On December 14, the United States of America (U.S.) and the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (Macau SAR) signed an inter-governmental agreement (IGA) to facilitate the compliance of Macau financial institutions with the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).
FATCA is an anti-tax evasion regime enacted by the U.S. to detect U.S. taxpayers who use accounts with non-U.S. financial institutions to conceal income and assets from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS). It requires financial institutions outside the U.S. to report financial account information of U.S. taxpayers to the IRS. These institutions shall seek the consent of their account holders who are U.S. taxpayers for reporting their account information to the IRS annually. The IGA reduces reporting burden and facilitates compliance with FATCA by financial institutions in Macau SAR. It covers exemptions for financial institutions or products which present low risks for tax evasion by U.S. taxpayers.
United States Consul General Kurt Tong and the Macau SAR Secretary for Economy and Finance Leong Vai Tac represented the two governments at the signing.
The IGA is available at the website of the Monetary Authority of Macao.
