The U.S. Treasury has developed a model intergovernmental agreement with EU
partners to implement the information
reporting and withholding tax provisions of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance
Act (FATCA). The model agreement was
developed in consultation with France ,
Germany , Italy , Spain ,
and the United Kingdom
and marks an important step in establishing a common approach to combating tax
evasion based on the automatic exchange of information. These five
countries, along with the United States, will, in close cooperation with other
partner countries, the OECD, and, when appropriate, the European Commission,
work towards common reporting and due diligence standards in support of a more
global approach to comply with FATCA.
There are two versions of the model agreement, a reciprocal version
and a nonreciprocal version,
which both versions establish a framework for reporting by financial
institutions of certain financial account information to their respective tax
authorities, followed by automatic exchange of such information under existing
bilateral tax treaties or tax information exchange agreements. Both
versions of the model agreement also address the legal issues that had been
raised in connection with FATCA, and simplify its implementation for financial
institutions.
The reciprocal version of the model also provides for the United States to exchange information currently
collected on accounts held in U.S.
financial institutions by residents of partner countries, and includes a policy
commitment to pursue regulations and support legislation that would provide for
equivalent levels of exchange by the United States . This version of
the model agreement will be available only to jurisdictions with whom the
United States has in effect an income tax treaty or tax information exchange
agreement and with respect to whom the Treasury Department and the Internal
Revenue Service (IRS) have determined that the recipient government has in
place robust protections and practices to ensure that the information remains
confidential and that it is used solely for tax purposes. The United States
will make this determination on a case by case basis.
FATCA was enacted in 2010 by Congress as part
of the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act. FATCA requires
foreign financial institutions (FFIs) to report to the IRS information about
financial accounts held by U.S.
taxpayers, or by foreign entities in which U.S. taxpayers hold a substantial
ownership interest. FATCA is an important part of the U.S.
government’s effort to improve tax compliance.