Law360 Quotes Victor Jaramillo: FATCA Complexity Leading to Lackluster Results

A recent report that highlighted the Internal Revenue Service’s stalled enforcement of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act shows that although the agency has made it a priority to crack down on unreported offshore accounts, the statute’s logistical challenges are getting in the way.

. . .

On top of accuracy issues, the challenge of matching 8966 forms with 8938 forms — the ones individuals are required to submit — is tied to all the data the agency must process, according to Victor Jaramillo, who is of counsel at Caplin & Drysdale, Chtd.

“All the information coming in and trying to match it up with people and figuring out if there is any information gap, that’s probably a nightmare for their systems to even handle it,” he said.

. . .

Jaramillo said the IRS’ response to the TIGTA report might be “a political answer” to show that while the agency has issues with FATCA enforcement, it is still going after offshore tax avoidance in general.

“I think it might be semantics,” he said. Whether people are filling out forms correctly may not be high on the agency’s priority list, Jaramillo said, “but whether the underlying issue is addressed I think is still up there.”

To view the full article, please visit Law360’s website (subscription required).

Excerpt taken from the article “FATCA Complexity Leading to Lackluster Results” by Natalie Olivo for Law360.