President Kiska signs US-Slovak tax information exchange

On Wednesday Slovak President Andrej Kiska signed an agreement between Slovakia and the United States on the mutual exchange of tax information under the framework of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). The aim of the Act is to review the incomes of Americans abroad and to prevent tax evasion. Banks and other financial institutions outside US territory are obliged to provide information on the accounts of American citizens. Based on the FATCA, Slovakia will provide requested data at regular intervals to a corresponding US agency. "As it's an agreement on a reciprocal basis, similar data about Slovak residents in the USA will be provided to Slovakia," stated the Finance Ministry, which worked alongside its American counterpart on drawing up the agreement. According to the Finance Ministry, by signing the FATCA agreement Slovakia is declaring active participation in the area of combatting tax fraud and evasion. The EU has also been inspired by the agreement and has drawn up legislation concerning tax information exchanges. EU-member states are due to transpose this legislation into domestic law by the end of this year.