STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Tuesday, 18 June 2013

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27. World economic group calls for global exchange of tax information to fight evasion

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/world-economic-group-calls-for-global-exchange-of-tax-information-to-fight-evasion/2013/06/17/5ca23292-d780-11e2-a9f2-42ee3912ae0e_story.html

A top world economic group has called for the creation of a global system to automatically funnel financial information about individuals and companies from countries where their earnings and investments are located to jurisdictions where they might owe taxes.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which is spearheading an effort to curb tax evasion by individuals and close some controversial tax loopholes for corporations, said that the foundation of such a system is already emerging because of reporting requirements newly imposed by the United States.

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act requires overseas financial institutions to send the Internal Revenue Service information about accounts held by Americans in an effort to curb the use of foreign tax havens.

Though overseas banks have complained about the regulatory burden, major financial centers such as the United Kingdom already have reached data-sharing agreements with the United States. What’s more, the OECD said, the U.S. requirement is prompting other nations to consider sharing the information they will already have to send to the United States.