Cayman Economic Substance Updates and Private Funds Annual Return

Regulations Extend Economic Substance Regime to Partnerships

Following Cabinet approval, the Cayman Island’s Government had on 29 June 2021 published the International Tax Co-operation (Economic Substance) (Amendment of Schedule) Regulations, 2021 and the International Tax Co-operation (Economic Substance) (Prescribed Dates) (Amendment) Regulations, 2021 that bring in the general partnerships, limited partnerships, exempted limited partnerships and foreign limited partnerships under the scope of economic substance requirements with effect from 30 June 2021.

As a result, all types of partnerships will be legally required to notify the Tax Information Authority (TIA) of their operations in the jurisdiction each year whether they are conducting any relevant activities as defined under the regulations. Only partnership conducting relevant economic substance activity will be required to satisfy the ES Test and file an annual return.

While investment funds, local partnerships (such as businesses that fall under the Trade and Business Licensing Act) and partnerships verified by TIA as tax resident outside of Cayman will be required to notify TIA of their operations but be treated as out of economic substance scope and exempted to satisfy the ES test and file an annual return.

The International Tax Co-operation (Economic Substance) (Prescribed Dates) (Amendment) Regulations, 2021 specifies that partnerships formed on and after 1 July 2021 are obligated to meet economic substance requirements from the date on which they commence the relevant activity. Partnerships formed prior to 1 July 2021 must satisfy the economic substance test from 1 January 2022.

In conjunction with the regulations, the economic substance guidance version 3.1 is available on the Department for International Tax Cooperation website:

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DITC Updates Bulletin

The Cayman Islands Department for International Tax Cooperation (the “DITC”) published an Updates Bulletin (the “Updates Bulletin”) on 2 July 2021 - PDF

Please refer to the Updates Bulletin for further details on CRS and FATCA Reporting and Economic Substance Reporting.

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CRS & FATCA Reporting Reminders

The DITC Portal is now open for 2020 FATCA XML uploads.

The DITC is not currently planning any extensions to the reporting deadline and FIs are encouraged to commence their reporting early to ensure it is submitted before the 31 July deadline.

A CRS Filing Declaration and CRS Compliance Form are mandatory for all FIs with CRS reporting obligations, including Trustee Documented Trusts (“TDTs”). Failure to submit either by the respective deadlines is an offence under Part 2 of the Regulations.

The inability to log in to the DITC Portal and submit reporting will not be a defence for a failure to submit reporting.

The reporting deadlines are set out in the table below:

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Each Cayman Islands company, partnership and trust, and its directors or equivalent fiduciaries, must ensure that it has been correctly classified for the purposes of the CRS and /or FATCA Regulations (“Regulations”). The DITC will match CRS & FATCA notification data against other data sources, such as Economic Substance notifications (“ESNs”), CIMA licences/registrations, General Registry nature of business classifications, and the IRS GIIN registration list. It is an offence under the Regulations for Financial Institutions (“FIs”) to fail to notify the DITC of their correct classification under the Regulations. Every FI with reporting obligations must also observe all other requirements under the Regulations. The DITC will consider appropriate compliance and enforcement action where misclassification is discovered.

Each FI and its directors, or equivalent fiduciaries, are responsible for compliance with the Regulations and may be liable to administrative penalties or other sanctions in the event of non-compliance.

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Economic Substance

The Economic Substance Notification submission window for the financial year commencing in 2021 is open. This is primarily to facilitate entities who wish to submit their ESNs in advance of dissolving/winding up/deregistering during the financial year which commences in 2021.

You are reminded to double-check if you have been correctly classified on the Economic Substance Notification (“ESN”) submitted via CAP for the purposes of the ES Act and are complying with all applicable obligations.

DITC recommends that where the investment fund exception is claimed on the ESN, the Entity provides its CIMA/GIIN or FI number. If the Entity does not have a CIMA/GIIN or FI number but another investment fund that directly or indirectly invests or operates through the Entity has these numbers, the Entity should check the relevant box on the ESN and input the CIMA, FI or IRS GIIN of that investment fund.

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Fund Annual Return (“FAR”) filings for Private Funds

The Private Funds (Annual Returns) Regulations, 2021 was gazetted on 25 March 2021 and details the reporting requirements to be submitted via the Form when submitting audited financial statements to the Authority. The Form is in the process of being developed and therefore not currently available. The Authority expects to have the Form(s) released by 30 June 2021 and therefore the deadline for filing of the audited accounts and Form has been extended to 30 September 2021.

A further notice will be issued on the release of the Form. In the interim, Private Funds will therefore not be subject to any related penalties for non-compliance with section 13 of the Private Funds Act (2021 Revision).

Please do not hesitate to contact your relationship manager for further assistance.

Thank you for your attention to these matters.

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PORTCULLIS GROUP
www.portcullis.co

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開曼群島經濟實質更新與私募基金年度申報

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經濟實質條例規範擴及合夥公司

在開曼群島內閣核准之後，政府隨即於2021年6月29日公布2021年國際稅賦合作（經濟實質）（時程修正）條例 及2021年國際稅賦合作（經濟實質）（法定日期）（修正）條例，上述條例將一般合夥企業、有限合夥企業、豁免有限合夥企業、外國有限合夥企業納入經濟實質規定所適用的範圍內，自2021年6月30日起生效。

因此，所有型態的合夥企業，無論是否經營法規所指的任何相關業務，皆須每年依法將其在本地的營運通報稅務資訊管理局（「稅資局」）。但僅經營相關經濟實質業務的合夥企業，方須通過經濟實質檢查及提交年度申報書。

投資基金、本地合夥企業（例如「貿易與事業證照核准法」所規範的事業）以及經稅資局認可為開曼境外稅務居民的合夥企業，必須將其營運通報稅資局，但皆被視為屬於經濟實質規定所適用的範圍外，而無須通過經濟實質檢查及提交年度申報書。

依2021年國際稅賦合作（經濟實質）（法定日期）（修正）條例的規定，在2021年7月1日當日或之後組成的合夥企業，必須自其開辦相關業務之日起即遵守經濟實質規定。而在2021年7月1日之前組成的合夥企業，則須自2022年1月1日起通過經濟實質檢查。

附屬於上述條例的經濟實質施行細則3.1版，登載於國際稅賦合作處的網站上
(https://www.ditc.ky/wp-content/uploads/Economic-Substance-Guidance.pdf) 。

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國際稅賦合作處的更新事項公告欄

開曼群島國際稅賦合作處（「國稅處」）已於2021年7月2日公布一個更新事項公告欄 （ 「 更 新 事 項 公 告 欄 」 ）
(https://www.ditc.ky/wpcontent/uploads/news-updates.pdf)。關於「共同申報準則」及「外國帳戶稅收遵從法」申報及經濟實質申報的進一步詳細資訊，請參閱更新事項公告欄。

「共同申報準則」及「外國帳戶稅收遵從法」申報提醒事項

國稅處入口網站已開放給2020 「外國帳戶稅收遵從法」XML上載資料。

國稅處目前不計畫展延申報的最後期限，因此各金融機構應盡早開始申報，以確保在7月31日期限前完成申報。

對於有「共同申報準則」申報義務的所有金融機構而言，包括受託人記錄的信託基金（Trustee Documented Trusts），「共同申報準則申報聲明書」及「共同申報準則遵從表」乃屬強制必要文件。逾期未提交上述任一文件者，即屬觸犯條例第2篇規定的罪行。

因無法登入國稅處入口網站而無法提出申報，不能成為未申報的辯護理由。

各項申報期限如下表所示：

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開曼群島各公司、合夥企業及信託基金，以及其董事或同等受託人，必須確保其已就「共同申報準則」及/或「外國帳戶稅收遵從法」（合稱「相關法規」）的目的而予以正確分類。國稅處將以「共同申報準則」及「外國帳戶稅收遵從法」通報資料，比對其他資料來源的資料，例如經濟實質通報書、開曼群島金融管理局證照/註冊資料、事業分類性質總註冊處、美國國稅局全球中間機構識別碼登記清單等。金融機構未向國稅處通報其依相關法規的正確分類者，即屬觸犯相關法規的罪行。負有申報義務的各機融機構，亦須遵守相關法規的所有其他規定。若發現錯誤分類，國稅處將審酌適當的法遵及執行處分。

各機融機構與其董事或同等受託人，必須負責遵守相關法規，若發生未守法的情形，可能遭受行政處罰或其他懲罰。

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經濟實質

對於2021年開始的財務年度的經濟實質通報書，提交窗口已經開放。此舉主要是為協助於2021年開始的財務年度內，希望在解散/停業/撤銷登記之前提交經濟實質通報書的實體。

若在為遵守經濟實質法而經由CAP提交的經濟實質通報書上，貴公司已正確分類，並已遵守所有相關義務，謹在此提醒 貴公司再檢查一次。

國稅處建議，實體在經濟實質通報書上聲明投資基金例外情形者，則應提供其開曼群島金融管理局/全球中間機構識別碼或金融機構編號。若該實體無開曼群島金融管理局/全球中間機構識別碼或金融機構編號，但透過該實體而直接或間接投資或經營的他家投資基金有上述號碼，則該實體應在經濟實質通報書上勾選相關欄位，並填寫該投資基金的開曼群島金融管理局編號、金融機構編號或美國國稅局全球中間機構識別碼。

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提交私募基金的基金年度申報表（「基金年度申報表」）

2021年私募基金（年度申報表）條例已於2021年3月25日刊載於公報上，並詳述在向主管機關提交經查核的財務報表時，應以制式表格提交的申報規定。制式表格尚在擬定中，因此目前尚無法提供。主管機關期望在2021年6月30日之前可公布表格，因此，經查核的會計帳目及表格的提交期限，已展延至2021年9月30日。

表格公布時，將另行通知。在此期間，私募基金不會因未遵守私募基金法（2021年修改法）第13條而遭受任何相關處罰。

若需進一步協助，請洽詢 貴公司的關係經理。

感謝貴公司對此事的關注。

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保得利集團
www.portcullis.co