I am sure a lot of Brockers will remember how horrifying it was to listen to this video referred to in this post. I remember thinking it couldn’t possibly be real and assumed at first, that it was a spoof. It was really that bad.
FATCA Citizenship Taxation https://t.co/ZLnXRhBwHs – excellent discussion by one of those #Americansabroad
— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) March 9, 2015
The above tweet links to a video made by a young man studying in Germany who apparently has heard the Turks and this is his response. He obviously has a much better grip on the facts. Interesting to see a young person’s reaction to this dilemma. Worth a listen.
@Watcher:
I think they plan to do it like this:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2015/03/09/as-hillary-faces-emailgate-ex-irs-chief-runs-for-president
…and wants to bring back the draft too?
@Fred
The National Tax Advocate reveals some of these statistics in her 2014 Report to Congress, where she tables the number of opt-outs over the course of several years of amnesty programs. The number of non-residents entering OVDI don’t appear to be nearly as significant as residents, if you assume that most non-residents might choose to opt-out to have their FBAR and other penalties reduced or eliminated due to reasonable cause.
http://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/Media/Default/Documents/2014-Annual-Report/OFFSHORE-VOLUNTARY-DISCLOSURE-OVD-The-OVD-Programs-Initially-Undermined-the-Law-and-Still-Violate-Taxpayer-Rights.pdf
I am an example of someone who opted out of an amnesty program in to Streamlined, but have no idea how typical my case is – though it’s nearly identical to Boris Johnson’s. Suffice it to say that had I known about my tax filing obligations prior to selling my home in Canada, I would have found a legal way to avoid paying the US one thin dime in tax, including not selling. So yes, the IRS may generate some revenue from their “gotcha” tactics, but as you say, I “won’t be paying for very long” by either reducing my tax exposure or by eventually declaring independence from the US.
There will be adjustments, significant or not, to the IRS’s initial estimate of revenue generated through it’s amnesty programs, in that I was just recently refunded the failure to file penalties (plus interest) on the tax I was assessed on the sale of my home. I also haven’t been able to determine whether the IRS included FBAR penalties in the $6.5B they say they collected from the amnesty programs, considering I was not required to pay an FBAR penalty with my OVDI submission. That doesn’t mean that the IRS didn’t include them to make the program look more successful.
Interestingly, when opting out of OVDI, I was offered the option of entering one of two Streamlined Programs – one that offered a refund on failure to file penalties with no closing agreement, or one that offered a closing agreement with no reimbursement of penalties. Deserving of a refund, I chose the former. There are circumstances where one might choose a closing agreement over a penalty refund, but they did not apply to mine.
Nice to see Brendan’s video go from about 200 views yesterday to over 600 today. Since it was 7 months ago that he made this video I wonder if he even knows?
@EmBee
Walt posted the video on both the AARO and American Expatrites Facebook pages, and Brendan commented on AE yesterday 🙂
Very helpful to have this eloquent and accurate statement from someone of the ‘younger generation’. Have emailed link to my teenage children!
@Steve, re;
“..I don’t think that the powers that be think any further than wanting to (i) collect as much tax as they can from expats and (ii) ensuring that US citizens overseas do not pay less than their ‘fair share’….”.
FATCA serves as a conscious diversionary tactic to satisfy UShomeland political goals and persuade US residents to be compliant by pointing out how even the rest of the world is being scoured for US taxes.
They can’t even manage to collect from a substantial number of US residents; “..It also turns out that hundreds of congressional employees, perhaps even including some Senators and Representatives, owed $8.6 million in unpaid taxes. The figure for this select group was even higher the previous year, when it was $10.9 million. The House of Representatives had a tax delinquency rate of 4.9 percent, while the Senate’s rate was 3.2 percent…..” http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2014/05/23/with-3-3-billion-owed-should-tax-delinquent-federal-employees-including-irs-be-fired/ and then, there are well known US citizens actually enjoying those ‘benefits’ of citizenship, who owe a lot more than the zeroes on many expat null returns http://www.snopes.com/politics/taxes/sharpton.asp
@Bubblebustin. Thanks.
I myself will be filing my delinquent returns this year. Am not entering any program, just sending the stuff in. Wait and see. I owe no tax, and have a low net worth, and low accounts, and pay high taxes where I live, and am a dual national from birth — hopefully I will be treated reasonably. And again, like you said, if they do use “gotcha” tactics on me (such as FBAR penalties — I have several accounts with less than 100 euros on them) then I’ll be on my way to relinquishing.
Our young friend, Brendan Kent, should be pleased that his first ever youtube video has over 800 views now. Once it got into the expat pipeline (thanks to Walt and Tricia) it really took off.
@EmBee
He is a lovely young fellow. And I appreciate what you have said but the credit should go to USCitizenAbroad. I simply saw that tweet……..in fact, I never even was aware of this video when it first came out (I think when I was moving?…..)
@ Tricia Moon
Okay, credit where credit is due. Thanks to USCitizenAbroad too.
Hi out there!
Is there any german speaking site for all this available?
Thx!
Ronny