FATCA is NOT about PROTECTING America’s Tax Base.FATCA is about EXPANDING America’s Tax Base into the Economies of Other Nations
Yesterday an article made the rounds with an interesting idea;
THE ONLY REFUGEES WHO SHOULD BE ENTERING THE UNITED STATES ARE THE AMERICAN REFUGEES WHO FLED OBAMA’S AMERICA…. WE HAVE THAT DUTY TO OUR FELLOW AMERICANS”
In 5 years I have never heard anyone come forward with this attitude. In spite of having no desire to go back myself, I do appreciate that somebody is finally showing some concern for us. It’s refreshing!
But they didn’t give up their citizenship because they all of a sudden became un-American; no, they did it because of a law that has turned living and/or working abroad into an expensive, onerous, bureaucratic nightmare for the ordinary American citizen.
FATCA and its ridiculous system has ensnared law-abiding American expats into a constant battle with the IRS, all over the day-to-day activities all citizens engage in.
A well-known citizenship lawyer clarifies that after years of confusion about tax, penalties, IRS programs and information reporting forms, to add insult to injury, FATCA is not even about tax! Read John’s interesting observation; it is our governments who did not understand what they signed by implementing the IGA’s and they need to reverse this before each country loses too much capital due to unfair citizenship taxation.
A comment from FATCA needs to go but unfortunately the FATCA refugees are never coming back
Thanks for drawing attention to #FATCA and #Americansabroad.
It has become clear that FATCA is is NOT about identifying American residents who engage in tax evasion. In other words;
FATCA is NOT about PROTECTING America’s tax base.
Rather:
FATCA is about EXPANDING America’s tax base into the economies of other nations.
"Thanks for drawing attention to #FATCA and #Americansabroad.It has become clear that FATCA is…" — John Richardson https://t.co/OY15EmerG1
— Citizenship Lawyer (@ExpatriationLaw) February 1, 2017
The United States believes that any person “Born In The USA” (and therefore a U.S. citizen) is required to pay taxes to the United States REGARDLESS OF WHERE THEY LIVE IN THE WORLD AND REGARDLESS OF WHERE THEIR INCOME IS EARNED. This requirement exists with respect to income earned outside the United States.
Think of it: the mere fact of a U.S. birthplace obligates somebody to pay taxes to the IRS for life! Somebody “Born In The USA”, who may have left the United States as a child, has a lifetime tax obligation to the United States.
The United States is currently expanding it’s tax base into other nations. It does so by hunting for people who (1) were born in the United States and (2) live in other nations. How is “FATCA Hunt” taking place? How does “FATCA Hunt” actually work?
In practical terms, the USA is forcing non-U.S. banks to “hunt” for people with a U.S. place of birth. Once identified their existence is reported to the IRS. The vast majority of people identified are actually citizens and residents of other nations. For example, on or about September 30, 2016 the existence of approximately 315,000 Canadian bank/brokerage accounts of (mostly) Canadian citizen/residents were reported to the IRS. Why? Because the account holder had a U.S. place of birth or were otherwise under suspicion of having a “U.S. connection”. Most of these reported do NOT consider themselves to be U.S. citizens at all.
Citizens of some European countries (example France) are not able to maintain bank and financial accounts because of a U.S. place of birth.
So, yes people are severing any possible ties to America. Believe me, if you were being “hunted” because of a U.S. place of birth, you would do the same thing! If severing that “U.S. tie” includes “renouncing U.S. citizenship” (which it often does), this is perfectly understandable.
@NormanDiamond
Since when has education in America been free? It costs a bundle!
“Since when has education in America been free? It costs a bundle!”
Who said anything about it being free? I was just giving a rhetorical, ironic explanation of how the US justifies taxing green card holders who went home, since the US spent so much to educate them, just like the way the US compensates other countries who spent so much to educate their citizens before their citizens migrated to the US. Surely these expenses deserve to be compensated and every country pays their share, right?
@ Norman Diamond
Most of the green card holders I know had already been educated in their country of origin, they had special talents the US needed, that how they were accepted as permanent residents in the first place. They came on J1 or H1 visas which were later converted to green card holders . The US didn’t spend a penny on them or me.
@ Norman
OK, irony, missed it 🙂
@NormanDiamond
Yeah – irony is hard to get across online.
@Heidi
Absolutely. They trained elsewhere!
I grew up in that “land of milk and honey” and they didn’t pay one cent for my education.
We had no money but my mother worked her job just to pay tuition to a private school because she didn’t want my two sisters and I to get the un-education that big cities have to offer. The priority list was turion, uniforms, food, car, clothes. Mostly we wore goodwill at home, almost always walked to school, and sometimes went without eating for a couple days at the end of a hard month. Good education and good grades, but chance at college? In the end I was qualified for a job a McDonald’s or I could out myself in debt for life.
Joined the military and paid into the GI Bill, then couldn’t use it because of the red tape involved with studying here.
Worked a few years in a factory until I qualified, then the German government paid for me (as a non-citizen at the time) to get a higher qualification using a plan to decrease my chance of becoming unemployed. It worked: since then I have never been unemployed, have a higher job security, and have paid much more in GERMAN taxes as I would have without the program. No strings: I could have gone back to the US with the education, but I stayed here.
Who paid my education: NOT the US.
My son, who has his taint from me, grew up here. He went to German schools, then higher education in a private institute paid mostly by the German government, but in part by me, with money I earned here, paid taxes on here, and could only earn with an education provided by the government HERE.
Who paid his education? NOT the US.
To get an “education” there, you have to be part of the 1% or ready to indebt yourself for life. And what do you get for all that? A good brainwashing. And they wanted me (and want my son) to pay a “fair share”? Of what? Good riddance.