As a revenue offset to S. 1269, “An original bill to reauthorize trade facilitation and trade enforcement functions and activities, and for other purposes”, which was introduced on Monday, Orrin Hatch (R-UT) includes the following unoriginal and tired proposal:
SEC. 7345. Revocation or denial of passport in case of certain tax delinquencies.
(a) In general.—If the Secretary receives certification by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue that any individual has a seriously delinquent tax debt in an amount in excess of $50,000, the Secretary shall transmit such certification to the Secretary of State for action with respect to denial, revocation, or limitation of a passport pursuant to section 1001(d) of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015.
This proposal was previously discussed here in 2012, and made its most recent appearance in 2014. Due to the U.S.’ sharply harsher penalty structure on under-reporting of similar assets & items of income simply because they’re located in another country, it’s likely that a disproportionate number of victims of this bill would be U.S. citizens in other countries. Hatch is the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and the most prominent Republican supporter of Chuck Schumer (D-NY)’s Ex-PATRIOT Act, another well-known emigrant harassment proposal.
Another section of Hatch’s bill would deny U.S. passports to people without Social Security numbers, sharpening an existing law which requires the State Department to forward passport applicants’ details to the IRS. This would effectively require that U.S. citizens born in other countries obtain SSNs prior to visiting the United States. (Under current procedures, U.S. citizen without SSNs are simply instructed to enter all zeroes in the SSN field of their passport applications.) However, unregistered children of emigrants might just ignore the law requiring U.S. citizens to use a U.S. passport to enter the U.S., and instead use their non-U.S. passport.
More controlling madness – watch the queues at US embassies grow further for renunciations. No country in the world has ever succeeded ‘trapping’ people indefinitely including the communists. All the US can do is make it more difficult, but it can’t stop people.
NEVER KNEW
Whistleblower – Informant Award
http://www.irs.gov/uac/Whistleblower-Informant-Award
Maybe this is a stupid question: As dual nationality is not marked on a passport, then what is to prevent a child of a US emigrant from using his/her non-US passport when visiting the US?
Is this a new proposal by Hatch? It doesn`t sound like Hatch who heads the tax reform task force is considering removal of CBT then? Or does it mean he will revert to RBT because such ruling would be potentially ruinous to expats?
Polly: The S.1269 legislation was introduced by Orrin Hatch this past Monday, May 11, 2015 according to the first of Eric’s links. This is of great concern to me considering the tax reform decisions supposedly being made by the Senate Finance Committee “as we speak”. I, too, wonder what this means. Are these passport measures meant to be held over the heads of US-resident Americans or, as usual, primarily expats? If it’s the former does this mean they are getting ready to go with RBT? Anyone out there with a crystal ball?
I would strongly suggest that people renounce their U.S. citizenship at the earliest opportunity. There are three separate issues here:
1. The laws themselves are clearly dangerous and misguided.
2. There is no recognition that U.S. citizenship is recognized in the 14th amendment of the U.S. constitution. This means that Congress cannot run roughshed over rights of citizenship.
3. It has reached the point where U.S. citizenship is about taxation and ONLY about taxation.
Renounce and rejoice!
I updated the post to clarify when the bill was introduced.
Also, apparently the Democrats have a competing trade bill, and the compromise solution hopefully won’t end up including the passport revocation provisions:
http://democrats.senate.gov/2015/05/12/roll-call-vote-on-cloture-on-motion-to-proceed-to-h-r-1314-the-legislative-vehicle-for-the-trade-related-legislation/#.VVNVF1PLe3c
Trying to find news articles, but most of them I think are focused on S. 995 & S. 1268, and of course there’s no mention of passport confiscation provisions.
“I would strongly suggest that people renounce their U.S. citizenship at the earliest opportunity.”
I second that recommendation!
The walls just keep closing in on Americans living outside the United States.
The more rules they putt up against americans abroad, the more USA is going to be out of worldwide business.
It’s that simple.
I guess passport revocation is not the same as losing one’s citizenship.
Isn’t Hatch a Republican??
I have another idea: all US citizens abroad who fail to file FBARs and tax returns automatically lose their US citizenship… for free! They get a CLN automatically. Cool.
I did the following as a final year DIY in 2013.
1040 – printed DUAL STATUS STATEMENT across the top. Filled in income info and attached Schedule B and 2555 EZ as in previous years when I was a full year USC. All income was non-US source. I did not fill in any date info at the top of the form.
1040 NR – printed DUAL STATUS RETURN across the top. I did not fill out any date info at the top of the form. Filled in lots of nils/zeros since I had no US source income of any type.
8854 filled in the information to the best of my knowledge and ability.
SENT IT ALL OFF IN ONE PARCEL WITH REGISTERED POST AND TRACK AND TRACE. MADE COPIES OF THE RECEIPTS AND CONTROLLED THAT IT WAS RECEIVED.
I have just been listed on the name to fame list, so it has all been processed – I assume. I have heard nothing from IRS/treasury.
Good luck – you can do it!
This all sounds very disappointing – this came from the same Orin Hatch that is now the Chairman of the SFC? Bizarre……and very concerning.
Further thought…perhaps we can ask Solomon Yue at Republicans Overseas to give us an explanation as to what is going on??
Am I reading this correctly…. Citizens outside the US are not the only ones who would be effected by this… there are homelanders who don’t file taxes or they owe… this would basically create a big database since the gov’t relies on SS number & not names for indexing… Seems to me… gov’t are trying to create all types of databases that are a violation of our rights.
This is the fast track TPP bill, is that correct?
It sounds as though we’re STILL not bring heard at all, that’s even with a disproportionate number of SFC submissions coming from Americans abroad. More wilful blindness on they part, it seems.
@Mark Twain: the fast track stuff is in S. 995. I can’t make heads or tails of most of the verbiage in S. 1269. I see some “son of DMCA” in there (Title III), and the currency manipulation section (Title VII) was probably demanded by some domestic manufacturers getting outcompeted by China, but I don’t know anything about the rest of the bill or which lobbyists want it.
Well, lets all remember that this proposal is a bit dated and perhaps with all the newer information, the submissions etc, a broader view of the troubles can be seen and evaluated and a different conclusion might be forthcoming.
@Eric, “Another section of Hatch’s bill would deny U.S. passports to people without Social Security numbers,”
Not simply “deny” but also “revoke” previously issued passports without a SSN!!!
@Polly, “Well, lets all remember that this proposal is a bit dated and perhaps with all the newer information, the submissions etc, a broader view of the troubles can be seen and evaluated and a different conclusion might be forthcoming.”
Polly hate to say this but you are being Pollyanna.
We are hated by homelanders, full stop……….
Relinquish…..renounce….get out of dodge and do not look back.
@George
I dunno-I am tired of all this pessimism. I even feel that we are jinxing our situation by believing there can be no change and we are all doomed. Why would they ask fro submissions if they were not going to read them and take them into consideration?
And why should we perpetuate the panic? Without hope – what are we?
RE the article’s last statement (However, unregistered children of emigrants might just ignore the law requiring U.S. citizens to use a U.S. passport to enter the U.S., and instead use their non-U.S. passport.)
This might be okay if the “child” is actually a full adult, but what parent is going to let their relatively young child go through customs (at, say, an airport or cruise dock) in a different line, to see a different customs agent? A number of years ago (well before 9/11) our 20-something child came with us on a trip to visit family in the US. Hubby and I walked through customs [Mr Joe Shmoe XYZ and Mrs. Jane Doe XYZ, both with US passport). Right behind us was adult-child #1 with same last XYZ name – – but travelling on his Canadian passport!!!!!!
Well, we ALL were rather rudely pulled aside into a small uncomfortable room and grilled for over 40 minutes about why adult-child was not traveling on a US passport and what were the intentions for this person’s (somewhat longer than our) stay. It was VERY uncomfortable and we almost missed our connecting flight. I wouldn’t wish that type of experience on anyone, especially a young adult not used to international travel and the potential for such cross-border strong-arming.
@Polly, if you knew me I am indeed a glass half full guy.
But you can only be kicked so many times and you say enough………
You state “we are jinxing our situation by believing there can be no change and we are all doomed. ”
To be honest, I finally had to start giving thanks to God that I am a Citizen of the UK, a Commonwealth Citizen, an EU Citizen!!
I left the USA, I brought my family across the pond, we have a good life.
I am not doomed, I have been blessed, my three children have been blessed even though they will have to pay the extortion payment some time off when they each turn 18.
I feel pity for Orrin Hatch because he is being consumed by envy.
I feel pity for homelanders who lash out against their former countrymen who simply wanted to leave in peace.
@LM, a certain Warsaw Pact considered me to be one of theirs by descent and I was warned about travel to said country in the 80s because of my “employment.”
There have always been certain places on earth where if you want to go, there are problems. Guess what, travel to the USA should have lots of warnings.
@George
My cousin is a devout Buddhist and she says the strangest things sometimes. She told me she believes in the power of prayer and that experiments had been done around petry dishes full of red blood cells which took longer to explode with people praying around it. What do I know about that kind of thing – but maybe there is something to be said for “negative energy” and “hatred” perpetuating itself? Maybe “brain waves” do influence surroundings. I do know that feelings are a form of energy and can make us sick. If they can make us sick, maybe they can make others sick too? At any rate- I renounced too mainly because I don`t ever intend to go back to America and I am no longer a spring chicken either. Its been over 50 years and I dont feel like an american anymore- in fact I feel foreign when I went for a visit.
But this comment by Orrin Hatch is an older one and we don`t know if things happened in the meantime which have changed his mind.
If one cannot believe in a future in which justice prevails we can all go out and shoot ourselves.