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FATCA has three main provisions:
It requires foreign financial institutions, such as banks, to enter into an agreement with the IRS to identify their U.S. account holders and to disclose the account holders' names, TINs, addresses, and the accounts' balances, receipts, and withdrawals.[11] U.S. payors making payments to non-compliant foreign financial institutions are required to withhold 30% of the gross payments.[12][13][14] Foreign financial institutions which are themselves the beneficial owners of such payments are not permitted a credit or refund on withheld taxes absent a treaty override.[15]
U.S. persons owning these foreign accounts or other specified financial assets must report them on a new Form 8938 which is filed with the person's U.S. tax returns if they are generally worth more than US$50,000;[16] a higher reporting threshold applies to overseas residents and others.[17][18] Account holders would be subject to a 40% penalty on understatements of income in an undisclosed foreign financial asset.[13][19] Understatements of greater than 25% of gross income are subject to an extended statute of limitations period of 6 years.[20]
It closes a tax loophole that foreign investors had used to avoid paying taxes on U.S. dividends by converting them into "dividend equivalents" through the use of swap contracts.[21][22]
These reporting requirements are in addition to reporting of foreign financial accounts to the U.S. Treasury;[23] this most notably includes Form TD F 90-22.1 "Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts" (FBAR) for foreign financial accounts exceeding US$10,000 required under Bank Secrecy Act regulations issued by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).[24]
It requires foreign financial institutions, such as banks, to enter into an agreement with the IRS to identify their U.S. account holders and to disclose the account holders' names, TINs, addresses, and the accounts' balances, receipts, and withdrawals.[11] U.S. payors making payments to non-compliant foreign financial institutions are required to withhold 30% of the gross payments.[12][13][14] Foreign financial institutions which are themselves the beneficial owners of such payments are not permitted a credit or refund on withheld taxes absent a treaty override.[15]
U.S. persons owning these foreign accounts or other specified financial assets must report them on a new Form 8938 which is filed with the person's U.S. tax returns if they are generally worth more than US$50,000;[16] a higher reporting threshold applies to overseas residents and others.[17][18] Account holders would be subject to a 40% penalty on understatements of income in an undisclosed foreign financial asset.[13][19] Understatements of greater than 25% of gross income are subject to an extended statute of limitations period of 6 years.[20]
It closes a tax loophole that foreign investors had used to avoid paying taxes on U.S. dividends by converting them into "dividend equivalents" through the use of swap contracts.[21][22]
These reporting requirements are in addition to reporting of foreign financial accounts to the U.S. Treasury;[23] this most notably includes Form TD F 90-22.1 "Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts" (FBAR) for foreign financial accounts exceeding US$10,000 required under Bank Secrecy Act regulations issued by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).[24]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Account_Tax_Compliance_Act#Provisions
Japan has agreed to implement FACTA, so be aware that this may result in your MtGox accounts being reported to the IRS and the US Treasury.
It's generally not a good idea to rely on interpretations of taxation law which you've come up with yourself.
Dwolla doesn't keep your funds on MtGox (in fact Dwolla's ToS specifically state that user funds are deposited with Veridian). It transfers them there on your explicit instructions.
