In a fast-changing world and an increasingly complex regulatory framework, businesses need to be able to call on an experienced team of legal, tax and advisory professionals to help them comply with reporting requirements on a day-to-day basis.

FATCA reporting services

The annual reporting obligation stemming from the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act has been effective since December 31, 2014. Since the first filing deadline in 2015, any Luxembourg-reporting foreign financial institution (FFI) is required to submit an annual report to the grand duchy's Direct Taxation Authority (ACD) by June 30 of each year (a date that the ACD has the power to change).

The ACD requires Luxembourg FFIs to report through the authorised communication channels Fundsquare or SOFiE either a mandatory 'nil' report, if no account has been identified as reportable, or a full report containing all types of reportable account.

Our flexible solutions enable clients to benefit from Arendt's broad expertise in whatever areas they need. Most FFIs have already identified and classified their reportable accounts and need assistance only in producing and filing the FATCA report to the ACD - although other institutions may require more extensive support.

Thus our FATCA reporting services are customised and may include any or all of:

• Identification of reportable accounts
• Assistance in reviewing the FATCA report content
• Production of the XML report prior to filing, together with a PDF report allowing the officer in charge to validate the content of the XML file
• Filing with the ACD of the XML report, for instance if produced in-house by the FFI

If need be, we can help you define your FATCA strategy to ensure full and effective compliance with the legislation.

CRS reporting services

The OECD's Common Reporting Standard (CRS), which has been in force since January 1, 2016, obliges Luxembourg financial institutions to report on an annual basis detailed personal and financial information concerning account-holders that have been identified and classified as reportable by institutions to the ACD.

Although similar to FATCA in its concept and approach, CRS is different in terms of the volume of information and the number of account-holders in scope.

The ACD requires Luxembourg institutions to report through the authorised communication channels Fundsquare or SOFiE either an optional 'nil' report, if no account has been identified as reportable, or a full report containing all types of reportable account.

Our flexible solutions enable clients to benefit from Arendt's broad expertise in whatever areas they need. Most Luxembourg financial institutions have already identified and classified their reportable accounts and need assistance only in producing and filing the CRS report to the appropriate tax authority - but other institutions can ask for more extensive support.

Our customised CRS reporting services are available for different jurisdictions - Belgium, the Cayman Islands, France, Luxembourg, the UK and Switzerland - and may include any or all of:

• Identification of reportable accounts
• Assistance in reviewing the CRS report content
• Production of the XML report prior to its filing, together with a PDF report allowing the officer in charge to validate the content of the XML file
• Filing with the relevant tax authority of the XML report, for instance if produced in-house by the institution

If need be, we can help you define your CRS strategy to ensure full and effective compliance with the standard.

Arno - the combined FATCA and CRS reporting solution

To help our clients manage their their FATCA and CRS reporting, Arendt has developed a flexible reporting software application in partnership with Nowina Solutions, a Luxembourg firm specialising in e-signature and paperless digital-processing technology. Known as Arno, the application adds value by improving the quality of data in the source system, supporting high volumes of data thanks to filtering and splitting capabilities, and ensuring that technical standards and business rules are up to date at all times. Whether used as a service or installed at your premises under licence, Arno harmonises the treatment of financial accounts for FATCA and CRS purposes on a single platform.

Country-by-country reporting services

On December 13, 2016, to ensure compliance with the OECD action plan on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting, Luxembourg's parliament adopted legislation implementing country-by-country reporting and transposing into national law the EU directive of May 25, 2016 on mandatory automatic exchange of information for tax purposes and new reporting obligations for multinational companies. We provide assistance with the legislation and help our clients assess its impact on their group companies by:

• Determining whether or not they are reporting entities
• Identifying information the group entity must file if it is a reporting entity under the Luxembourg law, or on which they must provide information if they are part of a multinational enterprise containing corporate entities tax-resident in different jurisdictions under the country-by-country reporting rules, and to whom
• Working to the key deadlines set by the Luxembourg law
• Raising awareness of the risks, including sanctions, in the event of non-compliance

In addition, gathering and aggregating country-by-country reporting data and determining its accuracy, consistency and appropriateness is critical for the data process of any multinational enterprise to ensure the correct communication of data to the appropriate jurisdictions.

The Arendt group has developed an IT tool for the preparation of country-by-country reporting mandated by Luxembourg law, designed with the flexibility to adjust to a client's particular requirements and assist in displaying reporting data for the whole group in order to ensure compliance with the requirements. We can also assist with notification obligations for Luxembourg-based entities within the multinational group.