Extension of FATCA Withholding Start Date and Grandfathering End Date

On July 12, Treasury and the IRS announced that they intend to amend final Treasury regulations implementing the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) to provide for a six-month extension to the start of FATCA withholding and the end of the FATCA grandfathering period, from January 1, 2014 (under current regulations) to July 1, 2014, in order to allow for a more orderly implementation of FATCA.  In addition, the timelines for implementing certain FATCA account due diligence requirements and FATCA registration requirements are to be extended, and Treasury and the IRS will provide a list of jurisdictions that will be treated as having in effect an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with the U.S.  FATCA withholding is scheduled to apply to payments of U.S. source dividends, interest and other fixed payments beginning July 1, 2014, and to payments from the disposition of property producing such payments beginning January 1, 2017.  IRS Notice 2013-43.