More testing announced for FATCA's information exchange systems

International Tax Review is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Garden, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2026

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

More testing announced for FATCA's information exchange systems

Financial institutions and tax administrations will get another opportunity next week to test the FATCA International Data Exchange Service (IDES), the technology that will be used to exchange data securely under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act.

Testing will be open from April 20 at 12pm Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) to April 24 at 12pm EDT to all financial institutions and tax administrations that have completed IDES enrolment by today (April 16 2015) at 5pm EDT.

 

The IRS has listed what testers should do before they start testing; guidelines for data packets and transmissions; and what they should do if they need help during testing.

The IDES was launched in January as the tool to be used for the secure exchange of information under FATCA, the US legislation that requires foreign financial institutions to report to the US Treasury and Internal Revenue certain payments to their US account holders or pay a withholding tax of 30%. 



more across site & shared bottom lb ros

More from across our site

As ITR data reveals that 2025 saw more than double the amount of private client hires than 2024, it seems firms are jostling for position
The US multinational paid 20% more tax in 2025 than 2024, it said; in other news, more than 25,000 HMRC staff have been upskilled on AI
Belt and Road Initiative countries face tax incentive conundrums due to pillar two, but relatively few countries would seek to scrap the project, ITR has heard
Hany Elnaggar examines how the OECD’s global minimum tax is reshaping the GCC’s investment incentive landscape, shifting the region from rate-based competition toward substance-driven economic positioning
The acquisition of a two-partner practice from Stephenson Harwood means that Charles Russell Speechlys has the largest private client team in Asia, the firm claimed
Complex and constantly shifting rules on global mobility mean ‘the risk is too great’ for staff to work abroad on personal time, EY’s Maureen Flood tells ITR
While it’s great that the OECD is alive to multinationals’ fears of being caught in a compliance trap, the ‘common understanding’ illustrates a worrying lack of readiness
Rising demand for specialist expertise has fuelled the growth in tax partner headcounts, Cain Dwyer found; in other news, Switzerland has been urged to reconsider pillar two
An OECD report on the taxation of the digital economy is expected by the end of 2026, according to the group of nations
Trophy assets are evolving from personal indulgences to structured investments, prompting family offices to prioritise tax efficiency, governance discipline, and cross-border compliance
Gift this article