Awareness On FATCA Remains Low, Says PwC

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 10 (Bernama) — Awareness of the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) among local financial institutions remains low, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said.

“I’d venture an educated guess that there are more than 1,000 local financial institutions, which fall under the FATCA purview, some of which may not even realise it.

“The costs and efforts to comply with this act could be high, ranging from RM100,000 to several million,” PwC Malaysia Partner and Assurance Financial Services Leader Ong Ching Chuan said in a statement here Wednesday.

FATCA, which came into force in July 2014, is a US federal law intended to detect and root out wealthy US taxpayers hiding money offshore.

Ong said local financial institutions should not misperceive that the act affected only US banks or traditional financial-related entities.

The statement noted that Malaysian entities, which qualify as a financial institution under FATCA would have to comply with the law at the end of the year.

It said Malaysia’s Inland Revenue Board was expected to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with the US over FATCA regulations.

This includes identifying and reporting on their customers – both individuals and entities – who are considered to be US persons under FATCA.