Lawmakers in Congress who are eyeing a rewrite of the tax code are getting an earful from Americans abroad who want relief from double taxation and time-consuming paperwork.
Letters are pouring in to the House Ways and Means Committee from as far away as Australia, Germany and Bahrain from citizens who say the IRS inflicts a particularly cruel form of punishment on them for living abroad.
“For the simple tax situation of one wage and some interest income, my 2012 U.S. tax return, with supporting documentation, is 28 pages!” an American living in Australia wrote to the House committee. “I muddle through as best I can, spending dozens of hours each year on it.”
In other words: “shut up and go away you whiners, tax reform is for corporations who make donations!”. Just like Dennis Ross (R-FL).
Just in case you still don’t get it, here’s what the Senate thinks of when they talk about “tax reform” for Americans abroad:
@Eric… Yup!
And commit political suicide for us?
Keep spreading the word!
Here’s ACA’s latest update on FATCA
http://americansabroad.org/news-and-events/aca-and-fatca-in-the-press/.
An excellent summary of what has been going on around the world.
and just a note of something Patric said, which is worth repeating…
Congrats ML. As Roger points out, The Hill, as you know, is probably our best conduit for getting ACA and overseas Americans’ views known in DC – it’s more powerful than the WaPo, IMO, because it is aimed at the staffers and government employees rather than the general public. The general public will never understand our position because there are simply too few who ever lived overseas or even visited! So make as many friends as you can there – it is the best leverage you can have. This also underscores ACA as a valued organization for others overseas. As we reach out to all of the other expat organizations, the more headlines/articles in The Hill quoting you and ACA, the better the support.
So keep up the great work!