Barbados is set to sign a reciprocal inter-governmental agreement with the US to apply to the US’ Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), according to Barbados Prime Minister Freundel Stuart.
Stuart was quoted by Caribbean Journal as saying that Barbados was aware of the certainty for domestic and international operators in its banking sector and other entities that met the criteria of foreign financial institutions under FATCA to thrive.
"I look forward, therefore, to being able in the coming weeks to announce formally that the US is favourably disposed to negotiating a reciprocal Model 1 inter-governmental agreement with us," Stuart added.
"And from our end, we will be working towards concluding agreement by year-end."
Stuart also pointed out that the law requires the automatic exchange of US taxpayers’ foreign banking information and places it in the same policy space as exchanges under the OECD.
"It would, therefore, be inconsistent with and contrary to our own national interest to indicate a willingness to automatically exchange information with the US and not with the parties to the OECD Convention.
"Greater gain can surely be had by moving quickly onto the substantial matters like implementation timeframes and questions about who will bear the costs of the automatic exchanges, regardless of the legal instrument used," Stuart concluded.
