James George Jatras
January 4, 2013
Proponents of the “Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) – a/k/a “the worst law most Americans have never heard of” – fell short at the end of 2012 on two key indices, further puncturing its air of presumptive inevitability:
- The Treasury Department had predicted that 17 countries (already a shamelessly padded list, with inclusion in that number of three tiny British Crown Dependencies) would finalize intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) with the United States to impose FATCA on themselves by December 31. The actual result at year’s end? Signed IGAs with the UK, Denmark, Ireland, and Mexico. Switzerland and Spain reportedly also have “initialed” agreements, whatever that means.
- The Department had also expected to finalize the draft regulations applicable to foreign financial institutions (FFIs) by year’s end – but that didn’t happen either.
