Taiwan signs deal with the U.S. giving IRS access to Taiwanese bank accounts of Americans, including dual citizens
Taiwan News
dATE: 2016/12/30
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
Three days before Christmas, Taiwan and the United States worked together to send Americans living in
Poster of Uncle Sam saying, “I WANT MORE!” (Image by Kaz Vorpal on flickr)
Taiwan a special Christmas gift — the long-rumored “Fat Coffee Agreement” — which will enable the IRS to crackdown on Taiwanese that either hold a U.S. passport or green card and earn income overseas, was signed by the two nations, though lawmakers have vowed to veto it for being “unfair.”
Lawmakers currently oppose the terms of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FACTA), mockingly referred to as the “Fat Coffee Agreement” in Chinese, as it collects data from “non-cooperative” clients from Taiwan banks, but does not require U.S. banks to reciprocate for Taiwan’s taxation bureau.
Effective April 2017, approximately 5,000 Taiwanese citizens who are also American citizens or hold U.S. green cards will be required to report all overseas investments to the IRS.
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said that although it had signed a FATCA cooperation agreement with the United States, the agreement would have to be approved by the Legislative Yuan and signed by the President. Under the terms of the new agreement, the United States will be able to request Taiwanese financial institutions to provide information on “uncooperative clients” when the United States suspects a citizen or green card holder is committing tax evasion. [FULL STORY]
