ANALYSIS
Macedonia is currently considering amending local
law in order to permit FATCA compliance.
FATCA compliance and documentation for Macedonian NFFEs is significantly less complex than for
Macedonian FFIs. Macedonian NFFEs can comply
with FATCA in one of two ways. First, a Macedonian
NFFE can provide documentation to the withholding
agent that either discloses its 'substantial US owners' (generally a US person that directly or indirectly
own more than 10% of the Macedonian NFFE) or discloses that is has no substantial US owners. Second,
a Macedonian NFFE can determine whether it qualifies for an exception from FATCA withholding.
Two of the most common are the exception for publicly traded corporations (including certain affiliates)
and the exception for 'Active NFFEs'. The publicly
traded corporation exception exempts from FATCA
disclosure requirements corporations (and certain
affiliates) the stock of which is regularly traded on
one or more established securities markets for the
calendar year. The active NFFE test exempts an
NFFE from FATCA disclosure requirements if less
than 50% of its gross income for the preceding year
is passive and less than 50% of the weighted average percen х