A matter of FATCA

On September 9, debate on the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act in TT (FATCA) was suspended, mainly because of the Opposition’s concern with certain aspects of the Bill. Certainly this newspaper has published a number of articles on FATCA as far back as December 11, 2014, and then again on December 25, 2014, on April 16, 2015, and finally on July 7, 2016, highlighting what FATCA is, as well as the possible consequences of non-compliance with this law.

The last article also raised the question as to whether we were ready for FATCA, what was involved in getting us FATCA compliant and the need to pass the legislation by September 30.

There are a number of issues that arise from the latest suspension of debate. Perhaps we can start by asking what did the Leader of the Opposition mean by FATCA is overreaching.

Wasn’t the Leader of the Opposition the Prime Minister when the effort to get us FATCA compliant started? Wasn’t she aware back then that FATCA requires countries to contravene privacy rights of citizens and the Constitution in general? How is the current legislation different from what was drafted by the previous government? How do we cooperate with the US and not compromise our sovereignty? It is interesting that subsequently she appears to be hinting at a change of heart in support of the legislation.

Perhaps she was worried about being held responsible for the 30 per cent withholding tax on US dollar transactions levelled on the banking system? Maybe on sober reflection the possible loss of correspondent banking services allowed for a more logical approach? Let us turn to another issue as to why we have waited so long to bring the legislation to Parliament, especially in light of the fact that FATCA was enacted since 2010? Didn’t the current Government know about this issue while in opposition? Is it because of a lack of draftsmen in the Attorney General’s office? Is the problem located within the Public Service? Are there sufficient senior officers to ensure that the country’s interest is secured? How is the Government addressing the privacy invasion of FATCA? Outside of legislation, are we indeed ready to implement FATCA? Have we put in place the information technology backbone to transmit the required data? Has there been any testing of the upload of data from the financial institutions? By the way, which institutions are these? We must be reminded of another deadline that is fast approaching and equally important, with a very similar intention — the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes. Our country is committed to implement the international standard on tax transparency and information exchange and join the Global Forum. This exchange of information is expected to commence in 2017. One has to wonder if any work has been undertaken to prepare us for this.

The rush to pass legislation without careful discussion among stakeholders and proper debate in Parliament is not why we voted in representatives.

FATCA has to be properly addressed, not just complied with.

We need leaders to secure our interest; the latest polls strongly suggest this. Are our elected representatives listening?