On March 5, 2014 the United States signed intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) with Finland and Chile to implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). To date, twenty four of these bilateral agreements have been signed between the US and other countries.
The FATCA, which was enacted by the US Congress in 2010 and takes effect on July 1, 2014, is intended to ensure that the US obtains information on accounts held abroad at foreign financial institutions (FFIs) by US persons. Failure by an FFI to disclose information on their US clients, including account ownership, balances and amounts moving in and out of the accounts, will result in a requirement to withhold 30 percent tax on payments of US-sourced income.
