A revised version of the shareholder registration online application has just been made available on the CFR (Commissioner for Revenue) website for online Income Tax Services. The changes are mainly the additions of 2 new change types which may be summarised as follows:
1. Disclosure of Ultimate Beneficial Owners
This change type caters for circumstances where revisions in BO structures are needed in terms of the notice issued by CFR on 27th March 2020 (relative to the requirement of disclosing online the direct and indirect beneficial owners of the shareholders/s registered for refund in terms of Rule 6 of the Tax Refunds and Registration Procedure Rules). Where the respective BO disclosures have been done, the relative online submissions submitted to date are still considered valid. In order to cater for circumstances of shareholding structures with numerous beneficial owners, 300 additional lines have been added in part C of the application titled 'Details of the ultimate individual beneficiaries in the indirect shareholder line';
2. Cancellation of Registration of ALL Shareholders
This enables the Company to de-register ALL of its shareholders. This should be used only in scenarios where the Company wants to cancel registration of ALL the shareholder/s of the Company which were previously registered for refund. When this change type is chosen the respective sections dealing with the shareholding/UBOs (mainly in section 1.2, section 2 and Part C of the application) would be greyed out and no inputting of data is required.
In addition, with the revised online application it is also possible to de-register one or more shareholder/s who/which were previously registered for refund (this can be done by choosing any change type other than 'Cancellation of Registration of ALL Shareholders'). In the application form a number of comments have been added which serve as guidance on how to complete the respective sections in the form.
In situations where a Company would have altered its share capital by way of an increase or a reduction, or where updates in the dividend entitlement were needed (relative to a particular shareholder/s already registered for refund), errors in the 'old form' precluded certain electronic submissions to be made. With a view to catering for such circumstances, where the change type 'Change in profit entitlement and/or capital structure' is chosen, this revised form now caters for such revisions to be made. In line with previous communications issued it is hereby being requested to resubmit the form electronically in order to have the latest submission to reflect the updated data. Kindly note that re-submissions being made now to cater for this error will not have any adverse effects on the respective shareholder/s relative to the provisions in the Tax Refunds and Registration Procedure Rules (SL372.25), where the relative manual submission of the form would have reached the Tax offices on time.
In the meantime, the CFR is also highly encouraging all Companies to review the shareholder registrations previously submitted, with a view to submitting cancellations of registration in scenarios where no claim for refund will be submitted in terms of Rule 2 of Tax Refunds and Registration Procedure Rules (in relation to shareholder/s previously registered for refund).
Originally published March 15, 2021
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.