FATCA News and Information

Useful Links:

IRS.gov Home

FATCA Home

News Essentials

Key FATCA Provisions

News Releases

IRS - The Basics

IRS Guidance

Media Contacts

e-News Subscriptions

IRS Resources

Compliance & Enforcement

Contact My Local Office

Filing Options

Forms & Pubs

Frequently Asked Questions

News

Taxpayer Advocate

Where to File

Issue Number:  2015-9

Inside This Issue

1. New!  FATCA IDES Testing Dates  

The FATCA International Data Exchange Service (IDES) will open testing from Tuesday, March 10 at 2:00 a.m. EDT to Thursday, March 12 at 5:00 p.m. EDT.  The test session will be open to financial institutions and tax administrations that have completed IDES enrollment by Thursday, March 5, 2015 at 5:00 p.m. EST. In order to complete the enrollment process, you will need an IRS-issued GIIN or HCTA Entity ID, a username, and a valid certificate.  IDES does not accept wildcard certificates. Visit the FATCA IDES web page for a list of recommended certificate authorities. Enrolled users will receive an email with a link to the IDES test web application on Monday, March 9, 2015.

Note:  The test files MUST be submitted to the test link listed below and MUST contain only test data.  No actual taxpayer information can be sent through the testing system.  Test data should ONLY be sent to the test system and not to the production system. 

Before you begin testing:
- Review the user guides, data preparation instructions and sample test packet.
- Configure alert and notification preferences on the IDES Enrollment site.
- Configure your email system to accept e-mails from the idesgateway.com domain.

Guidelines for data packets and transmissions:
- Follow the guidelines for recommended file names. File names are case sensitive and any variation in name, extension, characters or format may cause a transmission failure.  Additional details can be found in the IDES User Guide (Rev 2-2015).
- Use test data only. The test files should not contain any production data or personally identifiable information, such as the taxpayer number, account number, or social security number.

Assistance during testing:
- If you need assistance with enrollment, contact the IDES Help Desk.
- If you need additional information about Data Preparation or other aspects of FATCA reporting please visit the IRS FATCA website.

Back to top