25OIA2204 Response Letter.pdf

[IN CONFIDENCE RELEASE EXTERNAL]
25OIA2204
13 May 2025
Nicholas Lee
[FYI request #30835 email]
Dear Nicholas Lee
Thank you for your request made under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA), received on 27
April 2025. You requested the following:
I request access to all memos, communications and documents in the possession or under
the control of Inland Revenue related to "IRS Notice 2024-78" [link to notice]. I additionally
request access to all memos, communications, and documents related to "IRS Notice 2023-
11" [link to notice].
Of particular interest are any matters relating to the requirements set forth on page 8 of 2024-
78 and page 11 of 2023-11, regarding eligible Model 1 IGA jurisdictions.
I  further  kindly  request  that  the  documents  include  all  communications  between  the
government and financial institutions regarding the obligation of Model 1 IGA countries [New
Zealand] as specified in the notice to "Encourage FFIs located in a Model 1 IGA jurisdiction to
not discriminate against U.S. citizens that do provide a U.S. TIN."
There are four requirements, hereafter referred to as Requirement (1) through (4), set out on
page 11 of IRS Notice 2023-11 and page 8 of IRS Notice 2024-78.
Information being released
There  are  three  emails  in  scope  of  your  request,  detailed  in  the  table  below.  I  am  partially
releasing these emails, attached as Appendix A, with some information withheld under section
9(2)(a) of the OIA to protect the privacy of natural persons.
Please note that the information relating to Requirement (3) is included in the email dated 28
February 2025.
Item  Date
Document
1.
23/01/2023  Email titled: Notice 2023-11 – FFI Temporary U.S. TIN Relief
2.
18/04/2023  Email titled: New TIN Codes For FATCA where a valid US TIN is not held for
reportable account.
3.
28/02/2025  Email titled: Extension of Temporary Relief for Foreign Financial
Institutions to Report U.S. Taxpayer Identification Numbers.
As required by section 9(1) of the OIA, I have considered whether the grounds for withholding
the information requested is outweighed by the public interest. In this instance, I do not
consider that to be the case.
Page 1 of 2

[IN CONFIDENCE RELEASE EXTERNAL]

25OIA2204

Information withheld and refused
I am withholding the information relating to Requirement (2) in full under section 6(b) of the
OIA, as the making available of that information would be likely to prejudice the entrusting of
information to the Government of New Zealand on a basis of confidence by the Government of
any other country or any agency of such a Government or any international organisation.
I am refusing your request for the information relating to Requirement (1) and Requirement (4)
under section 18(d) of the OIA, as the information is publicly available through the following
links:
Item  Date
Document
Website address
1.
01/05/2018  IR1090: Foreign Account Tax
ird.govt.nz/international-
Compliance Act: provision of US
tax/exchange-of-
TINs
information/fatca/important-
documents
2.
12/06/2014  United States Intergovernmental
taxpolicy.ird.govt.nz/tax-treaties
Agreement (FATCA)
Right of review
If you disagree with my decision on your OIA request, you have the right to ask the Ombudsman
to investigate and review my decision under section 28(3) of the OIA. You can contact the office
of the Ombudsman by email at: [email address].
Publishing of OIA response
We intend to publish our response to your request on Inland Revenue’s website (ird.govt.nz) as
this information may be of interest to other members of the public. This letter, with your personal
details removed, may be published in its entirety. Publishing responses increases the availability
of information to the public and is consistent with the OIA's purpose of enabling more effective
participation  in  the  making  and  administration  of  laws  and  policies  and  promoting  the
accountability of officials.
Thank you again for your request.

Yours sincerely

Anu Anand
Service Leader, International Revenue Strategy

Page 2 of 2

The use of “TIN codes” and date of birth information for FATCA reporting where a U.S. TIN has not been
obtained aligns with previous guidance from the IRS. New TIN codes will be issued in early 2023 by the IRS
however the existing TIN codes (issued May 2021) will remain valid for the current year FATCA reporting.

Kind regards
The FATCA Team.

IN CONFIDENCE

In addition, FFIs can no longer use the TIN code AAAAAAAAA.  You would be already aware that this was not a
valid TIN option for the previous reporting period when the U.S. Internal Revenue Service introduced the use
of TIN codes.  The ongoing use of AAAAAAAAA does not meet the requirements for a FFI to get relief under
Notice 2023-11 and, as such, is no longer available to use.  This change is eﬀective now for all reporting years,
including prior year reporting.  So, if you need to do any "new" or "corrected/amended" ﬁles in myIR for prior
year reporting the AAAAAAAAA TIN code cannot now be used.

Inland Revenue has implemented these changes in myIR to allow for these TIN code options to be used.  If you
use the Excel option to report for FATCA, please ensure that you download and use the latest template that
has been now updated with the above chnages.

If you have any questions regarding the use of these TIN codes, please email us at [email address].
Kind regards
The AEOI Team | Inland Revenue
CRS queries email: [email address]
FATCA queries email: [email address]
Link to our CRS/FATCA information: Exchange of information (ird.govt.nz)
Wellington | New Zealand

In Confidence – External Release

Email 3
From:
fatca
Cc:
fatca
Subject:
Extension of Temporary Relief for Foreign Financial Institutions to Report U.S. Taxpayer Identification
Numbers
Date:
Friday, 28 February 2025 1:40:39 pm
[IN CONFIDENCE RELEASE EXTERNAL]
Dear Sir/Madam,
We are writing to advise about the implications of the latest Notice issued by the U.S. Internal
Revenue Service (IRS) for New Zealand Foreign Financial Institutions (FFIs) reporting for FATCA.
Notice 2024-78 provides an extension to the temporary relief for FFIs that have not been able to
obtain U.S. TINs for their pre-existing FATCA reportable account holders and controlling persons.
Its extends, and adds to, Notice 2023-11 (issued 30 December 2022) which outlines what FFIs
must do in order to obtain relief from the U.S. determining they are significantly non-compliant
with their FATCA obligations.
We consider that the key points from the notice are:
The relief extends for calendar years 2025, 2026, and 2027. This will not impact your 31
March 2025 (current year) FATCA reporting, due 30 June 2025. You should continue to
follow the guidance under Notice 2023-11 for the current year in order to obtain the relief.
It relates to pre-existing accounts only and does not apply to new accounts opened after
the IGA came into force.
FFIs must report a valid date of birth and use the prescribed TIN code where a U.S. TIN has
not been obtained.
The notice further sets out expectations for FFIs regarding their annual efforts to obtain
U.S. TINs and documentation of such efforts. An FFI must retain records until 2031 of the
policies and procedures it has adopted to meet these requirements and evidence that
these actions have been undertaken.
FFIs are asked not to discriminate against U.S. citizens that are captured by FATCA reporting
requirements.
Further information:
Notice 2024-78: Notice 2024-78, Extension of Temporary Relief for Foreign Financial
Institutions to Report U.S. Taxpayer Identification Numbers
Notice 2023-11: Foreign Financial Institution Temporary U.S. Taxpayer Identification
Number Relief
If you have any questions, please email us at [email address].
Kind Regards,
The AEOI Team

Inland Revenue | Wellington | New Zealand
CRS queries: [email address] | FATCA queries [email address]
Link to our CRS/FATCA information: Exchange of information (ird.govt.nz)