Regulatory Analysis

Posted June 15, 2017 by Paul Ogawa
Monaco Releases List of Reportable and Participating Jurisdictions

Monaco recently published a list of reportable and participating jurisdictions on its CRS Frequently Asked Questions page. These lists are current as of April 2017, and should be considered as current until further notice. Please note that reportable jurisdictions are ones which have established exchange of information agreements with Monaco under CRS, while participating […]

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Posted June 15, 2017 by Tom Hospod
House Passes Bill Affecting Advance Premium Tax Credit

Earlier this week, the House of Representatives passed the Verify First Act – which would serve as an amendment to the premium tax credit under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and to the premium assistance credit under the proposed American Health Care Act (AHCA). The bill provides that an individual is not entitled to advance […]

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Posted June 12, 2017 by Paul Ogawa
California Releases Updated Version of Quarterly Contribution Return and Report of Wages (Form DE-9)

California recently released an updated version of Form DE-9, the Quarterly Contribution Return and Report of Wages. This form is issued by the Employment Development Department, and is used by employers in California to report wages and withholdings on a quarterly basis.  This new version makes no changes to the form itself. However, the […]

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Posted June 12, 2017 by Tom Hospod
Maine Releases 2018 File Formatting Specifications for Quarterly Withholding Transmittals

Maine Revenue Services has made available the draft versions of the 2018 MEETRS File Formatting Specifications for Electronic Transmittal of Quarterly Income Tax Withholding. There are sets of specifications for both original filings and amended filings – which will become effective the first quarter of 2018. There are certain revisions to the specifications of which […]

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Posted June 10, 2017 by Tom Hospod
Panama Releases Further Details about CRS Implementation

The Panamanian Ministry of Economy and Finance has released additional information regarding its implementation of the Common Reporting Standard (CRS). A late adopter, Panama has committed to commencing exchanges in 2018. Panama has ratified secondary legislation for the implementation of CRS – the final legislative step in imposing the duty to report on Panamanian […]

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Posted June 10, 2017 by Tom Hospod
Pakistan Signs Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement

Pakistan’s Ministry of Finance has joined the Common Reporting Standard by signing on to the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA), bringing the total number of signatories to 90 countries. As such, Pakistan will aim to begin the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) for its reportable accounts in 2018. By signing on to this agreement, […]

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Posted June 10, 2017 by Lee Pender
Isle of Man Releases AEOI Industry Advisory Notice

The Isle of Man recently issued an AEOI Industry Advisory Notice.  Therein, the Treasury reminded filers that FATCA and CRS reporting will be due June 30.  The notice also stated that filing entities should be registered to file by June 21.  Doing so after that date might not allow the Treasury enough time to […]

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Posted June 10, 2017 by Tom Hospod
Senate Leadership Invokes Rule to Fast-Track Healthcare Legislation

Senate negotiations regarding the fate of the American Health Care Act are continuing in spite of the discord among and between Democrats and Republicans on a number of provisions in the bill. Much of the roadblocks at this point are procedural in nature regarding the Reconciliation rules. A failure to comply with Reconciliation requirements would […]

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Posted June 10, 2017 by Tom Hospod
American Health Care Act Would Maintain Employer Reporting Requirements

Proposed ACA replacement legislation, entitled the American Health Care Act (AHCA), aims to dismantle the employer mandate by zeroing out the associated penalties. Despite this, the AHCA maintains both employer and insurer reporting requirements. There are seven high-level changes to the current law that the AHCA will seek to impose: Nullify Individual Mandate […]

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Posted June 10, 2017 by Tom Hospod
Rep. MacArthur Proposes Amendment to AHCA Allowing State Waivers

Congressman Tom MacArthur has authored an amendment to the American Health Care Act (AHCA) that would provide greater flexibility to states by allowing them to request waivers from any of three key AHCA provisions: The 5:1 Age Rating Ratio: The age rating ratio, which is already being increased from 3:1 to 5:1, will be […]

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Posted June 10, 2017 by Tom Hospod
AHCA would both Expand and Simplify Current Reporting Requirements

If the American Health Care Act (AHCA) becomes law, the IRS would expect employers to report as they did under the ACA. The IRS would also continue to enforce penalties for late, missing, inaccurate and incomplete information returns.   Even with the bill’s nullification of Employer Mandate penalties, reporting would remain mandatory in its current […]

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Posted June 10, 2017 by Tom Hospod
House Passes American Health Care Act with Amendments

The amended American Health Care Act (AHCA) passed by the House expanded upon the prior version, but made certain adjustments providing individual states more flexibility in shaping and regulating their own insurance markets. The new bill also appropriates $8 billion over five years to subsidize coverage for pre-existing conditions in an attempt to offset the fiscal impacts of permitting […]

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Posted June 10, 2017 by Tom Hospod
ACA Compliance Validation System Delayed Until May 2017

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) recently announced the delay of the ACA Compliance Validation (ACV) System, which is now expected to be implemented in May 2017. Employers should be aware that this delay does not impact their reporting obligations and potential liabilities for penalties. The ACV system’s purpose is to determine compliance […]

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Posted June 9, 2017 by Tom Hospod
Cyprus Opens Data Transmission Portal and Releases FATCA Specifications

The Cypriot Ministry of Finance has announced that its Government Internet Security Channel is now open for the acceptance of FATCA and CRS XML files containing tax year 2016 data. The reporting process consists of the following steps: Subscribe to the Internet Security Channel if you are not already registered Register to the […]

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Posted June 9, 2017 by Tom Hospod
Curacao FATCA Testing Period Opens Late, Deadline to Be Delayed

The Curacao Financial Data Exchange Portal is now open for the FATCA XML file testing period. The testing period, which was originally scheduled to begin on May 29, was delayed due to technical difficulties. As such, the data delivery functionality and reporting deadlines will also be delayed to dates which will be determined at a […]

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Posted June 9, 2017 by Tom Hospod
Guatemala Ratifies the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters

The Guatemalan government has adopted the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters in a move to demonstrate its commitment to tax transparency and remove itself from a “blacklist” of international tax havens. Once it takes the necessary legislative steps to implement the OECD programs, Guatemala will be able to exchange information with […]

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Posted June 8, 2017 by Paul Ogawa
Rhode Island Removes Annual Reporting Frequency for Employer Withholding Tax

Rhode Island recently updated their reporting frequency schedule to exclude the annual reporting frequency. The update to the 2017 Employer’s Income Tax Withholding Tables and the removal of Form RI-941A from the Department of Revenue website confirm that filers previously on an annual reporting schedule must switch to one of the remaining reporting schedules – […]

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Posted June 7, 2017 by Sovos
Ireland Extends CRS Filing Deadline to August 18th

  Irish Revenue has sent correspondence to all interested parties indicating that the deadline for filing CRS returns has been extended from June 30th to August 18, 2017 due to the late delivery of the required business and validation rules – resulting in a delay to the start of filing. Although the submission application is […]

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