Liberty and justice for all United States persons abroad

The Isaac Brock Society

Posted on by Posted in Issues regarding US persons abroad 440 Comments

UPDATE: JUNE 14, 2015

from JakDak:

http://blogs.rollcall.com/topic-a-tax-finance/tax-reform-moves-to-back-burner-but-debate-remains-active/

The Senate Finance Committee chairman, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), has established working groups to study different aspects of the tax system. These working groups are scheduled to report back to the committee by June 26.

http://www.mwcllc.com/updates/articles/2015/6/tax-policy-update-june-9-2015.aspx#Comprehensive_Tax_Reform

Tax Policy Update
June 09, 2015

[Interesting: NUMBER OF THE WEEK: 61. The number of countries that have signed on to implement the OECD’s multilateral agreement for the automatic exchange of tax information, in conjunction with the ongoing Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project. Although the U.S. has committed to implement the standard, it has not yet signed onto the formal agreement (the “multilateral competent authority agreement”), which lays out in detail what information will be exchanged, the timing and method of exchange, and how signatories will work together to ensure compliance. Signatories to the agreement will begin exchanging information as early as 2017. Additionally, the OECD released on June 8 its “Country-by-Country Reporting Implementation Package” developed under the BEPS Action Plan. Under the plan, which the Treasury Department has said it will implement for the 2016 fiscal year, multinational companies are required to aggregate and report information annually regarding where they do business, the global allocation of income, and amount of taxes paid, along with other information that will allow taxing authorities to more closely examine multinationals’ tax practices. The release of the package coincides with the 2015 OECD International Tax Conference in Washington, D.C., this week where OECD representatives are expected to review and discuss key initiatives under BEPS.]

SPOILER ALERT: Comprehensive Tax Reform Unlikely in 2015. In an interview last week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) outlined a busy legislative agenda between June and August recess: passing a highway bill, cybersecurity legislation, No Child Left Behind, and the Toxic Substances Control Act. Tax reform, however, is conspicuously missing from the list. “We’re certainly not going to be able to be doing big, comprehensive tax reform with this president,” McConnell said. Tax reform optimists have been eyeing the highway reauthorization bill as a potential vehicle to move a limited set of tax reform measures, but according to McConnell, the bill might instead be better suited to pick up a different legislative passenger—the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank. McConnell believes the highway bill would provide the best opportunity to reauthorize the bank, which is set to expire June 30.

The inability of the Senate Finance Committee Tax Reform Working Groups to meet their original May 31 deadline to report recommendations to Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and ranking member Ron Wyden (D-OR) only adds to the general pessimism. The international tax working group may offer the only glimmer of hope, with reports that it has made the most progress in hammering out detailed recommendations. The working groups are now aiming to deliver their reports before Congress departs for the July 4th recess.

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UPDATE: MAY 25, 2015

Em’s comment to JakDak:

I’m not sure of the where for the SFC recommendations but the when has been delayed:

http://thehill.com/policy/finance/242916-senate-tax-reform-groups-get-more-time

The Senate Finance Committee’s leaders are giving tax reform working groups some more time to formulate their recommendations.

Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and the panel’s top Democrat, Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.), had hoped for recommendations by the end of May.

But in a statement Thursday, the two senators said that the working groups made it clear that they needed extra time to do the job right. The panel will set a new deadline after lawmakers return from next week’s recess.

“It is our hope these bipartisan working groups will use this extended time to finalize their recommendations for tax reform and produce in-depth analyses of options and potential legislative solutions,” Wyden and Hatch said in a statement.

etc.

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Shadow Raider says
April 29, 2015 at 6:39 pm

The Senate Finance Committee just released the comments sent by the public on tax reform. As expected, there are lots of comments about CBT and FATCA.

http://www.finance.senate.gov/newsroom/chairman/release/?id=3b14e94b-69f9-41e2-9fd3-7d191971b7ee

 

Hatch, Wyden Release Public Input on Bipartisan Tax Reform

Over 1,400 Submissions Made to Working Groups

WASHINGTON – Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) today released over 1,400 submissions from stakeholders on how to best to overhaul the nation’s broken tax code.  In March, the Committee sought input from the public in an effort to provide additional data and information to the Committee’s bipartisan tax working groups, which are currently analyzing existing tax law and examining policy trade-offs and available reform options within each group’s designated area.

“We thank the stakeholders and public who provided us with this valuable data and input,” Hatch and Wyden said. “These submissions have equipped us with the ability to better evaluate how reforming the tax code will affect both American families and business of all kinds.  As our bipartisan groups work towards producing substantive recommendations on how to reform the tax code, they will now be able to consider these valuable ideas.”

All comments received by the Committee that met submission requirements were made public.

Submissions can be found below. Total submissions to each bipartisan tax working groups are as follows:

Individual Income Tax – 448

Business Income Tax – 332

Savings & Investment -128

International Tax – 347

Community Development & Infrastructure – 207

Each of the five bipartisan working groups is currently working to produce findings on current tax policy and legislative recommendations within its area, with the goal of having recommendations from each of the five working groups completed by the end of May.

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Thanks, Shadow Raider, for alerting all here.  There will be many Brockers reading, starting with the submissions (not all by individuals) to International Tax.

440 thoughts on “Senate Finance Committee posts submissions (and Shadow Raider reports to Brock)”

  1. IFIC wants reform to CMF and PFIC reporting (20 pages including 5 Appendices) and it does ask the committee to consider taking “a territorial approach”.

  2. If you love graphics like I do, you won’t want to miss the submission (6MB) from a harried mom in Switzerland — Jennifer Rae Wenger. I don’t know how she found the time to write a submission but she did it.

  3. My main submission did not make it (but 2nd one did). Maybe the part in the end where I called them all communists until proven otherwise did not go over well. I did not see that in the guidelines that I was not supposed to call them communists.

    For some time I have wanted/encouraged a kind of “Chinese Democracy Wall” of postings of letters from US persons overseas. Here it is.

  4. I have also noticed on the DA facebook page many people are taking DA to task about its pathetic SFC submission and its stance on CBT. There more people who go on there and hold DA accountable, the better. Go to their facebook page and make your thoughts known. I am doing so after I finish writing this.

  7. I would say that “they” are well aware of our blog existence and probably at home after dinner may have a peek.

    Hopefully you will all see the unfair position millions of your fellow Americans are in enough for some to disown their “mother”.

    Please give us hope that the values that we associate with America is still prevalent as we all love /loved our mom

  8. Mark Twain Re The one labeled AMCham is good./Also one from the Australian Superannuation fund

    It is GREAT to see organizations in foreign countries show support

    Do you not agree senators ? Go ahead guys let us know you are reading these

  9. WOW DA Australia is on our side https://www.facebook.com/DemocratsAbroadAustralia

    AND has a great article from Bloomberg
    TITLED End the American Expat Tax
    http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-04-24/end-the-american-expat-tax
    David Shipley at davidshipley@bloomberg.net (email him a thanks)

    – Does the U.S. really want to share this distinction with Eritrea?
    – principle is simply wrong. It’s also outdated
    – most pay more than they would at home
    – why demand taxes of people who don’t benefit from the proceeds
    – entangled in a complex web of taxation.
    – some expatriates have trouble opening accounts
    – Congress should change the law

    435 COMMENTS add more

    Going to resend to International and Independent Senate email addresses

    LET THE MEDIA KNOW “BUILD IT AND THEY SHALL COME”

  10. @JakDac I have both of my submissions on the Australia FATCA page here. That is quite handy as a web link to send here and there.

    Maybe you should “decorate” the Australian DA Facebook page. I sent a Tweet asking that they take over Democrats Abroad.

    That Bloomberg article has many Brockers among the commenters. I happened to get in first comment and mine still is at the top. Recent articles for comments may be found here on IBS under (on the right) Take Action, then Comment at Current Media & Blog Articles – links here

  12. the latest State Department estimate puts overseas Americans at 8 million.

    Lucy in Bordeaux • 2 days ago
    Actually, the latest State Department estimate puts overseas Americans at 8 million… that makes us the 13th state (between Virginia and Washington) and equal in population terms to Chicago, Los Angeles and Philadelphia combined. Imagine if Congress had written a law that made it virtually impossible for people in those three cities (and only in those three cities, mind you!) to maintain bank accounts and get mortgages…
    This is an excellent, dispassionate, eloquently clear article and I hope it will find its well-deserved audience!!

    http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/economy-budget/240259-americans-abroad-need-tax-justice-too

  13. Philadelphia IRS Office for Intl Taxpayers 51 employees; it’s down to 17. Of those, he expects at least two to retire this year, and they won’t be replaced

    12:15 pm April 8, 2015
    Philadelphia IRS Office for Intl Taxpayers wrote:
    A Bloomberg article called “An Emotional Audit: IRS Workers Are Miserable and Overwhelmed” says this about the Philadelphia IRS Office, which is to service international taxpayers:
    “Frank Spadea manages an IRS call center in Philadelphia, where employees sit in a cubicle farm and field questions from Americans in foreign countries. His group used to have 51 employees; it’s down to 17. Of those, he expects at least two to retire this year, and they won’t be replaced. “It’s been seven or eight years since I’ve been able to hire,” he says. Meanwhile, his staff has been overwhelmed with calls this year from Americans overseas who are confused about extra information they’re supposed to furnish under the 2010 law combating tax cheating abroad. “They are calling like crazy about that,” says Donna White, a customer service representative in the office. “You kind of get burnt out.” ”
    So, the IRS offices in London, Paris and Frankfurt are being closed and support is being transferred to Philadelphia. Give me break!

    http://blogs.wsj.com/expat/2015/04/07/tax-season-irs-cutbacks-bring-more-headaches-for-expats/tab/comments/

  14. Re DA Facebook comments are arising

    https://www.facebook.com/DemsAbroad

    Mostly under

    “Democrats Abroad, American Citizens Abroad, Association of Americans Residing Abroad and Federation of American Women’s Clubs Overseas propose the establishment of a Safe Harbor for Americans Abroad from FATCA Reporting. The Safe Harbor would treat the financial accounts in the country in which an American is legally resident the same as an account in the US held by an American resident in the US.

  15. Found these posted on the American Expats Facebook page: absentee ballots can decide elections. Perhaps something to point out in follow-up messages to SFC members, and to the perfidious Democrats Abroad:

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/31/AR2009033104096.html

    http://www.observertoday.com/page/content.detail/id/602819/Absentee-ballots-may-decide-two-races.html?nav=5007

    And, considering how so many US citizens abroad (like me) are having their WTF moments in the past few months, and getting all riled up about these issues, it wouldn’t surprise me to see a great increase in absentee voting in the next elections.

  17. @JakDac – Re: Safeharbour treating accounts in bona fide resident country same as in US. That does not include FBAR as it should, and it does not include the US tax system that treats everyone and their accounts as if they live in the US, with exception of FEIE.

  21. While I am giddily sharing everyone’s general euphoria and sense of validation as I read through the SFC submissions (and, OMG, Bubblebustin, Todd Stout’s document is awesome), the cynic in me smells something fishy here. Where are the submissions touting the $1.2 trillion in taxes to be ferreted out by FATCA and CBT, such as articles we’ve seen recently in The Hill? Where are those crying about “fair share”, stricter enforcement of overseas tax collection, or those calling for an end to the FEIE?

    Obviously such people and organizations are out there. We’ve read them in The Hill, Wall Street Journal and elsewhere. Obviously the compliance industry has a vested interest in boosting CBT and FATCA and at best tweaking the Streamlined self-incrimination system. They should feel threatened by this whole exercise, right? So where are their written arguments?

    It occurs to me that there are several possibilities:

    1) FATCA proponents don’t want to expose themselves or their arguments to public rebuttal, as this would stir up even more public outcry against them;
    2) The compliance industry has lobbyists meeting SFC members behind closed doors, so written submissions are of little value anyway;
    3) SFC staff have advised compliance industry lobbyists that this whole exercise is a sham and a smokescreen, so they can relax (and donate to their reelection funds);
    4) The Democratic Party itself, so obviously against meaningful change on these issues, has traded insider information as to the scam nature of this exercise in return for donations.

    Sorry to be a cynic. But is there a good reason not to be skeptical?

    So what can we do? We can relax and hope that these hundreds of excellent, articulate submissions will sway the human/rational side of these senators. Or we can continue to bombard their offices with information–letters, phone calls, e-mails. Which I will be doing throughout the month of May.

    Or hire some call girls to visit Chuck Schumer on a daily basis.

  22. These submissions required a lot of reading by the SFC staffers so that’s probably why some addresses, e-mails and phone numbers slipped through their redacting process. I hope those who have had this information revealed don’t get hassled by compliance condors. I also noticed that most of the CBT/FBAR/FATCA related submissions are from people who are trying to be tax compliant. Obviously non-compliant, recalcitrant types would have found making a submission too risky. And of course there are the oblivious ones who haven’t hit the OMG wall … yet. Millions of untold stories out there … millions.

    @ Barbara
    Where politicians are concerned I am ALWAYS skeptical.

  23. @Barbara,

    I imagine that supporters of CBT and FATCA are quite happy with the way things are going, and see no need to propose reforms at this point. They don’t feel threatened yet.

    I am also surprised at how few other submissions there are on other subjects. I mean, everyone seems to agree that tax rules should be reformed in some way or another, and everyone seems to have strong opinions, so where are they? I suspect widespread cynicism and apathy about the prospects of any kind of tax reform really happening is at play. It will be interesting to see whether such cynicism turns out to be justified.

  24. @Bubbles….”Unfortunately, renunciants can’t vote, Barbara.”

    Relinquishers should not vote either!!

  25. @Brockers, @Barbara…….Barbara you helped me clarify something in my mind and it is likely the mindset of DA.

    Early on, we collectively sorted that ACA or rather American Citizens Abroad could not align with Brock because they represented a group of people who when not in the USA considered themselves to be abroad and that they were first and foremost American Citizens.

    Democrats Abroad is the same thing….. they represent US Citizens who are likely registered voting Democrats that are abroad as in not being in the US.

    I have tested this idea partly on my side of the pond asking;

    1. Do you consider yourself to be living abroad or overseas?

    2. What dominent nationality do you identify with?

    Surprisingly there was a chunk of people who have multi nationality who consider themselves to be dominent US and that even though they are in their EU Country of Passport issuance, they consider themselves to be living overseas or abroad.

    But there is also a large chunk that consider the USA to be a footnote in their life, nothing more.

    The more I think about it, there was a time in the past when CBT worked or at least worked better. How do I reach that conclusion? Before the US Courts got involved “protecting us” it was rather easy to ditch US Citizenship.

    What we have today is the worst of two worlds, citizenship that is very difficult to get rid of and a tax system that is very difficult to correctly follow on your own.

    I do believe that the USA has now crossed the rubicon with respect to violating international human rights and making it impossible for many to timely and affordibly ditch USC because they have another citizenship. We have learned that Germany recognizes this and will grant a waiver to persons who become German with respect to getting rid of USC.

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