Treasury Postpones Foreign Anti-Tax Dodging Law

The U.S. Treasury Department said on Friday it will postpone by six months until July 1, 2014, the enforcement of a new law cracking down on offshore tax avoidance by Americans.

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA, requires foreign banks and other institutions to give information to the U.S. government about offshore accounts worth more than $50,000 that are held by Americans.

Foreign banks have complained about the costs of FATCA and its conflicts with their home-country banking laws.

"We are providing an additional six months to complete agreements with countries and jurisdictions across the globe," said Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Tax Affairs Robert Stack in a statement.