Self certification may be used by a Financial Institution in relation to individual account holders as follows:

• To establish the tax residence of the holder of a New Individual Account,
• To obtain a US TIN from a New Individual Account holder who is a US resident for tax purposes, or
• In order to show that an individual is not in fact a US citizen or US resident for tax purposes, even if US indicia are found in respect of a Lower Value or High Value Pre-existing Individual Account that they hold.

Self certification is required in relation to entities as follows:

• To establish the status of an entity where a Financial Institution cannot reasonably determine that the account holder is not a Specified US Person based on information in its possession or that is publicly available.
• To establish the status of a Financial Institution that is neither a UK Financial Institution nor a Partner Jurisdiction Financial Institution, unless a Financial Institution’s status can be established from an IRS published list.
• To establish whether an entity is a Passive NFFE.
• To establish the tax residence of a Controlling Person of a Passive NFFE.

A self certification can be in any format, and the term self certification includes the use of withholding certificates, such as the IRS W Series of forms, or other similar agreed forms.A self certification provided by an account holder cannot be relied upon if a Financial Institution has reason to know that it is incorrect, unreliable or there is a change in circumstance that changes the account holder’s status.