WARNING Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Goes Into Effect Tomorrow

By Robert Wenzel

The Empire will expand its financial monitoring of its subjects just days before July 4th.

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act  goes into effect tomorrow. The objective of FATCA is the reporting of foreign financial assets held by U.S. citizens.

FATCA targets tax non-compliance by U.S. taxpayers with foreign accounts.

FATCA focuses on the reporting by foreign financial institutions about financial accounts held by U.S. taxpayers or foreign entities in which U.S. taxpayers hold a substantial ownership interest.

A senior Treasury official, during a briefing that occurred today, said that there are 90 foreign jurisdictions that will comply with FACTA and that over 80,000 financial institutions are registered with the IRS and will provide data to the IRS. It is anticipated that the IRS will start getting names of US account holders with foreign accounts in 2015.

Russia has not agreed to FACTA and, according to the Treasury official, negotiations with Russia have been suspended.

It is noteworthy that at this time FACTA is not a reciprocal agreement, that is, the U.S. will not provide to foreign countries the names of  foreign country citizens who hold accounts in the U.S.

Robert Wenzel is Editor & Publisher of EconomicPolicyJournal.com and author of The Fed Flunks: My Speech at the New York Federal Reserve Bank.