The Tax Times: FATCA Implementation Unimpeded by Republicans!

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

FATCA Implementation Unimpeded by Republicans!

According to Reuters, A senior U.S. Treasury Department
official said on January 22, 2014 that Republican Party opposition to a new law meant to fight offshore tax dodging by Americans will not impede the Obama administration's efforts to implement it worldwide.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) on January 24, 2014 called for the repeal of a U.S. anti-tax-evasion law (FATCA), siding with BIG BANKS, libertarians and American expatriates that have criticized the Obama administration statute.

At its winter meeting in Washington, the RNC approved by voice vote a resolution in favor of abolishing the 2010 Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), set to take effect in July, marking the party's first explicit attack on the law.

FATCA will require most foreign banks and investment funds to report to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service information about U.S. customers' accounts worth $50,000 or more. The law was enacted after a scandal involving Americans hiding assets in Swiss bank accounts to dodge U.S. taxes.

Critics have blasted the law as an unfair government overreach and invasion of financial privacy.
"The Republican National Committee ... urges the U.S. Congress to repeal FATCA," said the measure, staking out a campaign position ahead of 2014's mid-term elections.

A senior Treasury Department official said the vote would not hurt the administration's efforts to implement FATCA via a web of tax information-sharing agreements with other countries.

A Republican vote for abolishing FATCA, is not be "a big deal," Treasury Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy Mark Mazur told reporters on the sidelines of a conference.

Tax watchdog groups that support FATCA slammed the Republican vote. "It is mind-boggling that a major political party would even consider endorsing a resolution to facilitate tax evasion," said Heather Lowe, director of government affairs at anti-graft watchdog group Global Financial Integrity.

Repeal is unlikely and the issue was not expected to resonate with average U.S. voters, said lobbyists on both ends of the political spectrum. But they said Republican opposition to the law could help the party raise campaign funds.

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