Many New Zealand businesses and trusts must complete registration and understand their reporting obligations.
With the United States Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) regime now in effect, it’s important that all New Zealand entities ensure they are aware of their obligations.

FATCA came into effect in New Zealand on 1 July 2014 – with little fanfare at the time. From 1 April 2017, however, the compliance obligations of the FATCA regime are now live. The FATCA regime classifies all entities (companies, trusts, associations and partnerships) as either a ‘financial institution’, an ‘active non-financial foreign entity’ (active NFFE) or a ‘passive non-financial foreign entity’ (passive NFFE).
The reason for FATCA
The ultimate goal of the FATCA regime is to find US offshore persons or entities who have been avoiding their US tax obligations. This is done by gathering information on any US persons or entities controlled by US persons holding accounts outside of the US.
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