The Q1 2016 Quarterly Publication of Individuals, Who Have Chosen to Expatriate, as Required by Section 6039G has been placed on public inspection for printing in Thursday’s Federal Register, five days later than required by law. By my count, it has 1,159 names (41 names per full page and 27 full pages, plus 22 names on the first page and 30 on the last page, with no entries taking up two lines this time). Let me know if you get a different count. Correction: As Andrew Mitchel and Haydon Perryman both point out, the actual count is 1,158; there’s an entry on page 7 of the the pre-publication PDF which takes up two lines.
In contrast, the number of renunciant records held by the FBI in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) database increased by 1,281 during the same period, from 32,666 at last year’s end to 33,947 as of 31 March (and they added another 860 in April). The NICS renunciant figures have outstripped the Federal Register count of “published expatriates” every year since 2012, with the gap last year growing to more than a thousand — even though NICS only covers 8 USC § 1481(a)(5) renunciants while the Federal Register is supposed to include all relinquishers under any paragraph of 8 USC § 1481(a), as well as some of the estimated five to seven thousand people who file Form I-407 to abandon their green cards each quarter.
All of the people added to NICS definitely paid the US$2,350 State Department fee — twenty times that in other developed countries — which has been in effect for renunciants since September 2014, meaning that Washington D.C. collected at least US$3 million from people seeking to exercise their human right to change their nationality last quarter. The State Department claimed this obscene fee “protects” the right to change nationality — well, that’s one mighty profitable protection racket they’ve got going on there! (And it could have been even more profitable if some consulates weren’t restricting renunciation appointments to an hour a week, leading to ten-month backlogs in Dublin and Toronto.)
Media reports on individual ex-citizens
Here’s a table of nineteen people mentioned by name in media reports as having given up U.S. citizenship since the beginning of 2014; seven of their names are missing from the Federal Register (three out of eleven from 2014 and four out of six from 2015), while for two more — the ones from this year — it’s too early to say whether they’ll show up or not. I’ve also included one person who posted his own CLN on Twitter and later showed up in the list (I haven’t included people who tweeted their own CLNs but didn’t show up in the list).
Names of public figures included in this quarter’s list: South Korean pop singer Alex Kim, who renounced nearly two years ago; and Jonathan Tepper, who said in a New York Times op-ed in December 2014 that his big appointment at the U.S. consulate was scheduled for early the following year. No public figure who spoke to the media about their renunciation in 2016 has yet been included, though this quarter’s list does have one name matching that of a Hong Kong government official who took office recently: Sandra Leung Shuk-bo.
| Name | Occupation | Other citizenship |
Giving up US citizenship | Appeared in Federal Register? |
Source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reason | Date | |||||
| Lu Shu-hao | Military | Taiwan | Service in Republic of China Army | January 2014 or earlier | No | Taipei Times |
| Sandy Opravil | Housewife | Switzerland | Save her mortgage | February 2014 | Q3 2014 | Newsweek |
| Roger Ver | Bitcoin investor | St. Kitts & Nevis | Libertarian political opinions | February 2014 | No | Bloomberg |
| Sophia Martelly | Politician | Haiti | Run for Senate of Haiti | March 2014 | Q3 2015 | Haiti Press Network |
| Ya’aqov Ben-Yehudah | Writer | Israel | Complicated; see source | March 2014 | Q2 2014 | Times of Israel |
| Sean Cavanaugh | Technology | Canada | FATCA | April 2014 | Q1 2015 | Tweeted own CLN in August 2014 |
| Mona Quartey | Politician | Ghana | Become Deputy Finance Minister of Ghana | July 2014 | No | Graphic News (Ghana) |
| Alex Kim | Singer | South Korea | Obtain South Korean citizenship & serve in military | August 2014 | Q1 2016 | Herald Business (South Korea) |
| Nicole Beaudoin | Unknown | Canada | FATCA | September 2014 | Q3 2014 | La Presse (Canada) |
| Kim Sungkyum | Military | South Korea | Be commissioned an officer in the Republic of Korea Army | December 2014 | Q1 2015 | Kookbang Ilbo (South Korea) |
| Lin Jou-min | Architect | Taiwan | Take position in Taipei city government | December 2014 | Q3 2015 | Central News Agency (Taiwan) |
| Rachel Azaria | Politician | Israel | Members of Knesset cannot hold foreign citizenships | January 2015 | No | Times of Israel |
| Jonathan Tepper | Macroeconomic analyst | United Kingdom | FATCA & other U.S. tax reporting requirements | January 2015 | Q1 2016 | The New York Times |
| David Alward | Politician | Canada | Become Canadian consul-general in Boston | April 2015 or earlier | Q3 2015 | Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |
| Alfred Oko Vanderpuije | Politician | Ghana | Stand for election to Parliament | August 2015 | No | Starr FM (Ghana) |
| Philip Ryu | Singer | South Korea | Serve in South Korean army | September 2015 or earlier | No | Money Today (South Korea) |
| Rachel Heller | Writer | Netherlands | FATCA & other U.S. tax reporting requirements even when no U.S. tax is owed | November 2015 | No | Blog (will be included in TV news programme at a later date) |
| Neil Llamanzares | Businessman | Philippines | Public opinion (his wife is running for President) | April 2015 | No | Rappler (Philippines) |
| Lee Chih-kung | Physicist | Taiwan | Appointed Minister of Economic Affairs by President-elect Tsai Ing-wen | May 2015 | No | Apple Daily (Taiwan) |
Congratulations to all those who made the expat honour roll this term!
@Isabelle Brock, “Agree with Heidi. If it were just about the taxes, that would be one thing. It’s the penalties that are killer.”
Having hung out at IBS for a long time, I am also very sure that Haydon is well aware that the US and FATCA can crush many people living in Hull, Devon, Norwich, Blackburn, Liverpool, Newcastle, who have just enough to be on the radar and just enough to be completely crushed.
Closing accounts to those born in the US simply because they were born in the US is evil.
I don’t deny that. I do deny that FATCA caused it. Though I do agree that many institutions have done this and attributed it to FATCA.
Taking George’s point, yes, I see his point, being born in the US actually doesn’t mean you are an American. That is an important point, I hadn’t thought about it before and yes the language of the US Internal Revenue Service is pejorative on this issue. So, if someone with a US PoB is a British Citizen carrying a UK passport, then he is as British as I am. It’s a really good point, George is right.
My only caveat is that the US tax code refutes this and I don’t see a Clinton or Trump administration addressing it.
But, George, yes you are right.
However, George, I don’t agree with you about the Canadian Inter Governmental Agreement because I believe if they overturned this it would pose existential questions about the other IGAs.
@ George. You are also right, I am no lawyer.
To the wider Society. Naturally, some disagree with me, naturally I disagree with them. But whilst I disagree, I fully accept their right to call out the truth as they see it.
I don’t object in the least if IBS pursues further Court Cases. Even if I did, what would it matter?I do think IBS could use its resources more effectively, but hey, that is just my opinion.
I’d call attention to the incomplete list of renunciations and lobby for not extending the IGAs until *full* US reciprocity is in evidence. I’d also call out the US’s failure to sign up to the CRS, especially as the IGAs expressly state that this (the CRS) is the desired outcome.
@George
Has Haydon volunteered to be our advocate?
🙂
@George. Yes, FATCA has caused problems for anyone holding an account anywhere in the world. This is because FATCA assumes a customer is American and hence reportable unless there is evidence to the country. Yes, this applies equally to the entire population of Britain and in fact, every country, anywhere in the world. Those born in the US are *by no means* the only victims of FATCA.
One caveat American’s living in America have not been impacted and that, I believe, is the problem.
@Heidi Advocating for you guys is not out of the question. I can’t promise I will continue to work on CRS and FATCA though. I’m not saying I will never work on it again – just that I can think of more interesting and way more profitable things to do. (Despite the riches some believe FATCA has awarded me.) 🙂
@haydon
It’s not just the problem of getting/ keeping a bank account. Are you aware of the penalties involved?
$10,000 per unreported account or 50% of the value of the account per year unreported and this could be for people who didn’t even know they were cconsidered American let alone the need to report accounts. Even retirement funds are at risk. It is simply gov extortion.
I personally think the IRS, as a good-faith err to those of us outside of the USA, could have made some sort of allowance in law. I mean really. Banking where you live? Too hard? FFS!
@Heidi. Ah yes, FBAR reporting. Yes, it’s egregious. FBAR predates FATCA though. Naturally, that doesn’t make it right.
Yes fbar predates fatca, I knew of it and was not affected by it, but I am in a minority. How does a person born in the US to UK parents and taken back to the UK at a few months old know of fbar? Fatca is the nasty that enforces it on all those unsuspecting innocent victims.
@heida
They hope you don’t know. That way, they can bankrupt you at any stage…In my head, any law can be created, but only the most dishonest claim from BEFORE that law is enforced. Hello, USA.
@Haydon….you will like this.
The Secretary has the power to exempt persons and countries from the FBAR requirement!!
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/31/5314
By NOT exempting accounts held in the UK, the USA is effectively saying the AML and KYC rules here are not up to scratch!!!
You may like this:
http://kluwertaxblog.com/2016/05/09/brave-new-world-aml-tax-compliance-overlap-tax-status-certification-fatca-crs-eu-many-compliance-officers-getting-wrong/
Full disclosure. I have 5 chapters in his book on FATCA compliance.
@Jane/Heidi, like the NON-WILLFULL penalty……talk about all stick and no carrot;
There are two types of penalties applicable to FBARs (1) Non-Willful and (2) Willful. It should be noted that the penalties are assessed per account and not per FBAR. Additionally, the penalties are assessed for each year there is a violation. For example, if you have 5 accounts that have not been reported for 5 years, there could be 25 separate penalties assessed. The penalty regime for violations after October 22, 2004 can be summarized as follows:
Non-Willful Penalty
Up to $10,000 for each negligent violation
No Criminal Penalties Assessed
@Heidi and @Jane Regarding, FBAR. There is a distinction between wilful and non wilful non- disclosure. Probably best not to post on it. 😉
@George. No one in the UK believes that the US’s AML/KYC is better than ours and ours suck. What can I say? Delaware, Nevada, Wyoming? And as for Data Privacy – isn’t that an Oxymoron in the American lexicon? In short George, we Brits do better than the US on Data Privacy and AML/KYC and America knows this or ought to know it and probably doesn’t.
@haydon
And who defines non wilful?!
The IRS works on commission I believe.
@Heidi. Not something I want to discuss on an open forum.
Re: “Taking George’s point, yes, I see his point, being born in the US actually doesn’t mean you are an American. That is an important point, I hadn’t thought about it before… ”
Interesting that someone who is a: ” Programme/Project Manager with six years of practical hands-on experience of FATCA/CRS/DAC” and “a detailed understanding of the regulations and the practical strategies involved in ensuring and evidencing regulatory compliance”, and whose experience “spans Investment Banking, Corporate Banking and Retail Banking” and who has “five chapters published in the LexisNexis® Guide to FATCA Compliance”, has never perceived of any of the victims of the FATCA hunt as other than “American.”
Who and what exactly is an “American” in our midst? Can you tell by looking at them? Does birth on US soil make you one? Does living in USA for X amount of years make you one? Does having held a US passport, even 30 years ago, make you one? Does having worked in USA for X amount of years make you one?
And once you are sure there is an “American” living along side you in the same country (perhaps even on the same street, working in the same country and paying taxes to the same government you do, holding the same citizenship you do), what is it about this “American” that makes him/her so different from all other humans? Why is it that he/she must be chased all over the globe for taxes on income and penalties on assets earned and acquired OUTSIDE USA while PERMANENTLY living OUTSIDE USA?
IMO, people like Hayden, don’t think about what “American” really means with respect to FATCA/CBT/FBAR at least in part because to be “American” implies privilege. If we start referring to the targets of the FATCA hunt as something other than “Americans”, people may have more empathy and start looking beyond the ‘trees’ of FATCA/CBT/FBAR and see the ‘forest’ that is modern day slavery. It is difficult to find empathy for a classification of people typically perceived as having one up on others.
How ironic that the special, privileged “American” living outside the USA has become property of the country that made him/her so “special” in the first place.
Sometimes I think that people like Haydon (and not necessarily Haydon) who play a role in enforcing the FATCA/FBAR/CBT regime on “Americans”, don’t want to see “Americans” as fellow countrymen living, working, and contributing to the same society they live in. Because if they did, unless afflicted with an anti-social personality disorder, they would not sleep well at night.
@WhiteKat Interesting. I think you might be right. Although this pejorative language comes from the US Treasury Regulations themselves. I guess you are right, following the regs can be quite dehumanising.
The regs are written so badly that it does indeed require a “task-orienatation” to parse them.
An example is that under the Regs if you find someone with US indicia, unless you can “cure them of US indicia” they are reportable unless they are a “Specified US Person”.
“Cure”? Really pejorative.
Also, the word “Foreign” in FATCA actually means Non-US. I certainly don’t consider myself foreign.
You could have a field day with this, for example, “Controlling Person” is a term used in the CRS, that phase has an altogether different meaning in ordinary parlance in my country, and possibly yours too.
In my time on FATCA I have never closed an account to anyone for a US PoB or been part of any process that has, either directly or indirectly. Have I asked for a Self Certification? Yes.
I do not know where the “only covered expats appear on the registry” originates. When I took the oath of renounciation, I asked the Consulate if I needed to travel with the CLN and provide it when clearing customs. I was “No.” I would be in their system. They would know everything about me. I am certainly not a “covered expat.”
@Haydon, re: “In my time on FATCA I have never closed an account to anyone for a US PoB or been part of any process that has, either directly or indirectly. Have I asked for a Self Certification? Yes. ”
As someone with Canadian only parents and grand parents, no memory of living in USA, yet deemed “American”(US connections:a US birthplace and a single unused decades old passport), when the Canadian FATCA guards finally corner me and ask for self certification of non-USness, I will truthfully say that I am NOT US’s person, no matter what US or Canada thinks.
@WhiteKat In one of my programmes, in line with local law, you’d be asked for a W-9.
@Haydon, As far as I can recall, my birthplace is the first place I remember living in – Canada.
@Haydon
“In my time I have never closed an account on anyone”
Then your bank has never been threatened or fined as the Swiss banks have.
My account was closed even though I demonstrated full fbar ‘compliance’
Exactly why I did not want to complete a W8-BEN form for firstDirect/HSBC. I am a UK citizen who wants to be treated NO DIFFERENTLY than the rest of my family who were born here. Whereas I’d be happy to complete the form if I had a US based investment, this is what I wrote in my letter to them:
“Subsequent to my delivering my documentation to HSBC, I received another letter today saying that my UK Passport and my original Certificate of Loss of US Nationality were not sufficient for their needs and that they also require me to submit a U.S. Tax form W-8BEN which is a Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding. I do not have any US investments through first Direct and no HSBC accounts, and therefore see no reason to file a US tax withholding form. I am solely a citizen of the United Kingdom, and with no investment in the US, should not be required to complete any US based forms. No other UK citizens that I know are being asked to file US tax forms unless they have US investments and there is no reason for me to be treated any differently than all other UK citizens.”
They chose to still regard me as needing the W-8BEN ‘cure’ in addition to the original CLN and passport being taken to a branch office for their ‘review’. I received a letter back stating the completion of the form was part of their requirements. All of these letters tell me to speak to a professional tax advisor since the bank can’t provide tax advice. As if a local tax advisor would help the situation:) As I said previously, I switched banks and got a better experience. I think the reason we get no sympathy is that people generally believe that anyone born in the US is privileged.