The Algeria and the United States sign an agreement on sharing tax information
The Algeria and the United States signed Tuesday in Algiers an intergovernmental agreement on the sharing of tax information between the two countries and to promote financial transparency and the strengthening of bilateral and international fight against tax evasion.
The agreement, first of its kind concluded by the US with a North African country, was signed by the Minister of Finance and Abderrahmane Benkhelfa the US ambassador in Algiers Joan Polaschik. It will enable the implementation of the provisions of the Law on tax compliance on foreign accounts, known as FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act).
As a first step in this bilateral cooperation, the agreement should be monitoring the early conclusion of a tax treaty to avoid double taxation between Algeria and the USA.
“With the US, we have cooperation in several sectors and we complement this by cooperation in the financial and tax matters, it is an exchange of information that aims first to allow US investment flows in Algeria, “said Mr. Benkhalfa to the press after the signing.
Considering this agreement as an “important gesture, a cement in the Algerian-American cooperation,” the minister welcomed the fact that Algeria is “the only country in the region with a high degree of transparency in its relations with the world, “including stressing cooperation in the fight against fraud and tax evasion and financial.
Mme. Polaschik has, meanwhile, said the agreement represented “a milestone in the cooperation between the two countries to fight against tax evasion abroad.”
“By working together to improve the transparency and sharing of financial information, we not only dissuade non-compliance with tax obligations, but we are building a global financial system stronger, more stable and more responsible to the benefit of our two countries” , she argued.
FATCA was enacted in the US in 2010 to fight against tax evasion abroad by obtaining information about accounts held by US taxpayers outside the United States.
This law, which became a world standard in the fight against tax evasion, requires existing financial institutions outside the United States to provide the US tax authority (IRS, ie) of the Income Information all US citizens living abroad.
The implementation of this agreement in Algeria is in accordance with section 79 of the Finance Act 2015 which put the burden of some financial organizations and institutions communication of information concerning taxpayers of States having concluded with Algeria a exchange agreement information for tax purposes, it is explained in the Ministry of Finance.
