Industry Advisory - CRS, FATCA, ES and CbCR

Industry Advisory by the Department for International Tax Cooperation regarding CRS, FATCA, Economic Substance and Country by Country Reporting.

The Department for International Tax Cooperation of the Cayman Islands (the “DITC”) has issued an advisory that the new online portal is open for CRS, FATCA, Economic Substance and Country-by-Country reporting.

All users that had a user account in the previous portal will receive an email from donotreply@ditc.ky with steps to activate and access the new portal. In order to receive the emails, make sure that donotreply@ditc.ky isn’t blocked by spam filters.

CRS & FATCA

Click on “CRS & FATCA Registration” for notifications on CRS and FATCA on the DITC Portal Registration and Login Page (DITC website). Follow the revised reporting deadlines listed below. A CRS Guidelines, DITC Portal user guide and information on differences between the AEOI Portal and the new DITC Portal will be available on the New and Updates page upon the opening of the portal.

Reporting Deadlines

CRS & FATCA reporting deadlines are as follows:

Economic Substance (“ES”)

ES Returns Deadlines

The DITC has advised that the deadlines for submitting ES Returns have been extended as follows:

The DITC portal is being designed to conform to the OECD standard and to provide the DITC with the necessary tools for data collection, analysis and effective implementation of the ES requirements. A user guide and content templates will be published. Content of ES Return Forms will be bespoke to each relevant entity conducting a relevant activity. The Relevant Forms are expected to be released shortly.

Country-by-Country Reporting (“CbCR”)

Amendment of Guidance

The Amendment dated 16 December 2020 amends the Tax Information Authority’s CbCR Guidance v1.1 dated 4 May 2018 and also replaces its CbC XML Schema – User Guide dated 4 May 2018. The Amendment is available here

Cayman Islands CbCR Portal

The Amendment provides the web address for the CbCR Portal, which can also be found in the CbCR section of the DITC website.

Update to key dates under CbCR in the Cayman Islands

As the CbCR Portal has been offline since 25 March 2020, it has not been possible for MNE Groups to submit notifications and reports to the DITC. The Portal reopened on 5 January 2021, and the new deadline for submitting notifications and reports for all entities defined below is 28 February 2021.

Key dates and obligations:

Reporting to the Authority

The Amendment provides important information regarding the following:

• CbCR XML Schema update to v2.0;
• key changes between versions 2.0 and 1.0.1 of the XML Schema; and
• Cayman Islands-specific rules for the CbC XML Schema v2.0.

Questions relating to CbCR may be emailed to CaymanCbCRPortal@gov.ky.