Business
Push in Jamaica for urgent discussion of new US tax law – FATCA
(Jamaica Observer) Thousands of Jamaicans will have their personal financial information released to American authorities if local banks sign on to a new tax compliance agreement in defiance of Jamaican law.
The US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), which becomes effective next January, requires financial institutions around the world to identify whether their customers are “US persons”.
The definition of “US persons” used by the Act is so broad it could catch people who have a green card or even just a mailing address in the US.
If they want to continue doing business with the US, financial institutions, including banks, building societies, credit unions, securities dealers and insurers would have to report the names and tax identification numbers of “Americans” with balances above US$50,000 (J$4.3 million) to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
But doing so will bring them into conflict with Jamaican laws on confidentiality and data protection.
The aim of the law is to crack down on tax dodgers who hide hundreds of millions of US dollars in offshore accounts annually in an effort to avoid paying Washington its due.
The attempt to enforce its laws extra-territorially also raises questions about national independence.
