Individual clients FAQs

If you are deemed a US person*, you may be requested to supply Nedbank with additional information and/or documentation. For more information visit the website www.irs.gov.

If you are deemed a US person*, Nedbank will be required to report information about you and your account to the South African Revenue Service* (SARS) on an annual basis. 

It is important to remember that, although the responsibility to prove your tax status rests with you, the account holder*; Nedbank must apply a reasonability test on the information provided by you in the Nedbank FATCA and CRS Individual and Controlling Person Self-certification form. This may result in you being reported to SARS if the answers to the FATCA questions do not correspond to your “Know your client” (KYC)* information.

*For any defined terms please see the Table of terms and definitions. 

If you are not a US person* as defined, then FATCA* will have a minimal impact on you.

Nedbank will, however, still need you to complete a Nedbank FATCA and CRS Individual and Controlling Person Self-certification form because we still need you to self-certify that you are not a US person*.

Nedbank may also have to request additional documentation if we have reason to believe that your circumstances have changed.

*For any defined terms please see the Table of terms and definitions. 

FATCA* does not replace the existing US tax regimes. It may, however, add additional requirements and complexity to the existing tax rules you may already follow. We recommend that you contact a professional tax advisor to discuss your personal tax situation.

*For any defined terms please see the Table of terms and definitions.

Nedbank will report the required information to SARS* to comply with the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act* (FATCA) and the Common Reporting Standard* (CRS) for all accounts held by US persons*, or account holders* that have tax obligations*, tax liabilities* or tax residencies* outside South Africa.

This information will be the same information provided by you in the Nedbank FATCA and CRS Individual and Controlling Person Self-certification form:

• Your name. 
• Your address. 
• Your identification number. 
• Your account number. 
• Each country of tax residence that you have tax obligations* in. 
• Every taxpayer identification number* (TIN) that you have provided, or the reason why you do not have a TIN. 
• The aggregated year-end balance for all your accounts. 
• The gross proceeds on any disposal, income flows, gross withdrawals, or payments from your stockbroking and/or unit trust accounts. 
• All payments made to your accounts, where you have failed to become FATCA compliant.

*For any defined terms please see the Table of terms and definitions.

The term 'TIN' means taxpayer identification number*. A TIN is a unique combination of letters or numbers assigned by a jurisdiction to an individual or an entity to identify the individual or entity for the purposes of administering the tax laws of such jurisdiction.

In some jurisdictions TINs are not issued at all. However, in other cases, instead of a TIN being issued, a functional equivalent can be used, such as a high-integrity number with an equivalent level of identification. Examples of that type of number include, for entities, a business/company registration code/number. 

Please note:

• In the US for individuals, your TIN would be referred to as your Social Security Number 
• In the UK for individuals your TIN would either be a tax number, OR your National Insurance Number 

* For any defined terms please see the Table of terms and definitions.

Even though you have no connections to the US, or have no foreign tax obligations*, you will still need to confirm whether or not, you are a US Person* and/or have tax obligations*, tax liabilities* or tax residencies* outside of South Africa.

Nedbank will request you to provide us with a Nedbank FATCA and CRS Individual and Controlling Person Self-certification form. 

Nedbank may also have to request additional documentation if we have reason to believe that your circumstances have changed.

*For any defined terms please see the Table of terms and definitions. 

Yes, your account will be subject to the rules of FATCA* due to the definition of what a US Person* is.

*For any defined terms please see the Table of terms and definitions. 

A joint account that has one US* owner is treated as a US account and the entire account is subject to the FATCA legislation. For example, if an account with a balance of R500 000 is held by a local citizen and a US person*, Nedbank will report the US person* and the entire account balance of R500 000 to the South African Revenue Service* (SARS).

*For any defined terms please see the Table of terms and definitions. 

If an account is regarded as an equally held joint account, such as a joint bond, each person is regarded as a controlling person* of that account.

Where an account is jointly held the balance or value in the account will be attributed in full to each controlling person of the joint account should those persons be Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act* (FATCA) or Common Reporting Standard* (CRS) reportable. 

Where one of the controlling persons of this joint account is a US person*, or has tax obligations*, tax liabilities*, or tax residencies* outside of South Africa (reportable person*), the full balance of the joint account will be reported under the name of the reportable person* to the South African Revenue Service* (SARS).

If an account is jointly held by an individual and an entity*, the financial institution* (FI) that maintains the account will need to apply the due diligence requirements separately to both the individual and the entity in relation to that account. The FI would need to identify the controlling person of the entity that is the joint account holder*. 

*For any defined terms please see the Table of terms and definitions.

If a person has a general power of attorney over an account, and that person is either a US person*, and/or has tax obligations*, tax liabilities* or tax residencies* outside of South Africa (reportable person); and both the account holder* and the person with said power of attorney, transact on the account, then the full balance of the account will be reported under the name of the general power of attorney holder to the South African Revenue Service* (SARS). [Please note that the account holder does not have any indicia (indicators)].

A reportable person* is any person that is a US person*, or has tax obligations*, tax liabilities* or tax residencies* outside of South Africa.

*For any defined terms please see the Table of terms and definitions. 

The FATCA intergovernmental agreement* (IGA) and the CRS* legislation do not differentiate between individual account holders* based on their status. Thus, diplomats, or asylum seekers, or refugees or other individuals must be treated in the same way as any other individual under FATCA and CRS.

The fact that an asylum seeker or refugee has a valid permit or identity number issued in terms of section 30 of Refugees Act, 1998, is not an indication that that person is necessarily tax resident in the country that issued the permit. He/she may still have tax obligations* or tax liabilities* or tax residencies* outside pf South Africa. 

It is important that all diplomats, asylum seekers and refugees understand that client information is protected by a strict code of secrecy and security which all members of the Nedbank Group, their staff and third parties are subject to. This includes the use, retention, disposal, safeguarding and disclosure of personal information to third parties.

Furthermore, all data transmitted to the South African Revenue Service* (SARS) is encrypted. 

*For any defined terms please see the Table of terms and definitions.