Most of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) countries have reached agreements in substance with the United States for the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Inter-Governmental Agreements (IGA) which is to be signed by 31 December.
FATCA, which the US Government enacted in March 2010, requires that Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) report information to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on assets of over US$50,000 held by US taxpayers, or by foreign entities in which US taxpayers hold substantial ownership interest.
The ECCU countries have agreed to sign a Model 1 IGA which allows information to be transmitted to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) through the respective local Inland Revenue Departments. The signing of the IGA creates the legal framework for the sharing of information in keeping with the requirements of FATCA.
Uniform legislation, which requires financial institutions to submit specific FATCA information to their respective Inland Revenue Departments, was drafted and is being reviewed by the respective stakeholders before submission to Parliament for passage.
The ECCB and the FATCA Working Group, which comprises representatives from the national and regional regulators, Ministries for Finance, Inland Revenue Departments, and financial sector industry groups, continue to work towards having the necessary systems in place to submit the 2014 data to the IRS by the March 2015 deadline.
Kindly check the links below for more information on FATCA:
http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/tax-policy/treaties/pages/fatca-archive.aspx
http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Corporations/Foreign-Account-Tax-Compliance-Act-FATCA