Due to “overwhelming interest abroad,” the Treasury Department has announced a six-month extension to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act withholding requirement?.

The announcement, made jointly with the Internal Revenue Service on Friday, said an extension, to July 1, 2014, will provide foreign financial institutions (FFIs) the time necessary to comply.

Enacted by Congress in 2010, FATCA was created to target non-compliance by U.S. taxpayers using foreign accounts as a means of tax evasion. It requires FFIs to report to the IRS information about accounts held by U.S. taxpayers, or by foreign entities in which U.S. taxpayers hold a substantial ownership interest. Americans with $50,000 or more of assets held by a foreign institution are targeted. It requires U.S. financial institutions to withhold a portion of payments made to FFIs who do not agree to identify and report information on U.S. account holders.

To make compliance with the reporting requirements of FATCA feasible, particularly for FFIs in jurisdictions where existing laws prohibit this type of reporting, the Treasury Department developed intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) that rely on governmental cooperation to facilitate the exchange of FATCA information. This approach is intended to address legal impediments, reduce burdens on financial institutions, and streamline the reporting process.

To date, Treasury has signed nine IGAs, and is engaged in related conversations with more than 80 other nations. The process, it says, is under consideration as the basis for an international standard for the automatic exchange of such tax information.

“The high volume of international participation in this effort represents a quintessential race to the top,” Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Tax Affairs Robert B. Stack said in a statement.

In January, the Treasury Department and IRS issued final regulations for their global reporting demands under the controversial Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).

A participating FFI will need to enter into an agreement with the IRS to identify U.S. accounts; report information to the IRS regarding U.S. accounts; and withhold a 30 percent tax on certain U.S.-connected payments to non-participating FFIs and account holders who are unwilling to provide the required information. The finalized regulations outline the step-by-step process for U.S. account identification, reporting, and withholding requirements.

Although the start of withholding and due diligence was extended, the first report of information under FATCA is still due in 2015, and will include information about accounts maintained during 2014. Other key FATCA deadlines, including expected timelines for the implementation of withholding on gross proceeds from sales of U.S. securities, remain unchanged.

The FATCA registration website will be open by Aug. 19. Updates and further information can be found by visiting an online resource center.