Singapore authorities received 567 suggestions on Fatca compliance

SINGAPORE – The Government yesterday made public its response to feedback on proposed new regulations to help financial institutions here comply with a new United States law that is being imposed worldwide.

The US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca) requires all financial institutions outside the US to regularly submit information on financial accounts held by US persons to the US Internal Revenue Service.

If they fail to do so, these financial institutions face a 30 per cent withholding tax on certain gross payments received from the US.

To help financial institutions here comply with this law that took effect in July, Singapore has signed an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with the US. This agreement will allow financial institutions here to report the required information to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras), which will in turn pass it to the US.