" O X F A M E S T I M AT E D T H AT
US $18.5 TRILLION WAS
H I D D E N A W AY B Y W E A LT H Y
P E O P L E I N TA X H A V E N S . "
of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act
(FATCA) in 2010. The Act only came into
effect in 2014 and requires foreign banks to
disclose the identity and details of Americans
with foreign accounts of over US $50,000.
Non-compliance faces the sanction of being
frozen from the United States market, a
potentially apocalyptic blow to financial
institutions.
According to Forbes Magazine over 145,000
financial institutions have now registered
through the US Internal Revenue Service FACTA
system, with the United States now having 110
intergovernmental agreements either signed or
agreed to in accordance with FACTA. South
Africa itself agreed to put FACTA into effect
during June of last year.
It might be premature to predict that the days of
tax havens are numbered. What is clear is that
governments have realised how, by working
together and sharing information with one
another - they stand a better chance of catching
those who stop them from receiving their
proportional piece of the cake. After all, death
and taxes have to come from somewhere…
right?
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