Alternative Market Briefing

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly faces of FATCA

Monday, July 02, 2012

Beverly Chandler, Opalesque London: More comment on the imminent arrival of 'a perfect storm of new regulation’ with the implementation of FATCA, AIFMD and Dodd Frank comes from Global Perspectives in their latest white paper which focuses on the Good, the Bad and the Ugly dimensions of FATCA.

Shane Brett, managing director, quotes 'Outraged Expat’ from EmergingMarkets.com, saying "FATCA should be re-labeled as FAT CAT - the attitude the US is displaying to the world community, and to its own citizens".

Brett writes: "FATCA (the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) is US tax legislation enacted in 2010 and due to come into force on Jan 1st 2013. Put simply FATCA requires all foreign financial institutions to report US account holders to the Inland Revenue Service ("IRS").

As he explains, the US, unlike virtually every other country in the world, taxes its citizens on their worldwide income. "Its citizens are made to report their income on a global basis. FATCA is effectively the IRS extending its long reach internationally into every country on the globe and forcing its financial companies to report to it, to disclosure to it and to withhold tax on its behalf. Essentially FATCA is the IRS ordering foreign institutions to do its dirty work - by making non-US companies act as unpaid tax collectors!"

FATCA compels all Foreign Financial Institutions (known as FFI’s) to identify all U.S. account holders and report this information to the IRS. "The FFI must ......................

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