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FATCA overview

Commercial Banking – Hong Kong SAR

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is a new piece of legislation by the United States Department of Treasury (Treasury) and the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to counter tax evasion in the US. HSBC is committed to being fully FATCA compliant in all countries and territories where we operate, in accordance with the legislative timeline. This means that HSBC may need to provide information on US accounts to the United States tax authority, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

In order to establish your tax status, we need to obtain certain documents. These documents are HSBC declarations and/or US tax forms that will enable you to declare and confirm your tax status to us for the purposes of FATCA. We also need your formation documents, for example, your certificate of incorporation or a similar type of document confirming your place of incorporation.

Please send the completed documents to us at this address: PO Box 74523, Kowloon Central Post Office; or hand them in to the team at your local branch. Should you have problems printing the forms you need, please contact your local branch.

Please read the information carefully and select the document that is appropriate to your company. If you are unsure, you should seek advice from a tax advisor. HSBC cannot provide tax advice.

To illustrate examples of documentation necessary for FATCA classification purposes in certain scenarios, please refer to our table of examples about FATCA Status and the relevant documentation. Please note that this table is for reference only and is not exhaustive.

FATCA declaration for non-profit organisations: This is an HSBC form, aimed at non-profit organisations, to sign in place of one of the US W-8 series tax forms. Please read the form carefully to ensure you meet the relevant conditions. If you are not satisfied that you meet the relevant conditions, then please select an alternative from the US tax forms (IRS W forms) provided.

FATCA declaration for active non-financial foreign entities: This is an HSBC form, aimed at non-US trading businesses and companies, to sign in place of one of the US W-8 series tax forms. Please read the form carefully to ensure you meet the relevant conditions. If you are not satisfied that you meet the relevant conditions, then please select an alternative from the US tax forms (IRS W forms) provided.

Substitute Form W-8BEN-E (applicable to Active Non-Financial Foreign Entities) : This is an HSBC form, aimed at trading businesses and companies which are a Hong Kong tax resident only , to sign in place of one of the US W-8 series tax forms for the purpose of trading US stocks. Please read the form carefully to ensure you meet the relevant conditions. If you meet any of the following criteria: (1) is a non-HK tax resident; (2) is a Disregarded Entity for US tax purposes; (3) has a Chapter 3 status (entity type) other than Corporation; (4) has a Chapter 4 status (FATCA status) other than Active NFFE; and/or (5) is entitled to claim special tax treaty rates, then please you’ll need to complete an alternative US tax form (IRS W-form). 

W-9 form: This is the withholding certificate referred to as a ‘W-9’ on the IRS website. This form is completed to confirm US tax status.

W-8 forms: This is a link to the withholding certificates referred to as ‘W-8s’ on the IRS website. This is a series of forms that are completed to confirm non-US tax status.

In order to provide customers with further support when completing IRS W forms, we have provided some additional customer guidance for the forms W-9, W-8BEN and W-8BEN-E.

Withholding Statements
A range of Withholding Statements have been produced, which can be used when providing a Form W-8IMY.

Global Intermediary Identification Numbers
HSBC has published its Global Intermediary Identification Numbers (HSBC GIINs).

(Page last updated September 2023)

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