18 09 2017

Kazakhstan Signs FATCA Agreement with US

Kazakhstan and the United States have signed a Model 1 FATCA Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA), which will enable the automatic exchange of financial information on each country's resident taxpayers to support tax enforcement efforts.

The agreement was signed in Astana on September 11, 2017. Kazakh Minister of Finance Bakhyt Sultanov emphasized the importance of FATCA as a global data exchange system, commenting that he expects the agreement to have a positive impact on the taxation system in Kazakhstan.

The Model 1 FATCA IGA requires financial institutions in Kazakhstan to report information to a government agency, which will then pass this information on to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The agreement is reciprocal, requiring US financial institutions to also provide certain information about Kazakh citizens back to Kazakhstan.

Following the agreement Kazakhtan financial institutions will no longer need to sign an FFI (Foreign Financial Institution) Agreement with the US, although they will still need to register with the IRS's FATCA Registration Portal.