Much ado about FATCA

After all was said and done, the Bill was passed unanimously by all 39 MPs present for the sitting. The Government granted an amendment that had been requested (it had also acceded to a request for a committee review).

Taxpayers cannot help but wonder why all these concessions were not granted a long time ago and why they had to be made in the first place. Far from being any kind of political victory for anyone, what was really conceded on Thursday was that this exercise was a tremendous waste of Parliament time. In truth there is no reason why the situation should have been allowed to become as protracted as it did.

Now that this Bill is out of the way, the legislature can move on to pressing matters such as the too long delayed Marriage (Amendment) Bill. We hope upcoming debates will not witness the same level of filibustering and that the same conciliatory mode which took hold in the end will once more prevail. Certainly, the laws allowing child marriage have been on the books for too long and the Parliament needs to present a united front to the people having listened to much public feedback for the last few years on this matter.

Going forward, the passing of the FATCA legislation will be a much-needed feather in the cap of Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley as he prepares to approach the White House. The call of US President Donald Trump and his invitation to Rowley for talks constitute an opportunity for this country to demonstrate its commitment to relations with the US, particularly on crime and security, and to also advance the Caricom agenda. Rowley will be able to demonstrate this country’s willingness to entertain legislative changes to buttress areas of cooperation that may be deemed essential to the work of law enforcement agencies across borders.

Meanwhile, it is important to not lose sight of the need for further steps to be taken to actually implement the Tax Information Exchange Agreements Bill. The first hurdle which will have to be overcome is the Senate where the legislation requires a three-fifths majority. Presumably, given the amendments to the Bill on Thursday night, the legislation will now meet with favour there by senators aligned to the two main political parties who together hold the requisite numbers needed for secure passage. It remains to be seen if the Independents will raise any objections that will sway both parties to make further adjustments, sending the legislation back to the House of Representatives once more.

Thereafter relevant orders will have to be issued by the Office of the President and also regulations will be subject to negative resolution of Parliament at some stage in the future. The timeline for all of these processes is highly variable, meaning it could well be a long time before the matter sinks in.

Still, as much as we question the tactics deployed by all stakeholders in this affair, the least we can say is that the FATCA issue has underlined the globalised nature of our world. No man is an island, and this country relies heavily on international partners and is affected by developments in other countries tied to us by blood, economics, society and culture. If we have learned anything, we have learned that.