Article in the New York Times.
Note final sentence in the quote below.
“Next year, Washington will enact [sic] the most ambitious tax-recovery plan in history, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. Under Fatca, foreign financial firms will have to proactively identify every American account holder with assets of more than $50,000 and report details about their financial activity or face a significant penalty. The move is very unpopular among foreign banks, governments and Americans living abroad, but the more complex rules could actually mean more business for offshore centers. By the time Fatca is in full force, in 2017, truly wealthy individuals and corporations will almost certainly have used their resources to find more intricate loopholes.”
Full-text at:
@Northern Shrike
From my perspective, this story is significant.
1. It is written by Adam Davidson, who is the founder of Planet Money blog on NPR. Planet Money has done some of the best reporting on the Financial Melt down in association with This American life, and their blog is dedicated to learning, teaching and demystifying complex final matters for the rest of us. If you want an good introduction to their work, and if there is any fogginess in your mind about the Financial Melt down, I would really recommend this program, The Giant Pool of Money.
2. For the past year I have been emailing and tweeting them to try to get their attention on FATCA, and this is the first evidence that NPR proper might be taking note (Previous stories like this one have been by PRI, and played on NPR stories.)
3. Planet Money is a feed news and story source for the most listened to daily radio news reporting in America (Morning Edition and All Things Considered) with even more listernship than Rush Limbaugh. To be fair, it probably is more of a progressive audience which would favor FATCA if they first heard about it. However, it is widely listened to in conservative states like Alaska, or Nebraska as two examples I am aware of. Also, over time NPR has lost a lot of the Liberal bias that the Conservatives like to blast them for, and they have really worked to be more balanced in their news stories.
4. I would encourage all of you, so inclined to try to place comments and help with the education of Adam Davidson. This is a discovery and evolving process for him, as evidenced in the opening paragraphs. He is real open to persuasive and civil disagreement with his views, or at least that is what I have observed having listened to Planet Money podcasts since 2008.
I hope some of you will take advantage of this opportunity.
*@Just Me: Thank you for triggering this.
Had to laugh at this *Jack Townsend description (see below) of a comment by Janet Spragens re IRS behaviour – preferring to oppress and harass minnows rather than looking for egregious whales:
from http://federaltaxcrimes.blogspot.ca/2012/07/tax-justice-network-worlds-elites-hide.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+blogspot/oGeEWy+%28Federal+Tax+Crimes%29
Jack says,
*”Readers of this blog will know that there is much concern that the IRS is disproportionately penalizing “minnows.”
I am reminded in this regard of the late *Janet Spragens with whom I had the honor of serving with at DOJ Tax Appellate Section in the 1970s.
She was a tireless advocate for the taxpayer underdog, often chastising the IRS for going after the smaller taxpayer when there were bigger targets. (As I recall, she characterized the IRS attitude as being “we
have smaller fish to fry,” but alas I could not confirm that as an actual quote by a quite Google search.)?”
Here is what I have posted as a comment. It is in moderation. They allow only 1500 characters, so I had to focus on a narrow aspect of the story… Y
PS… In my rush to get something posted on the NYTs, I see my mistake in my first comment above which I overlooked. I meant to say… “demystifying complex financial matters for the rest of us”
After reading this article, I am thinking that Felix Salmon, a Reuters blogger, might qualify for the IBS Hall of Shame. In particular, please see the last paragraph:
http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2012/07/24/why-americans-dont-have-offshore-bank-accounts/
@Innocente..
I was stunned by this comment… “And it’s only going to get better as Fatca comes in to force.” My first response was, “Are you nuts?”
@Innocente, Ugh. Reading the last paragraph of that Reuters article is a gut punch. IBS hall of shame candidate for sure. He clearly hasn’t taken the time to understand this. What is it with Reuters? I haven’t read a single intelligent article on any of these topics from Reuters. Their coverage over Denise Rich’s renunciation was especially biased with loaded language and flat-out incorrect ‘facts.’
@Innocente… so I had to respond to that one. Thanks for the tip that the blog was there…
Here was my comment:
@Just Me: Felix Salmon of Reuters was a member of JournoList, which KeyWiki describes as “an email group of approximately 400 “progressive” and socialist journalists, academics and “new media” activists.
JournoList members reportedly coordinated their messages in favor
of Barack Obama and the Democrats, and against Sarah Palin and the
Republican Party. JournoList was founded in 2007 and was closed down in
early 2010.” Possibly a blogger who doesn’t let facts get in the way of his journalistic opinions.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2560986/posts
*Felix Salmon is in fact a UK expat living in New York. His boss at Reuters(technically a Canadian company) too is someone named Chrystia Freeland who grew up in Edmonton and whose mother was involved in Alberta NDP politics in the 1970s. Chrystia Freeland is definitely what they call in the US a talking head. Salmon has also been very critical of both Jim Flaherty and Stephen Harper for criticizing a global bank tax saying they weren’t team players. Felix Salmon also appears a lot on BNN TV in Canada and wrote a very critical piece on Eduardo Saverin for which I believe he might already be on the Wall of Shame.
@Innocente
Thanks for the perspective.. We need a list of journalist coordinating a campaign against FATCA. 🙂 Looking over the list, I recognize quite a few of them. and Tim, appreciate the additional back ground. That helps understanding where he comes from…
More opportunities to weigh in on Offshore Accounts and FATCA impacts. This is another good opening to help them develop a balanced narrative.
Planet Money has now done a podcast off the NYTs story… You can listen and comment here…
Episode 390: We Set Up An Offshore Company In A Tax Haven
A day before, they also ran the story on Morning Edition…
We Set Up An Offshore Company In A Tax Haven
Our old friend Linda Beale has a piece up on this topic too over at Business Insider. Sets up a straw man, knocks it right down, and proclaims victory:
http://www.businessinsider.com/tax-evaders-and-those-who-aide-them-not-regulatory-complexities-cause-tax-evasion-2012-7
Another follow on story at Planet Money on opening an offshore account… So more opportunities for comments and education.
NYT Excerpt: Offshore Banking In Belize
@Eric…
Thanks for the link to Business Insider.
Just a note… I just had a comment removed from this Planet Money Blog as not meeting Community standards. That is the first for me. See if you can determine what would upset some moderator… Maybe not enough on subject? (btw, a similar comment was accepted on another thread, so go figure.)
@JustMe, your comments were very temperate as always. I’m dubious about whether they’ll really dwell on the Delaware as tax haven angle. I was surprised to see that US tax haven example come up on the blog.
Maybe they should really be investigating whether someone deemed a US taxable person/citizen living permanently abroad can get a US bank account. And then, whether a Swiss-born citizen with a US parent, or a Swiss citizen married to a US person – can get a joint account or mortgage in Switzerland? Or how likely it is that anyone deemed a ‘US taxable person’ living abroad can find employers or business partners who don’t mind having their nontaxable non-US accounts detailed on FBARs?
Above post? Advantages & Disadvantages of Being an Radiology Technician
https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ5z5Qd24QdPqjoPw2HBvlnYH4K7Fvf5Gpox1M3CEq8WxhgQXSMwQ
Non-Sequitur SAY WHAT???
@ The_Animal
It’s just a spam pingback that got through the filter. Pacifica or someone deletes these things as soon as they find them.