The Cayman Islands announced today that the deadline for Y2019 FATCA/CRS reporting has been extended to September 18, 2020 and the annual FATCA/CRS reporting deadline for future years has been changed to July 31.
The Cayman Islands Department for International Tax Cooperation (DITC) expects to launch its new portal on June 1, 2020. Until then, it will not be possible to register entities (notification), undertake reporting, amend returns or update any current data. While the portal is offline, the DITC will not impose penalties for late submission of return corrections.
New Portal
The DITC previously announced it is developing a new AEOI portal. The DITC provided additional details regarding the new portal today including its new name: DITC Portal. [See my January 11, 2020 blog post: FATCA/CRS: Caymans Announces New Portal under Development].
User accounts will be transferred from the old portal to the new portal so re-registration will not be necessary. Log in to the portal will be a different process but the DITC will e-mail Authorized Persons (APs) and Principal Points of Contact (PPoCs) in June with login steps.
New Features
As with the AEOI portal, the new portal will be used for FATCA/CRS registration (notification) and reporting purposes. Eventually, the DITC portal will be used for additional reporting regimes such as Economic Substance and CbC.
Updates to the portal will include bulk reporting, bulk user changes, and a more streamlined process.
Authorizing Person & PPoC’s
Previously, the DITC required an AP and a PPoC be named in the notification process and that an individual play each of these roles. Under the new regulations, the AP and the PPoC may be an entity instead of an individual. The new DITC guidance note provides details.
Until the DITC Portal is launched on June 1, 2020, it will not be possible to make changes to the AP and PPOC.
Reportable Jurisdictions
The updated Cayman Islands list of CRS Reportable Jurisdictions was published in the Cayman Islands Extraordinary Gazette No.14/2020.
Guidance
The Caymans will be issuing updated FATCA and CRS Guidance and a User Guide for the new DITC Portal. The DITC Portal Team may be reached via e-mail: caymanaeoiportal@gov.ky
For assistance, please contact me via my contact page or at elizabeth@elizabethmcmorrowlaw.com.