​The Commissioner for Revenue has published today a unified set of guidelines on automatic exchange of financial account information here. These guidelines incorporate further clarifications and salient changes which include:

• A clarification on entity classification pertaining to Cell Companies in line with the previous determinations issued by the Commissioner for Revenue.
• The elimination of Holding and Treasury Company FI in FATCA. In this regard, Holding and Treasury Companies of FIs which do not fall within the definition of a Financial Institution are no longer deemed as Financial Institutions.
• Clarification on Distributed Ledger Technology Assets to align it with the Guidelines issued by the Commissioner for Revenue on this matter for tax purposes.
• More complete notes on Registration and Modifications of Domestic Registrations and the introduction of guidance on the cancellation of domestic registration and GIIN.
• Clarifications on reporting obligations pertaining to structures with underlying structures which do not have a separate legal personality. 
• The definition of Passive Income has been aligned in its entirety with the Income Tax Act to ensure more certainty. 
• Current CBI / RBI Guidelines will be extended to FATCA.
• Changes in deadlines limited to the “Excel Spreadsheet” Submissions.
• Detailed Guidelines on the Completion of Data Elements.
• Updated information on Recalcitrant Accounts / Undocumented Accounts.