Vatican to share tax info with US in new transparency step

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By NICOLE WINFIELD

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican formally committed Wednesday to share the tax information of U.S. citizens with the United States in its latest move to improve the reputation of its scandal-marred bank and crack down on tax cheats.

Vatican and U.S. officials signed an agreement in which the Holy See committed to comply with a 2010 U.S. law designed to encourage — some say force — foreign financial institutions to share information about U.S. account holders with U.S. tax authorities.

The Vatican bank has long been accused by Italian authorities as being an offshore tax haven. Under then-Pope Benedict XVI, the Vatican began reforming all its financial institutions to comply with international standards to fight money laundering and tax evasion.

It's not known how many U.S. citizens have accounts at the Vatican bank, but the number represents a fraction of the 15,181 account-holders.

FULL story at link.



Bishops take shelter from the sun as Pope Francis arrives for his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, June 10, 2015. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/044f922ac41e4a7fb74308ef3eb44b02/vatican-share-tax-info-us-new-transparency-step

[eggplant]

1. "but the number represents a fraction"

Ugh. All numbers *are* fractions.

[Bluenorthwest]

2. And that's how you can tell he's 'holy' he's got a bank of his own where people hide cash....

Just like Jesus ran a chain of pay day loan shops in the Galilee region. The motto 'Don't try to walk on water when we can float you a loan' made 'The Christ' a true power broker of his era.

[olddots]

3. this should be broadcast on Comedy Central