Norway has signed an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with the US on 15 April, authorising the exchange of information for tax purposes in light of FATCA.
The country also released an accompanying Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)—a departure from what has happened with the release of other IGAs.
“According to the MOU, the Norwegian government proposes to introduce domestic legislation to have its IGA in force by 30 September 2015,” commented KPMG in a report.
“The MOU also provides that the United States intend to treat Norwegian financial institutions as complying with, and not subject to, the withholding requirements of FATCA.”
One other notable difference to other IGAs is the Norwegian IGA includes a provision which expressly allows Norwegian financial institutions to rely on definitions in United States Treasury regulations, provided the use of the regulations does not frustrate the purposes of the IGA.
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