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Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Policy

FATCA Policy | FAQ

Frequent Answer and Questions for FATCA – Individual customer

1. What is FATCA?

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is a law instituted in the United States of America (US) requiring banks outside of the US as well as other foreign institutions to disclose information about their US account holders. The purpose of FATCA is to curb US tax evasion by US ‘Persons’ via personal accounts with financial institutions and investment vehicles outside of the US. In this regard, Malaysia is assisting the US in implementing FATCA in the country.

2. When does this FATCA requirement become effective?

FATCA came into effect on 1 July 2014.

3. What is a US Person?

Definition of a US Person includes the following:

  1. US citizen or nationality including an individual born in the US who has not given up his/ her US citizenship (may be a resident in another country)

  2. US resident or green card holder

  3. US passport holder

4. Who is impacted by FATCA?

FATCA applies to an individual who has the following US indicia:

  1. US* citizen or resident

  2. US* green card holder

  3. US* place of birth

  4. US* telephone number

  5. US* residence address, mailing address or P.O box address

  6. Standing instruction to pay to a US* account

  7. Any mandates who have any US* indicia as listed from 4 (a) to 4 (f)

* Includes US Territories

5. What are the US Territories?

  1. Guam

  2. Northern Mariana Islands

  3. America Samoa

  4. United States Virgin Islands

  5. Puerto Rico

6. What should I do if FATCA is applicable to me?

You are required to declare your FATCA status and provide documentary evidence when requested by OCBC (OCBC Bank and OCBC Al-Amin). OCBC is also required to report information about you and your account to the local tax authority or the US IRS on an annual basis.

7. What will be the impact if I do not provide the information as requested by FATCA?

OCBC may require to report certain information to the local tax authorities or to the US IRS on customers who do not provide the required information.

8. What is the information that will be reported to the authorities?

OCBC will be required to report certain information as below to the authorities:

  1. The account holder's name

  2. Account holder's address

  3. U.S Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN)

  4. Account number(s)

  5. Account balance

  6. Income and payment made to the account

9. What is a US TIN?

If you are a US citizen or resident for tax purposes, please provide your US Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) - this is a nine digit number and could be a Social Security Number (SSN) or an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN).

10. What is the impact to me if I am not a US person or display any US indicia?

FATCA will have minimal impact on you and you are not required to take any action. However, OCBC may still contact you to confirm your tax status should we have reasons to believe that you may be a US person.

11. Why are the documentation requirements from other banks different from OCBC?

The design and information requested by each banks and financial institutions to confirm the customers’ tax status under FATCA may vary. Hence, OCBC advises its customers to seek professional tax advice or visit the US IRS website for further information.