US citizens: Pay attention to this
“As you may know, US citizens have long been the world’s banking pariah thanks to a piece of remarkably stupid legislation called the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).
FATCA was passed a few years ago as part of a greater US government effort to create jobs. And boy was it successful– thousands of new jobs were created as a result of the legislation. Unfortunately, most of the new jobs are for tax collectors.
In short, FATCA requires EVERY BANK IN THE WORLD to sign an information-sharing agreement with the IRS. No matter what. Even the tiniest bank in Bhutan that has never seen a foreigner walk through its doors has to jump in bed with the IRS.
What’s more, if banks don’t comply (or even know about the law), the US government will severely penalize them with a 30% withholding tax on most funds routed through the US.”
Via Sovereign Man
