International agreements to assist tax authorities to deter and detect tax evasion have come into force in recent years. Most notable are the U.S. Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) regulations—and the intergovernmental agreements struck in many countries (including Canada) to implement the requirements—and the OECD Common Reporting Standard (CRS).

The IIAC provided leadership across the Canadian financial sector on global tax reporting requirements.

– The IIAC, through its U.S. Tax Committee and its various working groups, and its OECD CRS Working Group, advocated cost-effective rules to comply with tax reporting requirements.

– It made the case for sensible exemptions from the reporting rules and obtained needed delays to ensure Member firms had sufficient time to prepare for the tax-reporting demands.

– It produced tools to help Member firms understand and comply with overlapping tax reporting requirements under FATCA, the U.S. Qualified Intermediary (QI) regime and the CRS, and will build on these efforts.

– The IIAC U.S. Tax Committee worked with the CRA and IIROC to clarify the obligations of introducing and carrying brokers in carrying arrangements under FATCA and the QI regime.

– The IIAC also engaged with U.S. authorities to discuss compliance with rules related to U.S. withholding requirements on payments from taxable derivative instruments.

Our efforts and successes in helping Member firms manage and adapt to the changing nature of global tax reporting regulatory challenges are explained in greater detail in the May Letter from the President. This is another example of IIAC’s value-add to Member firms.