Cayman Islands, US reach agreement on reporting Americans’ assets in Caribbean territory

[appleannie1]

Source: Washington Post

The Cayman Islands says it has reached agreement with the United States to provide information on accounts held by American citizens to comply with a sweeping U.S. law designed to combat tax evasion.

The British Caribbean territory, considered the world’s sixth largest financial center and a major haven for mutual funds and private equity, said the texts of the new pacts will be made public once an official signing ceremony is held.

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act requires U.S. taxpayers with more than $50,000 in a foreign financial asset to annually report the details. The threshold is higher for some people such as married taxpayers filing jointly or U.S. citizens living in a foreign country, according to the IRS.

Critics of the U.S. law argue it will be an administrative headache for financial institutions and will make it more difficult for U.S. citizens to have foreign accounts.



Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/cayman-islands-us-conclude-talks-on-pacts-aimed-at-uncovering-americans-overseas-assets/2013/08/15/82e898dc-05d5-11e3-bfc5-406b928603b2_story.html

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I would bet Mittens is crying in his cereal along with a number of other known names.

[juajen]

1. Yep, it will be harder to have foreign accounts. This is the point, I believe.

[FirstLight]

2. why bother?

surely the NSA has all this info and more...

they don't care if they datamine outside of US borders, this should be easy for the Govt.

oh yeah, i forgot...they only do that to the other 99% they would NEVER use surveillance on the 1%


and no, i am not being sarcastic.

[karynnj]

4. The law referred to was passed as the revenue source for the Hiring Incentives bill

that was designed to help people get jobs. Here is a wiki link on that bill - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiring_Incentives_to_Restore_Employment_Act

"Ostensibly to offset the costs of the Act, the new Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) enacts Chapter 4 of, and makes other modifications to, the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. It requires foreign banks to find any American account holders and disclose their balances, receipts, and withdrawals to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS), or be subject to a 30-percent withholding tax on income from US financial assets held by the banks.[2] Owners of these foreign-held assets must report them on US tax returns if they are worth more than $50,000 and those who do not would be subject to a 30-percent penalty on the balance of the account in question.[2] FATCA also closes a tax loophole that investors had used to avoid paying any taxes on dividends by converting them into dividend equivalents.[13]"

In the Senate version the provision was sponsored by Max Baucus and John Kerry. (There had been hearings on doing this for years - including one specifically on the Cayman Islands. ) In the House, Rangel was the sponsor.

[wordpix]

7. good! Poor little Mittens, he's now moving his accts. to Bermuda

[Left Coast2020]

9. Maybe his will be the first one they look for.

Hey IG: How's rMoney and those outsourcing company accounts doing?

[freshwest]

5. Yes, passed before the Teabaggers got a majority. The squalling over this was epic.

The conservatives were up in arms over it, and their media went along with them to decry it.

At the same time the Koch brothers made threats to PBO over Keystone, which he has still not officially signed, despite Boehner's tires at extortion, adding a fast track to every budget. Along with Rand Paul's attempts to shut down Planned Parenthool and pass personhood laws, which Obama has also not signed.

Add the looming sunset of the Bush era tax cuts in December of 2010, and you have the answer to the astroturfing of the original Tea Party. It has morphed into another Koch brand, just like the Paul franchise, the Libertarian Party and John Birch Society.

Add your conspiracy punditry into the mix, and you'll see where their running buddies get their cues. A flavor for every mind to get to chewing on. Too many Americans are eating the media swill.

[Gman]

6. The number of unknowns is vastly greater

[Rex]

8. This is a good move in the right direction.

[wordpix]

10. "Critics of the U.S. law argue..." That would be puppets of Kochs, Romneys, Bushes, Cheneys,

I would really like to know who these "critics" are.