Dear Clients,
We would like to present to you some important information regarding our obligations, both of the bank and of you as a client of the bank, through the international agreements to which Romania complies.
FATCA
1) What is FATCA?
FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) is a set of legislative measures issued by the United States of America (USA) applicable to all natural and legal entities under their incidence. The regulatory act requires financial institutions outside the US to identify information about their clients and business partners and determine whether they meet the criteria for reporting to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) through national authorities, in our case the National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF).
2) Since when does FATCA apply?
According to Law 233/2015, the law transposing into Romania the intergovernmental agreement signed by Romania with the USA, the date of application is 1 July 2014. According to the law, the financial institutions, the banks in our case, have the obligation to collect and report to the Romanian tax authorities information regarding the accounts held by natural and legal customers showing signals that determine the application of FATCA provisions.
3) What is the purpose of FATCA?
FATCA legislative measures have been issued to prevent and reduce tax evasion generated by US residents' cross-border activity, such as avoiding tax payments to the state through the US Financial Institutions outside the US, through offshore investments or by concealing their properties to US tax authorities.
4) When is a person considered to be impacted by FATCA?
Individuals
You are affected by FATCA if you present signals that determine the application of legal provisions, such as: US citizenship, US birthplace, US correspondence address or US telephone number, permanent funds transfer instructions to the USA, right of account signature assigned to a person with an address in the USA, etc.
Entity (Legal entities)
You are affected by FATCA if you present signals that determine the application of the legal provisions, such as: country of registration / residence in the US, address of residence or correspondence in the US, etc.
The listed criteria is not limiting, so please check your framing as a US person by visiting www.mfinante.ro or www.irs.gov/FATCA.
5) What information is reported?
The information provided by Law 233/2015 and by the Law no. 207/2015, such as: the name and address of the account holder, fiscal identification number (TIN), date and place of birth of the account holder, account number, account balance or account value, etc.
6) What does the term "TIN" mean?
The term TIN means a federal US taxpayer identification number and may result from an official document issued by US authorities such as the Tax Identification Number (TIN) or Social Security Number (SSN) or Employer Identification Number (EIN) ) or any other relevant tax note.
7) The FATCA forms you can use:
- The W-9 Form - Form for a US person - represents the request for an Identification number and the statement of the taxpayer;
- The W-8BEN Form - Form for a non-US natural person – represents the certificate of status of the real beneficiary for source taxation and reporting for non-US Individuals;
- The W-8BEN-E Form - Form for non-US legal entity- represents a certificate of status of the real beneficiary for source taxation and reporting for legal entities
8) Is Alpha Bank the only one requesting this information?
No. All financial institutions in the Romanian banking system participate in the application of the FATCA provisions.
9) These reports involves personal data processing
We would like to remind you that natural persons benefit from the rights provided by Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation), in particular the right for information to be provided, the right of access, the right to rectification, the right to object, the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, rights that may be exercised in accordance with the applicable legal provisions.
For any request, information or notice regarding the exercise of these rights, you can contact us using the following communication channels:
- On the www.alphabank.ro website, the Contact section;
- by email, at DPO@alphabank.ro;
- At Alpha Bank Romania units by completing the dedicated form or a written request;
- In writing, at the Alpha Bank office, located in Platinum Business & Convention Center Building, Sos. Bucuresti-Ploiesti, No. 172-176, 4th floor, District 1, Bucharest, Romania.
Your refusal to allow the processing of personal data for the purpose mentioned in this document may have the consequence of closing your accounts or the refusal of the Bank to open a new account.
For more information about FATCA, please visit: www.mfinante.ro or www.irs.gov/FATCA.
CRS
1) What is CRS?
CRS (Common reporting Standard) is a global standard issued by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for the automatic exchange of financial information between the tax authorities of the participating States, in order to Prevent and reduce cross-border tax evasion of foreign tax residents in connection with their foreign accounts.
2) What is the purpose of CRS?
Financial institutions in Romania are required to apply certain precautionary procedures to identify the accounts of natural and legal clients (foreign fiscal residents, ie those who have a tax residence in another state / and in a state other than Romania) and report to the National Agency for Fiscal Administration ("ANAF") a series of fiscal information regarding the accounts held by them. ANAF will report the information to the fiscal authority in the country / countries of residence of the customer.
3) Since when did CRS apply?
In Romania, the Fiscal Procedure Code entered into force on January 1, 2016 and transposes at a national level the European Union Directive 107/2014, which amended the European Directive 16/2011 on the compulsory automatic exchange of information in the field of taxation.
4) Which countries are part of the CRS agreement?
The full list of participating States to the CRS is constantly changing, so please consult the links below for your correct information:
5) Who is impacted by CRS?
The provisions of the CRS apply to all clients of Romanian financial institutions, natural and legal entities, who have a fiscal residence in another state that is a signatory of the agreement and / or in another signatory state of the agreement other than Romania.
6) What are the signals that can determine a customer being reported to ANAF according to the CRS?
Natural person: residence / address of residence (domicile / residence) / correspondence address in another signatory country of the agreement or customer has one or more telephone numbers in another signatory state of the agreement and no telephone number in Romania or proxy / empowerment granted to a person with their address in another signatory state of the agreement, etc.
Entity (legal entities): residence / address of residence / correspondence / place of registration / establishment in another signatory state of the agreement other than Romania etc.
7) Will I automatically be reported if I present one or more of the CRS signals?
No, your identification with one or more of the CRS signals does not determine the automatic framing as a reportable person.
8) What do I have to do to establish / clarify the status of a reportable / non-reportable CRS person?
For determining the status of a reportable / non-reportable CRS person, a form must be filled in which you declare the country of fiscal residence / tax residence countries, the fiscal identification number / numbers assigned by the relevant authorities (if applicable) and present the document/s to support the information provided within the form.
9) If I present one of the CRS signals but I have my tax residence only in Romania will I be reported?
If the only tax residence is in Romania, according to your own liability statement from the time you complete the above mentioned form, you will not be considered a CRS reportable person. In case of changes from the CRS side, please inform us about this aspect and fill in a new form.
10) How can I get the form that should be filled in for determining the status of a CRS reportable / non-reportable person?
Download here for individuals or legal entities.
11) What do I have to do if I have been notified by the Bank that I have been identified with one or more CRS signals mentioned above and I consider that I have no fiscal link with a member state other than Romania?
Please present yourself to one of the Alpha Bank units to clarify the situation and update your data or contact the Alpha Bank staff from the branch where you have opened your account at the phone numbers listed on www.alphabank.ro.
12) Is it necessary to go in person to the Bank to complete the above mentioned form?
No, it is not necessary. You can send the signed form together with the documents that support the filled in information on the e-mail address corresponding to the bank unit in which you have opened your account. Thee-mail addresses can be found here.
13) What information will be reported?
The Bank will only transmit the information required by legal regulations such as: name, address, member state of your residence, Fiscal Identification Number (NIF), as well as the date and place of birth, account number, the account’s balance or the amount valid at the end of the reporting calendar year or, in the case the account was closed during the reporting year, the balance or the value of the last transaction immediately prior to the account’s closure, etc.
14) Is Alpha Bank the only one requesting this information?
No. CRS requirements apply to all financial institutions in Romania.
15. These reports involves personal data processing
We would like to remind you that natural persons benefit from the rights provided by Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation), in particular the right for information to be provided, the right of access, the right to rectification, the right to object, the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, rights that may be exercised in accordance with the applicable legal provisions.
For any request, information or notice regarding the exercise of these rights, you can contact us using the following communication channels:
- On the www.alphabank.ro, the Contact section;
- by email, at DPO@alphabank.ro;
- At Alpha Bank Romania units by completing the dedicated form or a written request;
- In writing, at the Alpha Bank office, located in Platinum Business & Convention Center Building, Sos. Bucuresti-Ploiesti, No. 172-176, 4th floor, District 1, Bucharest, Romania.
Your refusal to allow the processing of personal data for the purpose mentioned in this document may have the consequence of closing your accounts or the refusal of the Bank to open a new account.
For more information about CRS, visit www.oecd.org.