Thursday, December 19, 2013

There's Is Nowhere to Hide Your Money: Six More Jurisdictions Sign Tax Compliance Agreements with US

The U.S. e Treasury announced that, in the past week, the United States has signed bilateral agreements with six additional jurisdictions to implement the information reporting and withholding tax provisions commonly known as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act   Enacted by Congress in 2010, these provisions target non-compliance by U.S. taxpayers using foreign accounts.  With these most recent agreements, the United States has signed 18 FATCA intergovernmental agreements and is engaged in related discussions with many other jurisdictions.

Over the past week, Malta, the Netherlands, The Islands of Bermuda, and three UK Crown Dependencies – Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man – signed various agreements with the United States to implement FATCA.

“FATCA continues to gather momentum as we work with partners worldwide to combat offshore tax evasion,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Tax Affairs Robert B. Stack.  “This large number of signings in one week alone sends a strong signal to tax evaders everywhere: international support for FATCA is growing.”

FATCA seeks to obtain information on accounts held by U.S. taxpayers in other countries.  It requires U.S. financial institutions to withhold a portion of certain payments made to foreign financial institutions (FFIs) who do not agree to identify and report information on U.S. account holders.  Governments have the option of permitting their FFIs to enter into agreements directly with the IRS to comply with FATCA under U.S. Treasury Regulations or to implement FATCA by entering into one of two alternative Model IGAs with the United States.  Today, Bermuda signed a Model 2 agreement, meaning that Bermuda will direct and legally enable FFIs in Bermuda to register with the IRS and report the information required by FATCA about consenting U.S. accounts directly to the IRS.  This requirement is supplemented by government-to-government exchange of information regarding certain pre-existing non-consenting accounts on request.

Malta, the Netherlands, and each of the Crown Dependencies that signed this week entered into Model 1A agreements.  Under these agreements, FFIs will report the information required under FATCA about U.S. accounts to their home governments, which in turn will report the information to the IRS.  These agreements are reciprocal, meaning that the United States will also provide similar tax information to these governments regarding individuals and entities from their jurisdictions with accounts in the United States.

In addition to these FATCA agreements, protocols to the existing tax information exchange agreements with Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man were also signed.

9 comments:

  1. Soon it won't matter where you go, if you're American you won't be able to get or keep a foreign bank account.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Replies
    1. BTC May or may not be okay as long as you have electricity

      Delete
  3. Slowly the hiding your money in a mattress, jar or safe in your home methods are looking a lot better now a days.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There was once a time I would have scoffed at such a suggestion. Such attitudes were only for backwards people like Mexicans or my ignorant uneducated European ancestors. However that was back in the day when thought I lived in a modern sophisticated era.
      It was I who was the fool. Life is a lesson in humility.

      Delete
  4. FATCA gathers momentum the way mobsters run a protection racket. The ill will being built globally by those who run the US government will last generations. It will be interesting to see what forms the retribution will take once USD collapses, as it inevitably will sooner or later.

    ReplyDelete
  5. At first it looked like FATCA was building ill will. However for a long time now, this has no longer been the case. European governments and banks don't mind it at all, and the EC has recommended FATCA as a model for European countries to use. IMO even as FATCA raises costs and compliance for the banks and insurers, they will put up with this as what they must give for the enormous influence and profits they enjoy.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Now that the IRS thieves are involved in our medical care, its only a matter of time for a FOCA.
    Foreign ObamaCare Compliance Act.
    .
    If you like your medical tourism ,you can keep your medical tourism.....You will just have to pay the prevailing wages and prices as set by the US medical cartel and of course Washington.

    ReplyDelete