Vastus pöördumisele

Dear Sir,

Your letter to Minister Võrklaev, dated May 16, 2024 refers.

We can certainly agree that any instrument that helps jurisdictions to fight against tax evasion must not only be efficient but also proportionate and lawful. Estonia has taken measures to guarantee that the process and purpose of reporting obligations arising from FATCA remains in accordance with the GDPR requirements. One of the measures is a threshold set out for the reporting on accounts of natural persons. Estonia has opted for the 50 000 USD threshold for a reportable account. This limits considerably the number of people affected by the FATCA reporting.

As we have elaborated in our letter from February 16, 2023, it is important to handle the protection of GDPR rights in a coordinated and uniform manner at the EU level. There have been active discussions and analysis of the international exchange instruments at the Council level in cooperation with bodies responsible for data protection. We hope to reach a uniform understanding of sufficient safeguards necessary to ensure compliance with European data protection regulations soon.

Therefore, we have not requested from Estonian Data Protection Inspectorate a unilateral and separate analysis of the FATCA agreement.

Sincerely yours,