PRIME MINISTER Freundel Stuart has said that Barbados will not be bullied into signing on to the Foreign Account Tax Compliant Act (FATCA) while ignoring the amended OECD Convention on mutual assistance in tax matters.
The amended convention agreed upon in 2009, facilitates international cooperation for a better operation of national tax laws, while respecting the fundamental rights of taxpayers. FATCA is a new chapter in the United States Internal Revenue Code introduced in March 2010.
FATCA would require Foreign Financial Institutions (FFIs) to report directly to the United States Inland Revenue Service (IRS) about financial accounts held by American taxpayers or foreign entities in which they hold a substantial ownership interest, or be penalized for non-compliance.
While delivering the feature address during the International Business Conference 2013 under the theme Economic Realities: New Paths To Success at Hilton Barbados yesterday, Stuart suggested that with FATCA, some countries were attempting to force unilateral changes to national laws “in an effort to just make up numbers”.
