Montserrat Signs Tax Compliance Agreement with the USA

BRADES – An intergovernmental agreement (IGA) between the United States and Montserrat on tax compliance has been signed.

According to the information provided on the website of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the agreement concluded is a so-called Model 1 IGA.

In November 2014, the US Government and the Government of Montserrat reached an agreement in regards to a FATCA IGA to be concluded. Based on the information provided by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the FATCA Agreement between The United States and Montserrat was signed on September 8, 2015.

According to the document the United Kingdom informed the US on March 21, 2014 that they had entrusted the Government of Montserrat to negotiate and conclude a tax agreement with the Government of the United States of America on information exchange to facilitate implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FACTA).

FACTA is a reporting regime for financial institutions with respect to certain accounts on Montserrat whose holders may also be United States of America nationals. It requires all non-US (Foreign) Financial Institutions to search their records for suspected US persons for reporting their assets and identities to the US Treasury. Congress enacted FATCA to make it more difficult for (resident and non-resident) U.S. persons to have financial assets which are not located in the United States, by adding further asset-reporting law with consequences. It enables further federal tax revenues and penalties from a wider global population at the expense of non-US banks.

The GOM has been working to improve tax compliance with international jurisdictions however due to certain domestic legal impediments as it relates to FACTA, there had been delays. The decision was taken to use “an intergovernmental approach to FATCA implementation” which would address legal impediments and reduce burdens for Montserrat financial institutions, the new agreement states.
The IGA notes that both parties desire to conclude an agreement to improve international tax compliance and provide for the implementation of FATCA based on domestic reporting and automatic exchange and is subject to the confidentiality and other protections provided within.

Read the Intergovermental Agreement here.

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