Introduction
If perchance any reader might have had doubts about the serious intent of the United States as it opens a new front against tax evasion and money laundering, under its Foreign Account Tax Compli-ance Act, 2010 (FATCA), he or she should ponder the pointed remarks made by a Senior United States Treasury official (Robert Stark) on September 2013: “Offshore tax evasion is a significant contributor to the tax gap.” As a result of this, FATCA is designed: “To establish a process for foreign financial institutions (FFIs) to report information about their US account holders to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).” The IRS has further stated its objective very clearly: “It is to catch tax evaders.”
When considered carefully, the implications of this development for Guyana are stunning in the extreme. To date, however,