The Cayman Islands Department for International Tax Cooperation (the "DITC") has issued an Industry Advisory to update the relevant dates for reporting under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act ("FATCA") and the Common Reporting Standard ("CRS").

Entity Classification

The statutory reporting deadline for CRS and FATCA remains 31 May 2019. However, completion of 2018 CRS and FATCA reporting on or before 31 July 2019 will not result in compliance measures being taken by the DITC for late filing and will not attract adverse consequences, enforcement measures or penalties.

Reports submitted after 31 July 2019 will be noted and may be subject to compliance reviews by the DITC.

The DITC recommends that Cayman Financial Institutions submit their 2018 CRS and FATCA returns as soon as practicable, due to the likelihood of increased activity in the weeks before the new deadline.

Updates

As well as announcing updates to the relevant dates for reporting, the DITC has published a revised version of the AEOI Portal User Guide. The DITC's AEOI News and Updates page provides a non-exhaustive quick-reference summary of changes between the current and previous versions of the AEOI Portal User Guide.

The DITC's AEOI News and Updates page also provide new frequently asked questions and also updates on FATCA IRS Error Notifications, CRS Status Messages and CbCR Portal Accessibility.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.