Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is only effective between countries who sign and seek compliance. This act can be viewed as non-attractive for foreign entities because it takes a degree of autonomy out of the hands of the signatory country’s treasurer. Nevertheless, the act was officially sign by France on November 14th although they had never struggled to accept its principles. A prominent Euro member country joining this intergovernmental agreement is a big win for the movement toward transparency in the theater of international tax agreements. Note that this act not only requires transparency in the foreign accounts in France but also requires the same expectations for US disclosure. In the beginning phases of FATCA many US expatriates began to renounce their American citizenship to avoid paying both US and the host countries taxes. But issues like this are smoothing out and the international legislation is gaining a better foothold.
