Victoria’s idea given form by Shadow Raider.
Will you join in to phone members of the Senate Finance Committee, details below?
Operation Mosquito
Following Victoria’s idea that we should be like mosquitos and make some noise to make ourselves noticed, I’m organizing a campaign to call the Senate Finance Committee every hour for one week. If you are still a US citizen and want to join, please follow the steps below.
1. Open this link and type your name, nickname or initials on one available time slot. The spreadsheet should save automatically. The times correspond to 9am-5pm in Washington, DC, Monday to Friday next week. The other locations and time zones are only for your reference, feel free to add yours if it’s not already listed. Times in bold are on the following day.
2. On your selected time, call the Senate Finance Committee at +1 202-224-4515. If it’s busy or no one answers, please try again in a few minutes. But you don’t have to call if it’s already time for someone else.
3. I suggest saying something like this: “Hi, my name is ___, I’m a US citizen living in ___. I’d like to urge the Senate Finance Committee to overhaul the taxation of individual Americans living abroad, as soon as possible, as the committee indicated in a report it recently released. Could you please pass this message to the rest of the committee?”. Of course, you can modify this as you wish, but please be polite, and try not to take too long. Thanks!
Might want to ask if they’ve read what an ex-IRS counsel has concluded re FATCA and whether it is a success:
http://www.ifcreview.com/restricted.aspx?articleId=9588
FATCA – Enforcement Win or Expatriate Generator?
By Dianne C Mehany and Mark E Matthews, Caplin & Drysdale, Washington DC, USA (01/07/2015)
.”.While FATCA is certainly chasing some taxpayers back into compliance, it has not generated the number of disclosures Congress likely hoped for or suspected would come…”…
“…..In the last quarter of 2014, despite a more than 400 per cent hike in the fee the US collects for renunciations, nearly 1,100 expatriated. That quarter’s near record number contributed to a new record for the US, 3,415 expatriations in 2014. More telling is the fact that only 231 US persons voluntarily expatriated in 2008, the year before the first round of offshore enforcement programs. Why has the US, which historically boasts the longest lines for entry and citizenship, recorded such a spike in the number of people voluntarily expatriating? For many, the answer is simple: FATCA..”…
..”…There are certainly ‘bad actors’ (US persons, usually residing in the US, who intentionally placed assets in non-US accounts to avoid remitting US income tax) that must be brought to justice. However, the vast majority of persons caught in the current enforcement net do not fall into that category. Instead, they are ordinary US residents who opened foreign accounts for convenience with after-tax funds and simply were unaware that the US Government demanded declaration of such action. Or, they are international residents who, for all intents and purposes, severed ties with the US years ago and fully embraced new home countries….”….
“…FATCA was enacted without a single congressional hearing and apparently with no known cost-benefit analysis…”…..
note that Eric Oman is indeed well aware of the expat issues. He has been personally briefed by a few Brockers. He is understanding but staffers cannot extend commitments or express opinions.
No one seems to be around to take my call. I wonder what results others are getting.
Lot of support contribute
https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/114/hr3078
done
@Barbara, I just called and someone picked up. I gave him my message, and he said that he would “absolutely” pass it to the rest of the committee. You can try calling again at another time if you want.
Thanks to everyone else who signed up to call.
Barbara, you might have been phoning when the office was closed. If the office you’re calling is in Eastern Daylight Time, the time difference is 13 hours not 12. If the office is in Eastern Standard Time (i.e. a few months centred on winter) the time difference is 14 hours. If you’re phoning a politician’s local office in California, the time difference would be 16 or 17 hours.
Calling pre bed at wake up (Australia).
Have not been able to get Eric or Tiffany directly but left voice mails.. Getting to know the three girls on the phones Eliza, Suzanne and yet to get Rory . Hopefully will get online the two senior tax people mentioned
@JakDac, I’m thinking of requesting a meeting in DC with Eric or Tony and Tiffany next week.
VOX KEEP IT UP
Nation
68
SUPPORTING
8
OPPOSING
89%11%
Within opposing I see only 3 ?
https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/114/hr3078
@Norman: I called a 202 number (Washington DC) at 10:00 am Eastern Standard Time time. The receptionist picked up. But none of the people she tried connecting me to would answer their phones. Time difference is definitely 12 hours right now from where I am. You may be in Japan or Korea, where the difference is 13 hours. Cheers.
Good graphic showing support in comparison with others
https://www.popvox.com/member/rep-carolyn-maloney-ny
Barbara, sorry, I thought I read something saying that you were in Japan.
“But none of the people she tried connecting me to would answer their phones.”
They’re too busy collecting campaign contributions from entities which really count. (Corporations are people too, but they give bigger campaign contributions.)
@Barbara “ditto”
Are we going to do this again next week?
I just tried calling and the receptionist asked me who on the international committee I would like to talk to, the majority or minority. I let her pick but as it turned out no one was in (long lunch, maybe). I asked to speak with someone on the individual committee and neither were in either. Maybe they’re screening our calls now, lol! I can’t call back now. Can someone tell me if these people are around on Friday afternoons? If so I’ll try again tomorrow same time. I’d rather not leave a voice mail.
@JakDac
Yes, we have a lot of people who are writing to Maloney (About 75) but we need everybody to write! If you don’t have an address just make one up or use a relative’s.
Calling about twice a day (US time) I also have not been able to actually speak to the main Senior Tax people Eric Oman (R) or Tiffany Smith
Tiffany_Smith@finance.senate.gov,Eric_Oman@finance.senate.gov
I have been told that they have noticed an increase in calls regarding this issue.
I ask them to leave a specific message for the committee and then proceed to leave a voicemail for both of the above (2 calls)
Sometimes also leave a message for Tony Coughlan (Tax D)
tony_coughlan@finance.senate.gov
Oprah is coming to Australia I am leaving messages re CBT to her too
Good for you — go for it, Jak Dac.
Well I called DC again today, and there was still no one around to talk to other than the nice young man who answered the phone. I asked him why the issues brought to light by Americans abroad weren’t being dealt with under tax reform even though 3/4 of the submissions were related to them. He said that the committee was aware, but it had to make certain priorities, to which I asked if the needs of corporate American are more important than those of its citizens. He said that even those they have made a priority are basically getting the back-burner too.
In other words (mine), this whole tax reform exercise was a complete waste of time for everyone.
I did leave a message for someone to call me back, though.
@Jak Dac,
Contacting Oprah is a good idea. I’m pretty sure she is aware of the issues, and has some sympathy, at least in the case of Tina Turner. The interview she did with Tina touched on it ever-so-indirectly, and Oprah was very careful to feed Tina lines that were designed to deflect criticism.
@bubblebustin,
Thanks for the report. Not surprising — I have a feeling that they had already given up on accomplishing anything by the time the submission deadline had even arrived.
I’m glad you left a message for someone to call you back, bubblebustin. Were your words,
to the person you spoke to as well here for us, expressing the same? You summed it up in a question just fine!
Some poor sods are left to take the flak / field calls when it should be their bosses that are asked these questions. Hope a *boss man / woman* returns your call.
Government Admits Working with Aliens (so there may be hope)
WOW!! Government Admits Working With UFO”s & Aliens May 6, 2013
I have had good communications with my countries AMCHAM CEO it may be a good idea to get in touch with your countries AMCHAM (their submission is on Senate submission page )
WOW!! Government Admits Working With UFO”s & Aliens May 6, 2013
Google on youtube