Toward an Automatic but Asymmetric Exchange of Tax Information: the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) as Inflection Point

Abstract

This article describes the most recent trends in the field of the international exchange of tax information and also pretends to guess whether the initiatives taken have lead to a more neutral, fair and homogenous global tax system. In particular it analyses the current OECD policy on international exchange of tax information, made under request and the recent international provisions setting up new mechanisms of automatic exchange of that information, either unilateral or bilateral. It also focuses on the new US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), the subsequent Joint Statement made by the US Treasury and five European Countries and whether it represents an inflection point in the US and world policies of international exchange of tax information.