bank asks for a declaration regarding tax liability abroad

FATCA and CRS: two declarations, one question

In practice, the bank asks for a declaration under FATCA and/or CRS: a statement of the countries where the enterprise is a tax resident, and — under CRS — sometimes also a classification of the entity (active or passive) plus, for a passive entity, the tax residence of the ultimate beneficial owners. This is not a review and not an assessment: the bank is required to record this as part of customer due diligence, and your answer is a factual statement, not an opinion.

What exactly is asked differs per bank and per form: some banks use their own "self-certification", others a W-8BEN-E-like form for US relationships. What can be reused in your file in any case: the country of registered office, the tax residence country (usually the same, but not always), and the answer to the question whether there is a US interest (US shareholder, US director with decisive influence, or establishment in the US). If there is a passive entity or a trust-like structure in the chain, the tax residence of the UBOs is added — which is related to the question who are the ultimate beneficial owners of the company. If you do not have a ready-made declaration, the registered office and tax residence from the Business Register is often sufficient basis to complete the form yourself; a separate declaration from the tax authorities is not always necessary.

Where this follows from: Wwft client due diligence and the Trade Register Act

The bank's obligation to ask this follows from the customer due diligence requirement under the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act, which obliges the bank to know the tax position and governance structure of its clients. The factual data on place of establishment and legal form that you provide here come from registration under the Business Register Act 2007. If you are unsure whether a question about tax residence is actually a UBO question dressed up in different clothing, it helps to look at how the UBO data are filled in in a questionnaire — the source question is often the same, only the packaging differs per bank.