Rule 239 - Information to be maintained and reported

Information maintenance and reporting. 239. (1) A reporting financial institution shall maintain and report, for each reportable account: the name, address, tax identification number, and (for an individual) date and place of birth of each reportable account holder (with additional self-certification and joint-account details required for non-U.S. reportable accounts); where an entity account-holder has one or more controlling persons who are reportable persons, the entity's own name/address/TIN together with each such controlling person's name, address, date/place of birth and TIN (plus, for non-U.S. accounts, each person's specific controlling role and self-certification status); the account number or its functional equivalent (plus account type and new/pre-existing status for non-U.S. accounts); the account balance or value at year-end (or immediately before closure); for a custodial account, gross interest, dividends and other income credited, plus gross proceeds from sales or redemptions; for a depository account, gross interest credited; for other accounts, the total gross amount credited to the holder; and, for 2015-2016, payments made to non-participating financial institutions. The specific clauses required to be reported are phased in by calendar year: clauses (a)-(d) for 2014 (U.S. reportable accounts only); clauses (a)-(d), (f)-(h) and part of (e) for 2015 (U.S. reportable accounts only); the full clause set for 2016 onward (all reportable accounts, with a slightly narrower set from 2017 onward); with a transitional TIN-reporting relief for U.S. reportable accounts already open as of 30 June 2014. (2) For these purposes, "account holder" means the person listed as holder by the financial institution (excluding an intermediary such as an agent, custodian, nominee or investment advisor holding on another's behalf, who is instead looked through to that other person; for a cash-value insurance or annuity contract, the account holder is the person entitled to the maturity payment, cash value, or beneficiary-change right, or, absent such a person, the named contract owner); and "taxpayer identification number" means the number (or functional equivalent) assigned by the person's country of tax residence. (3) Where a person is tax-resident in more than one country outside India, the institution shall maintain the TIN for each such country. (4) For a pre-existing account, the TIN or date of birth need not be reported if not already in the institution's records, but the institution must obtain both by 31 December 2016 (reporting from calendar year 2017 onward), and, for non-U.S. accounts, whenever it updates the account's information under the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 rules. (5) A TIN need not be reported where the relevant country does not issue TINs, or its domestic law does not require their collection. (6) Place of birth need not be reported unless already available in the institution's electronically searchable data. (7) Gross sale/redemption proceeds need not be reported (for non-U.S. accounts) to the extent already reported under the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, unless the institution elects otherwise for a clearly identified group of accounts. (8) The statement of reportable accounts under section 508(1)(k) shall be furnished for each account identified as reportable under the rule 240 due-diligence procedure, with a nil statement required where none are identified. (9) The statement shall be furnished in Form No. 166, in the manner the Principal Director General or Director General of Income-tax (Systems) specifies with Board approval, by 31 May following the relevant calendar year. (10) The statement shall be furnished to the Director or Joint Director of Income-tax (Intelligence and Criminal Investigation) via online electronic transmission under digital signature, per the data structure the Principal Director General of Income-tax (Systems) specifies (a digital signature here meaning one issued by a Certifying Authority authorised by the Controller of Certifying Authorities); that authority shall also specify the procedures, data structures and standards for secure capture, transmission, archival and retrieval. (11) Every reporting financial institution shall communicate its Designated Director's and Principal Officer's details to the Principal Director General of Income-tax (Systems) and obtain a registration number; the statement shall be signed, verified and furnished by the Designated Director (or, for a non-resident institution, a person holding that Director's valid power of attorney); and the institution, its Designated Director, Principal Officer and employees must follow their regulator's specified procedures - with "Designated Director" and "Principal Officer" defined in the same manner as under rule 237(9), and "regulator" meaning a licensing, authorising, registering, regulating or supervising body. (12) The relevant regulator shall issue instructions incorporating the rules 238-240 reporting and due-diligence requirements, the procedure for maintaining information, and ensuring the institution has access to information it needs for reporting even where not otherwise required to maintain it; and every institution shall maintain its financial-account information per its regulator's specified procedure so as to meet its reporting and due-diligence obligations under this rule and rule 240. (13) For non-U.S. reportable accounts maintained as of 31 December 2025, information on a reportable person's specific controlling or equity-interest-holder role need only be reported (through the second calendar year following that date) if already available in the institution's electronically searchable data.