Federal housing law
0720 Publ 5188 (PDF)
Federal housing law as enacted — verbatim and citable.
- Edition
- 2026-10-03
- Last updated
- 2026-10-04
- Jurisdiction
- United States
Official source: IRS Forms, Instructions & Publications (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p5188.pdf), retrieved 2026-10-03. U.S. Government work (17 U.S.C. § 105).
Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act¶
Table of Contents¶
What’s New 1
1 Introduction 2
1.1 | About FATCA 2
1.2 | Purpose 3
1.3 | IDES Enrollment Process Overview 3
1.4 | Sender Metadata File 4
1.5 | Comments 5
1.6 | General Principles 5
1.6.1 | Character Restrictions 6
1.7 | How to Use Guide 7
2 FATCAIDESSenderFileMetadata 8
2.1 | FATCAEntitySenderId 10
2.2 | FATCAEntityReceiverId 10
2.3 | FATCAEntCommunicationTypeCd 11
2.4 | SenderFileId 11
2.5 | FileFormatCd 12
2.6 | BinaryEncodingSchemeCd 13
2.7 | FileCreateTs 14
2.8 | TaxYear 14
2.9 | FileRevisionInd 15
2.10 | OriginalIDESTransmissionId 15
2.11 | SenderContactEmailAddressTxt 16
3 Appendix 17
3.1 | Appendix A: FATCA XML Metadata Sample - FATCA Report (RPT) 17
3.2 | Appendix B: FATCA XML Metadata Sample - Notifications 18
3.3 | Appendix C: FATCA XML Metadata Sample –Notification (NTF) to IRS 19
3.4 | Appendix D: FATCA XML Metadata Sample – Competent Authority Request (CAR) 20
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What’s New¶
This section summarizes updates since the last publication of the FATCA XML Metadata User Guide (August 2019):
Section Description
2.3 FATCAEntCommunicationTypeCd Added three (3) new communication types – International Compliance Assurance Program (ICAP), Joint Audit (JA), and Exchange of Information Request (EOIR)
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1 Introduction¶
1.1 | About FATCA
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) was enacted as part of the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act in March 2010. FATCA was created to improve transparency and address tax noncompliance by US taxpayers.
FATCA requires certain foreign financial institutions (FFIs) to report certain information about its U.S. accounts (including U.S. owned foreign entities), accounts held by owner-documented FFIs (ODFFI), and certain aggregate information concerning account holders that are recalcitrant account holders and, for a transitional period, accounts held by nonparticipating FFIs. Generally, FFIs will commit to these reporting requirements by registering with the IRS and signing an agreement with the IRS; however, the FFI agreement does not apply to FFIs under a Model 1 IGA. In most cases, FFIs that do not register with the IRS will be subject to 30% withholding on certain U.S. source payments (unless an exception applies). Chapter 4 also generally requires a withholding agent to deduct and withhold tax equal to 30 percent of a withholdable payment made to a passive non-financial foreign entity (NFFE) unless the passive NFFE certifies to the withholding agent that it does not have any substantial U.S. owners or provides certain identifying information with respect to its substantial U.S. owners that the withholding agent reports to the IRS. Payments to NFFEs that report their substantial U.S. owners directly to the IRS (direct reporting NFFEs) are accepted from withholding and reporting by the withholding agent.
An approved financial institution (FI) (other than a limited FFI or a limited branch), direct reporting NFFE, or sponsoring entity that registers with the IRS under FATCA will receive a global intermediary identification number (GIIN) and appear on the published FFI list. The FFI List Search and Download tool allows users to search entities by GIIN, financial institution name, or country.
There are certain entities, such as U.S. withholding agents (USWA), territory financial institutions (TFI), third party preparers, and independent software vendors that do not need to have a GIIN (non-GIIN filers) but need to file FATCA reports through the International Data Exchange Service (IDES). A non-GIIN filer has to get a FATCA identification number (FIN) in order to enroll in and report through IDES. Publication of a FIN on the FFI list does not change the filer’s status for FATCA purposes, as it does not subject the filer to the requirements applicable to an FFI and does not serve any function related to withholding tax on payments under FATCA or reporting such tax. A FIN will be accompanied by a generic name (e.g., “U.S. Withholding Agent 1”) on the FFI List. For more information on FINs, visit the FATCA Identification Number (FIN) Enrollment Process page .
Host Country Tax Authorities (HCTAs) receive a pre-assigned username and HCTA FATCA Entity ID and will be required to change their username and password upon the first login to IDES. For additional information on the HCTA FATCA Entity ID, contact the IDES help desk.
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1.2 | Purpose
This guide is intended to serve as a tool for FIs, direct reporting NFFEs, sponsoring entities, non-GIIN filers, and Host Country Tax Authorities (HCTAs) who transmit data through the International Data Exchange Service (IDES). It explains how to prepare and validate the IDES metadata file used in FATCA reporting. The reader should be familiar with the FATCA regulations and experienced with extensible markup language (XML) and schema technology.
Document Description
Table 1 - FATCA related documents list provides a list of related FATCA publications.
1.3 | IDES Enrollment Process Overview
The IDES web application is a secure managed file transfer service that is available to FIs, direct reporting NFFEs, sponsoring entities, non-GIIN filers, and HCTAs to facilitate FATCA reporting. IDES is accessible to enrolled users over the Internet via Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) or Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP). The system only accepts encrypted electronic submissions and will allow for the transmission of FATCA reporting in the approved Intergovernmental FATCA XML Schema v1.1 (FATCA XML). IDES provides for an endto-end controlled file transfer with enhanced monitoring and security features. For more information on FATCA regulations, Form 8966 and instructions, FATCA XML, and other related topics, visit the FATCA IDES home page.
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Steps Description
Figure 1: IDES Process Overview
1.4 | Sender Metadata File
Metadata is a collection of data about the content and characteristics contained in the FATCA reporting files. It is used to ensure the data packets are correctly processed. IDES metadata files should never be encrypted. An authorized user should create and validate a metadata file using the FATCA Metadata XML Schema v1.2 .
An unencrypted metadata file must be included in the data packet (.ZIP). A metadata file can also be generated using a sender metadata template on the IDES Enrollment Site. For more information on FATCA XML and data file preparation, refer to the FATCA IDES User Guide.
File Format Naming Convention Description
XML File FATCAEntitySenderId_Metadata.xml
Table 2 - Sender Metadata Files
The sender GIIN is an IRS-approved GIIN, FIN or
HCTA FATCA Entity ID. Each HCTA will be assigned an
entity ID in GIIN format: 000000.00000.TA.
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1.5 | Comments
We appreciate your feedback on the quality and usefulness of this publication. Please send comments, with a reference to chapter, section, and page number(s) to: lbi.fatca.ides@irs.gov.
1.6 | General Principles
The elements in the metadata schema are described by the definition, attribute, and constraints in Table 3 .
Items Description
Table 3: Element Description
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1.6.1 | Character Restrictions
All FATCA XML documents (Form 8966 data, metadata, etc.), should conform to recommended XML schema best practices. Certain characters are prohibited and if included will cause an error notification.
Non-Optional Entity Reference
If an XML document contains one of these characters in the XML text content, the data packet will be rejected and an error notification (XML not well-formed) will be generated. These characters are not allowed by XML syntax rules and must be replaced with the following predefined entity references. To prevent error notifications, do not include any of these characters in XML documents.
Characters Character Description Entity Reference
Optional Entity Reference
If an XML document contains one of these characters in the XML text content, it is not restricted and will not cause an error notification. The characters should be replaced by the following predefined entity references to conform to XML schema best practices.
Characters Character Description Entity Reference
SQL Injection Validation
If an XML document contains one of these combinations of characters in the XML text content, the data packet will be rejected and a failed threat detection (error) notification will be generated. These characters are not allowed. To prevent error notifications, do not include any of these combinations of characters.
Characters Character Description Entity Reference
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1.7 | How to Use Guide
The FATCA Metadata XML Schema v1.2. supports FATCA reporting and expands each data element to describe business rules. The schema definition files take precedence over any information presented within the guide. The FATCA XML schema definition files or .xsd files may be downloaded from the FATCA XML Schema for Form 8966 page.
The schema was tested using XMLSpy and the diagrams shown illustrate the message structure and hierarchy relationship of elements. The schema and sample files can be viewed with an XML tool, such as XML Notepad. The table below describes the XMLSpy legend to interpret the diagrams. If you are using a different XML tool, the icons and images may vary.
Schema Icon Description
Figure 2: Schema Legend
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Figure 3: FATCA IDES Metadata Overview
The file name for the FATCA XML metadata file is FATCAEntitySenderId_Metadata.xml. See Section 1.4 Sender Metadata File for more information. The elements and values are summarized in Table 4.
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Ref Elements Datatype Cardinality Requirement Description
Table 4: IDES Metadata Schema Overview provides a summary for each element
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2.1 | FATCAEntitySenderId
Element FATCAEntitySenderId
2.2 | FATCAEntityReceiverId
Element FATCAEntityReceiverId
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2.3 | FATCAEntCommunicationTypeCd
Element
**_Note_* - All other enumerations for FATCAEntCommunicationTypeCd element included in the FATCA Metadata XML schema should not be used unless pre-coordinated/instructed by the recipient country’s tax authority.
2.4 | SenderFileId
Element SenderFileId
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2.5 | FileFormatCd
Element FileFormatCd
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2.6 | BinaryEncodingSchemeCd
Element BinaryEncodingSchemeCd
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2.7 | FileCreateTs
Element FileCreateTs
2.8 | TaxYear
Element TaxYear
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2.9 | FileRevisionInd
Element FileRevisionInd
2.10 | OriginalIDESTransmissionId
Element OriginalIDESTransmissionId
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2.11 | SenderContactEmailAddressTxt
Element SenderContactEmailAddressTxt
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3 Appendix¶
Samples are for illustrative purposes only. Do not use during testing. For more information on schema files, visit FATCA XML Schemas for Form 8966 page.
3.1 | Appendix A: FATCA XML Metadata Sample - FATCA Report (RPT)
Figure 4: IDES Metadata Sample
Figure 4 Sample Details:
HCTA sends a revised FATCA Report to the US and includes the original transmission ID.
HCTA Sender: Canada
HCTA Receiver: U.S.
Tax reporting year: 2014
Report: FATCA Report (RPT)
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3.2 | Appendix B: FATCA XML Metadata Sample - Notifications
Figure 5: IDES Metadata Sample - NTF
Figure 5 Sample Details:
HCTA receives a FATCA Report notification from the U.S. The file format is XML.
HCTA Sender: U.S
HCTA Receiver: Canada
Tax reporting year: 2014
Report: FATCA Report Notification (NTF)
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3.3 | Appendix C: FATCA XML Metadata Sample –Notifications (NTF) to IRS
Figure 6: IDES Metadata Sample – NTF to IRS
Figure 6 Sample Details:
- IRS receives PDF file notification from the U.S. The file format is PDF format and the encoding value is
‘BASE64’.
HCTA Sender: Canada
HCTA Receiver: U.S.
Tax reporting year: 2014
Report: FATCA Report Notification (NTF)
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3.4 | Appendix D: FATCA XML Metadata Sample – Competent Authority Request (CAR)
Figure 7: IDES Metadata Sample – CAR
Figure 7 Sample Details:
HCTA receives a CAR from the U.S. The file format is PDF format and the encoding value is ‘Base64’.
HCTA Sender: U.S
HCTA Receiver: Bermuda
Tax reporting year: 2014
Report: Competent Authority Request (CAR)
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