Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 section 891E

Implementation of the Agreement to Improve Tax Compliance and Provide for Reporting and Exchange of Information concerning Tax Matters (United States of America) Order 2013

Section 891E establishes the legal framework in Ireland for implementing the intergovernmental agreement with the United States on the exchange of tax-related information under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).

• Revenue, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may make regulations requiring financial institutions to register and to make returns of information on accounts held by US persons and payments made to non-participating financial institutions.
• Regulations made under this section must be laid before Dáil Éireann and may be annulled by resolution within 21 sitting days, though anything done under the regulation before annulment remains valid.
• Authorised Revenue officers may enter the premises of a financial institution to verify the accuracy of returns and examine compliance procedures, and penalties apply for failure to deliver a return, making an incorrect return, or failing to comply with any requirement of the regulations.
• Revenue is authorised to communicate information contained in returns to the US competent authority within nine months of the end of the relevant tax year, and an anti-avoidance rule ensures the section applies as if any arrangements designed to circumvent FATCA obligations had not been entered into.