IRS Announces Testing Dates for FATCA Data Exchange System

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.

• 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.

• 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.