How the Vatican Bank is Justifying Opening Its Books to US Tax Authorities

The Vatican bank will automatically report information about American holders of its accounts to US tax authorities under an agreement signed on Wednesday that the American ambassador to the Holy See said was a “very significant step” to combating tax evasion, reports The Guardian.

You guessed it, it's Pope Francis behind it. The Guardian notes:

Pope Francis has also put financial reform at the top of his agenda, and the bank has spent millions of euros on consultants, including US advisory firm Promontory Financial Group, in its effort to implement a modern compliance programme and weed out problematic accounts.

 Under the terms of Wednesday’s agreement, the Vatican will be party to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act in the US, which was passed in 2010 to target non-compliance with US tax obligations.

In a signing ceremony at the Vatican, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for relations at the Holy See, emphasized the importance of paying taxes as a matter of charity and justice. “As Pope Francis frequently reminds us, evading just taxes is stealing both from the state and from the poor,” he said.

There you have it, the Vatican under this Pope, again sees government coercion as somehow a charitable effort.

-RW