Following up on comments in early July in which he referred to FATCA as “universal law”, British Virgin Islands Premier D. Orlando Smith made another speech on FATCA late last month. I’m not impressed with most of this speech, but at least Smith acknowledged the fact that there are innocent accidentals in his territory, and even offered them concrete measures to ameliorate their difficulties:
However the BVI Government will, assist persons who consider themselves to need this support in meeting their reporting requirements to the US by providing useful advice and identifying professionals versed in US Tax matters to assist. … There are currently many BVIslanders who purely by birth, who may have been unaware of their obligations as US citizens. Last year we began a public information programme on the impact of FATCA on such persons and what they must do in fulfilment of their obligations to the United States. In the coming days we will reinforce these messages and announce the measures that we are taking to assist BV Islanders who are also ‘accidental’ Americans as we often refer to them in coming up to speed on their commitments to the Internal Revenue Service. These measures Madam Speaker will include a help desk at the Government Administration Building.
