Widespread relief as FATCA passed

Gilliam Wolfe- O’Neil, Director-Tax at KPMG, said they were not too sure if the relevant authorities have the means and the ability to actually give effect to the act.

She said the BIR may be called upon to give information to the US Internal Revenue Service and questioned whether the records of the BIR are in order.

“We are not certain that the Board of Inland Revenue has the capacity to make all this information available to the US if they are called upon to do so.” She said the tax department at KPMG deals with the BIR on a daily basis “and we have observed a deterioration over the years in that they may not have the human resources, they may not have the other resources or the infrastructure to respond to us locals here, far less to respond to the US.

We believe that they may have been neglected over the years by the government itself.” She said the BIR collects a huge amount of monies for the government yet, they seem to have been neglected in terms of their resources.

“And I think that’s the reason why, but the people themselves, they are very competent for the most part.

And this obligation was put on them by way of the legislation but one is left wondering whether they considered them in the passing of this legislation considering that they are struggling just managing the local compliance obligations here. So we will see what happens there.” Another tax specialist said the BIR had repeatedly complained that it was short of resources.

Wolfe-O ‘Neil said many people leave the BIR and go into private practice and the positions are not filled as quickly as they should be - “there are a number of vacancies at the Inland Revenue - I’m talking here personnel vacancies, so all that will create a problem for the Inland Revenue.” However, she said they could not say whether the board would be able to meet its obligations under the legislation. “It depends on what the factual situation is and what the government decides. Ultimately, it’s up to the government to mobilise its resources to comply with whatever obligations it has to comply with. We cannot say that. It may very well do all that is necessary to give the relevant authorities the wherewithall to do so.” Saskia Carmichael, Assistant Manager, Tax, added that the legislation goes much deeper than being merely a bank issue or one for the financial institutions but involves people on a personal level. She said if a Trinidad and Tobago national holds a bank account with a US person or a US national, they are now exposed to their information being freely disseminated amongst the IRS, the BIR and the financial institutions.

They have no say as to what information is not sent.” Nicole Joseph, Director- Tax pointed out that the situation also works in the reverse because any information that the US has concerning Trinidadian nationals will be exchanged and may impose additional tax obligations on the TT national who may have resources or funds in the US Joseph said the FATCA legislation imposes a huge additional obligation on the BIR “and it could be quite considerable as well and there may be some stringent deadlines when the request is made by the US Internal Revenue Service.

It would naturally seem to suggest that they may need to amp up their resources, infrastructure, human capital, etc.” Gabriel Faria, Chief Executive Officer of the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce, said the chamber was pleased at the outcome of the vote and commended the Government and the Opposition for ensuring that this has finally happened. “We do not forsee any further challenges with the bill and expect it will move smoothly through the legislative process.

It is important that we remember that the reporting deadline is September and we envision that the Board of Inland Revenue will be well positioned to take on its new role by that time,” he said.