Universal Fatca runs into political obstacles

The final rules on enforcing Fatca have now been published, but hopes for an international automatic exchange of tax information are likely to be stymied by political disputes. Alexander Campbell reports

The last few weeks have seen three important and highly publicised steps forward in the prevention of international tax evasion. A proposed agreement on automatic sharing of tax data between governments, released by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), promises to extend the data exchanges included in the US anti-tax-evasion law Fatca to all participating governments – but the full details of how the process will work will not be decided until later this year.

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