#FATCA – what it is, why it needs to be repealed and what you can do https://t.co/ZNVqntUS2S – Republicans Overseas outlines their lawsuit
— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) September 28, 2014
They also reference the Canadian lawsuit against the FATCA IGA launched by the Alliance For The Defense of Canadian Sovereignty
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A Message from Senator Mary Landrieu to Democrats Abroad trying to reach 25000 Louisiana voters overseas. Speaking only on domestic issues.
A message from Senator Begich (D-Alaska) Abroad trying to get votes from outside the US. Speaking only on domestic issues.
More vote-getting from the Lemmings Abroad
updated
http://samuelclemmons.wordpress.com/2014/09/21/overseasvotersguide-a-living-record-of-legislation-and-legislators-of-interest-to-us-citizens-living-outside-usa-comments-invited/
Why is this a Republican issue? I mean, I know it was mostly Democrats who passed this, but there are many Democrat expatriates, like me, who oppose FATCA. Have the Republican organizations overseas approached the Democratic organizations overseas to work together on this? It would make the effort far stronger if it was Democrats approaching Democratic lawmakers, wouldn’t it?
you will find that DA answered that question. You will find how they approach bi-partisanship here.
https://www.democratsabroad.org/group/fbarfatca/august-2014-fatca-frequently-asked-questions-reference-our-work-reforming-fatca
We support a FATCA “Same Country Exception”. It is an addition to the FATCA implementation rules that would make an account in a financial institution in the same country in which the taxpayer is legally resident exempt from FATCA reporting.
Q: How will the FATCA Same Country Exception work? A: Americans abroad would file a FATCA Same Country Exception Form with their tax returns and would provide a copy of that form to all the foreign financial institutions in their country of residence where they hold accounts. Those institutions would keep these forms on file and would then be able to exclude the taxpayer from their FATCA filings.
For some reason I can’t hear this clip. Either here nor on you tube. The sound is very very low- so much so that I can’t decipher it.
I appreciate the efforts of Democrats Abroad, Republicans Overseas, American Citizens Abroad, and all other groups. I just wish they would quite in-fighting over credit for who did what first.
You’re all wonderful. Now let’s all work together like adults — please?
@foo
Yes, we need to get everyone working on this. There are a lot of effects of the tax code that I can’t see anyone defending,such as taking money off disabled people. Even the IRS seems to be pretending that the Mexican IGA settles the whole question of whether the Mexican afores pensions are trusts. Unfortunately, it is election time and the House and one-third of the Senate is out of town campaigning for the next month.
Both Republican President Reagan and Democrat President Truman used this quote:
“There is no limit to what a man can do so long as he does not care a straw who gets the credit for it.”
Charles Edward Montague,”
Having really listened to it, I found it to be generally sensible, although really difficult to hear.
Is the description of 8938 correct, since they suggest at 7:14 that the account limit is $10,000 (whereas the IRS website says the total limit is $50,000 for a single taxpayer residing in the U.S.). I couldn’t find anything about a $10,000 limit on accounts. Is there some small print with the 8938 that I have overlooked, since the 8938 penalties are high.
@Publius
You are correct on the threshold, and I was about to call out the same mistake.
I’m afraid I have little confidence in a presentation that makes errors on very basic issues, but of course, I remain a cynic on both the RO and DA efforts. Politically motivated to draw votes, and then the issues will be immediately placed on the back burner once the elections are over.
@OAP
Thanks for the confirmation that that point is a mistake. Lots of Brockers will sleep better tonight! If anyone has a Youtube account, could you post a correcting comment?
FFI’s are not required to stick to any minimum reporting balance, $50K or otherwise. They may just choose to simply report all accounts of USP’s, regardless of ANY amount.
There are other considerations. In a video taken of a meeting of UK bankers and a US Treasury official, the Treasury person when asked said that if a bank employee has personal knowledge that a customer is a USP, the bank would be required to report that person regardless of their bank balance.
@Rachel … Republicans abroad are just as jeopardized by FATCA as Democrats abroad …. the Dems abroad however seem too loyal to their party to actually call for repeal and so and trying to jump through hoops asking for reforms / changes … the thing is bad period. Bad things need to be cut out … like cancer. It would be best if all involved simply took an honesty pill and worked together to end FATCA (and CBT).
@Mark Twain .. the work of Dems Abroad is welcome (I am not a US Person at all and so have no particular dog in the Repub / Dem fight) yet does not begin to deal with the most serious FATCA follies … the same country exception would simply add further cost to our (non US Person) costs of compliance as “foreigners” that now have to foot the bill for yet another if then else statement in the process. In addition it does noting to protect our privacy from foreign (US) invasion, nor does it aid in deterring ID theft (as the IRS is already aware of) nor does it aid in avoiding US indicia being leaked to terrorists and criminals like ISIS, BokHarram, FARC and others around the world. Lastly and perhaps most importantly, same country exemption does NOT enable those of us living in relatively volatile places to put aside a nest egg in a safer place just in case we need to flee persecution at short notice. In short, Same Country Exemption simply does not deal with the matter. FATCA is bad law ab initio and needs to be repealed or blocked.
“Same Country Exemption” is no good. FATCA needs to be repealed.
The video is informative, however, it reads like an accountant did the video.
FATCA has to be seen as burdening everyone.
For example, the in the Bank of Scotland’s new terms and conditions (August 2014), all customers have to sign away their rights and agree to the bank’s remedies if they fail to comply.
In effect the Bank of Scotland is making every customer a ‘US person’ allowing the bank to decide a person’s status at will, and able to report without further notification to any tax authority in the world.
A Bank of Scotland customer no longer has any privacy rights.
I suspect this pattern will be repeated bank after bank after bank. From the bank’s POV it makes their life a lot easier, but throws all their customers under the FATCA bus.
check out the Republicans Overseas facebook page now. You can probably see that they have a good acceptance of the feelings of Brockers.
I don’t see that ACA is antagonistic to anyone. ACA has the role of explaining the issue to everyone, even while each individual ACA member has their own personal leanings.
If you believe that your personal situation and FBARs and CBT and FATCA are more important than the domestic issues of saving the cats and protecting the homeland from the invasion of the Kardashians on US soil, then you really should investigate where each party stands and vote accordingly.
http://samuelclemmons.wordpress.com/2014/09/21/overseasvotersguide-a-living-record-of-legislation-and-legislators-of-interest-to-us-citizens-living-outside-usa-comments-invited/
@nervousinvestor
**Lastly and perhaps most importantly, same country exemption does NOT enable those of us living in relatively volatile places to put aside a nest egg in a safer place just in case we need to flee persecution at short notice**
People don’t understand that… my family escaped in the middle of the nite from war torn country & to this day… don’t trust anyone… they never keep their funds in one place.. they were able to get over the border & they had some funds there so they were able to start over… Funds location was only shared with a few family members… they don’t understand why anyone should get a road map of their means… Elders in the family are comparing what is happening now to what has happened to them in the past… in this day & age… by the US now
I appreciated hearing what the Republicans Overseas are doing, because the lawsuit led by Jim Bopp was the only thing I was aware of. It should have had a little more editing, for example, there was a mismatch when comparing the size of Americans abroad to a state, between the visual (#13 state) and the voice-over (equal to the third state), but overall, it was an informative presentation.
@Mark Twain, the “same country exemption” the Dems Abroad are doing came as news to me. Thanks for sharing. While it’s not a bad idea IF the FATCA lawsuits fail and we’re stuck with FATCA, but it does add another file for the banks to keep track of, and for us account holders to make sure our banks apply. In addition, it still keeps the cost of compliance high, and does NOT give banks who are getting rid of U.S. clients ANY motivation to re-instate them because they still have to make sure they’ve got all the forms right for that account or they’re screwed. The Dems Abroad obviously don’t understand that it’s the potential PENALTIES and the COSTS OF COMPLIANCE that motivate “foreign” banks to dump their “US persons”.
@Mark Twain
“Q: How will the FATCA Same Country Exception work? A: Americans abroad would file a FATCA Same Country Exception Form with their tax returns and would provide a copy of that form to all the foreign financial institutions in their country of residence where they hold accounts. Those institutions would keep these forms on file and would then be able to exclude the taxpayer from their FATCA filings.”
What a great idea from the Dems and ACA. Another form to file along with all the rest of them. Better to save the hassle and let the bank do the reporting for you, eh?
Mark,
Do you mean (I know you don’t):
In our dreams would we ever get such a “gathering” of US Persons Abroad. And, where would we gather even in a “non-violent” protest? The right to protest as in US Civil Rights days are over.
Personally, I think Lemmings Abroad’s idea for adding more paperwork for me is fantastic.
I’ve got nothing better to do than to drive around to financial institutions and give them papers saying that they don’t need to file papers on me.
And since I work across borders with international trade—often for US companies—I think it’s a great idea to stop me from projecting US exports. Less business for the homeland should keep the unions bankrupt, just like Tax Injustice Network advocates.
http://samuelclemmons.wordpress.com/2013/12/19/mountains-of-irs-paperwork-for-us-expats/
@Jan
Did u note with the form… a copy of your tax return is also needed? So basically its the same thing… with just different words… then when they decide to change the rules… they got the info u gave them to use against u without them doing any work for it… We are already deemed 2nd class citizens… we are being treated as a deadly disease that no one wants… we have become the US’s cash cow… with no rights… no privacy… no vote…
@ Polly
I had the same problem with the sound — even tried using a headset but it was still pretty muted. Basically it was as “interesting” as a power-point presentation at a board meeting but the effort is still appreciated.
Now that I understand what the Dems mean by same country exemption I say, NO GO! They don’t seem to understand how deeply offensive the entire CBT/FBAR/FATCA regime is. This proposed supplemental form appears to be a ruse to force filing compliance and it puts a bright red, blinking, USP light on your bank dossier too. No good can come of that. The Reps are on a better track by advocating for the repeal of FATCA.
BTW, the reporting limit for 8938 is higher than $50K when a USP is living outside the USA. The video muffed this and I hope they fix it.
@Mark Twain, “If you believe that your personal situation and FBARs and CBT and FATCA are more important than the domestic issues of saving the cats and protecting the homeland from the invasion of the Kardashians on US soil, then you really should investigate where each party stands and vote accordingly.”
Anyone who does not consider themselves to be a US Citizen should not vote in the USA. Or for that matter do anything that acknowledges or acceptance of US Citizenship.
No good will come from voting for that person, no good.
@Embee, I agree that is a lousy alternative on same country exception.
If you are resident in Country X, especially of there is tax withholding in Country X, the matter should be closed.
I think that the Dems Abroad are only using “same country exemption” because from all they have gathered in Washington DC – they are pretty sure that CBT will not be changed.
Homelanders are totally and completely unwilling to give up this low hanging fruit- this extra revenue. Personally, I think it has to be hammered home again and again that inversions are the result of CBT. That CBT kills competitiveness and business.
FATCA SAME COUNTRY EXEMPTION is a PHONY SOLUTION !!!
“Americans abroad would file a FATCA Same Country Exception Form with their tax returns and would provide a copy of that form to all the foreign financial institutions in their country of residence where they hold accounts.”
The Same Country Exemption only PRETENDS to solve or lessen the problems created by FATCA. However, in reality it doesn’t solve or mitigate anything.
The Same Country Exemption only creates more forms to file. But more important than that, it creates the ILLUSION that the Democrats are trying to help Americans living abroad. But in reality, the only thing they are doing is trying to protect their beloved FATCA along with CBT and FBAR.
This is very disingenuous (but expected) from the Democrats. But shame on ACA for promoting such crap.