Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman William Tseng (曾銘宗) is leading a group of officials on a trip to the US in an effort to confirm details of the US’ Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and to ink a tax treaty with Washington.
Officials said Vice Minister of Finance Wu Tang-chieh (吳當傑) plans to meet with US officials to discuss building a taxation-related reciprocity mechanism.
Since the FATCA was enacted in 2010, the US has asked foreign financial institutions to report all offshore accounts held by US citizens worth more than US$50,000 to the US Internal Revenue Service, or be taxed 30 percent of their US investments.
The act took effect in Taiwan in July, with Taiwanese financial institutions asked to provide reports in March next year for the first time.
This led government agencies to seek to accelerate the pace of negotiations with the US on constructing a reciprocity system.
Minister of Finance Chang Sheng-ford (張盛和) yesterday said that it might be challenging to get the US to agree to sign a tax treaty with Taiwan in return for executing the terms of the FATCA.
“The US always has its own considerations,” Chang said.
The government is keen to show commitment to the proposals, which is why Tseng has gone to the US to discuss the issues in person with US officials.
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