Business accounts: FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act)

bunq

Hey bunqers 🌈,

FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) is a U.S. law that helps prevent tax evasion by U.S. citizens or taxpayers with financial accounts outside the U.S.

If you're a U.S. citizen, tax resident, or have other ties to the U.S. (like a green card), we’re legally required to collect and report certain information about your account to the IRS.

Why do we ask for FATCA-related information?

Here’s why we may ask you for FATCA-related details:

Identifying U.S. Persons: To determine if you're a U.S. citizen or tax resident, like green card holders, which helps us meet our reporting responsibilities.
Compliance with U.S. Regulations: We report account balances and income to the IRS to ensure you’re fulfilling tax duties for foreign accounts.

Through this compliance, bunq supports global financial transparency and ensures tax obligations are met by individuals linked to the U.S.

Who needs to fill out a FATCA?

We most likely ask you for a FATCA because you are considered a U.S. person under the information we have of you or because we need to confirm your status as a non-U.S. person. If you're unsure about your situation, it’s always a good idea to check with a tax advisor for clarification.

I’m not a US person, do I still need to fill out the FATCA?

If you're not a U.S. person (meaning you're not a U.S. citizen, U.S. resident, or U.S. taxpayer), you generally won’t need to fill out a FATCA form (like IRS Form W-9). However, we might still ask you to fill out a W-8BEN, to confirm your non-U.S. status.

Why did bunq reject my FATCA submission?

Here are the top 5 common mistakes we see when filling out FATCA forms:

Missing or Incorrect Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN): Not providing a correct SSN (for U.S. persons) or Foreign TIN (for non-U.S. persons) on the form.
Failure to sign and date: Leaving the form unsigned or undated, which renders it incomplete.
Incorrectly Identifying U.S. vs Non-U.S. Status: Using the wrong form (e.g., Form W-9 instead of W-8BEN) based on your citizenship or tax status.
Incorrect country of citizenship or tax residence: Misreporting your country of citizenship or tax residence, leading to incorrect classification.
Failure to complete required sections: Not checking required boxes or leaving important sections incomplete, such as tax treaty claims or backup withholding status.