Vatican City, 10 June 2015 (VIS) –
This morning Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for
Relations with States, and the U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See,
Kenneth F. Hackett, signed an historic agreement between the Holy See
(acting also in the name of and on behalf of Vatican City State) and
the United States of America to improve international tax compliance
and the exchange of tax information in view of the U.S. Foreign
Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).
This agreement – which is the first
formal intergovernmental agreement between the Holy See and the
United States – underscores the commitment of both parties to
promote and ensure ethical behaviour in the financial and economic
fields. In particular, this agreement will prevent tax evasion and
facilitate the compliance of fiscal duties by those U.S. citizens who
conduct financial activities in Vatican City State.
Ensuring the payment of taxes and
preventing tax evasion are of crucial economic importance for every
community since adequate tax revenues and public spending are
indispensable for governments to become instruments of development
and solidarity, to encourage employment growth, to sustain business
and charitable activities, and to provide systems of social insurance
and assistance designed to protect the weakest members of society.
In a context of economic globalisation,
it is therefore essential to strengthen the exchange of information
with the view to prevent tax evasion. The present agreement is thus
based on the most up-to-date global standards to curtail offshore tax
evasion through the automatic exchange of tax information.
No comments:
Post a Comment