships and formal trusts), the NCAF/KYC Update Form and the Complementary Form must be completed in full for all clients, including the sections related to the FATCA/CRS, regardless of whether or not the client is subject to foreign tax reporting.

• All client forms must be completed and sent to Investia Head Office for imaging purposes (and not processing) by fax or via the Secure File Upload tool available on the Advisor Centre.

Consequences of Non-Compliance:

• Effective January 1, 2023 the CRA may impose a penalty between the amount of $100 and 2,500 per client account and fund companies may reject trades where the client’s FATCA response is not provided.

• Note that failure to complete the foreign tax reporting (FATCA/CRS) section on the NCAF/KYC Update Form (for individual accounts) or the Complementary Form (for entity accounts) could result in the client being flagged as “Recalcitrant”, which may lead to tax consequences for the client.

Should you require additional information regarding the FATCA, please refer to the Reference Guide - FATCA available on the Advisor Centre under Guides and Training / Compliance / Compliance.

For more detailed information, you may also refer to the following CRA guides:

Guidance on the Common Reporting Standard

Guidance on the Canada-U.S. Enhanced Tax Information Exchange Agreement

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your Compliance Officer.