Tom Alciere is getting the word out to US presidential candidates as they campaign in his state for the critically important New Hampshire Primary (which takes place February 11th), He’s provided info on FATCA (see below) to several candidates and spoken with two of them at Town Hall meetings.
Tom writes:
“It’s that quadrennial season again, and the candidates are in New Hampshire campaigning for the first Presidential primary. I was able to bring this up to Andrew Yang during a The FATCA letter reads:
18 January 2020
Senator Sanders:
Imagine getting a birthday card with a check for college, and you like your other grandfather better because he sends toys. Mom and Dad bring you to the place where they have free lollipops and instruct you to write your name on the check and the bank form. Decades later you face criminal charges and devastating financial penalties for failing to report your “foreign” bank account to the U.S. Treasury, when you don’t even live in the U.S.A. This includes border babies born on the U.S.A. side and children of college students returning to their country.
Extraterritorial application of U.S. tax laws and bank account reporting requirements is causing hardships and fury in other countries. Victims now cannot accept employment involving signing the payroll checks because they’d be required to report the employer’s confidential information to a foreign government, the U.S.A. government. Victims infected with United States citizenship are forced to find accountants capable of completing U.S. tax returns that are far more complicated because another currency is involved. Some live in countries with high sales tax rates instead of income tax, and they cannot claim credit for the sales taxes.
U.S. statutes relieved some victims of U.S.A. citizenship when they became naturalized in their country. SCOTUS re-infected them with U.S.A. citizenship without asking if they wanted it.
Under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, banks are forced to report these accounts of “United States persons” to the U.S. Treasury. That data is valuable, especially to hackers.
Some victims are called “accidental Americans,” but they are not Americans at all. Ted Cruz didn’t consider himself a Canadian when he learned in 2013 that he was classified as one of their citizens under their laws. Where the victims live is their country. What could be more infuriating to a proud, loyal, patriotic person than being called a “United States person”?
See: http://www.adcs-adsc.ca, http://isaacbrocksociety.caTom Alciere, PO Box 106, Nashua NH 03061″
Your action for awareness deserves a big, big thank you, Tom Alciere! Much appreciated.
Well done, Tom. Looking them in the eyes puts this type of advocacy in a class of its own … a top class. Please let us know if you receive a response or detect an inkling of understanding in these candidates as they go forth. The best part is you are getting to them in the first primary so the seed is planted early. I hope they have enough curiosity to investigate further.
I’ll second that well done. If I’m not mistaken, New Hampshire is the “Live Free or Die” state.
I was able to ask Andrew Yang about this and he said he would be open to exempting persons who are out of the country for extended periods; but I cannot find a video of it on line. It happened in Peterborough NH on Friday, 10 January 2020. Sunday 19 January 2020 I saw U.S. Senator Michael Bennet and asked a question about something else; then served a FATCA letter on him on the way out.
(Kindly disregard a similar message accidentally posted on another thread.)
Forward-thinking candidate – Andrew Yang ‘get’s it’ on many important issues.
Thanks again, Tom.
I am unable to find video of Yang’s reply.
I appear in this video at 1:14:54 and then we got a picture
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4847683/user-clip-yang-fatca-letter
more pictures at http://viewmemories.com/candidates/candidates.html
Thank-you Tom. Unfortunately Democrats Abroad is doing what it can to worsen the candidates perspective on Citizenship Based Tax by insisting any fix be revenue neutral.
It’s beyond me why DA when asking Democrat candidates about their thoughts on Citizenship Based Taxation they say it’s unfair but expect the candidate to give their opinion on revenue neutrality in association with those changes that would make the situation fair. What if fair isn’t revenue neutral?
This link will take you to DA’s page and those candidates who’ve qualified to be DA Global Primary. Follow the links for each candidate to their position (or lack thereof) on issues affecting Americans https://www.democratsabroad.org/2020primary
Spoiler alert:
DA not surprisingly still supports Same Country Exemption from FATCA for Americans abroad, and is of the understanding that Treasury can provide regulatory guidance to alleviate the harms FATCA causes Americans abroad.
Well done. Unfortunately, as a Democrat, I have little faith that anything will be done. I did hope Trump and the GOP might help when they could but they didn’t. Warren strikes me as the most hostile potentially. Yang might actually get it, but won’t get the nomination. No reason to think Biden gets it. And Sanders, well, who knows? He might actually be capable of understanding the issue, because he keeps saying people in other countries pay taxes for health care and college educations, making those universally accessible. He may understand that a US citizen in Canada or Sweden pays taxes there to benefit from services there. Well, let’s keep trying!
Unfortunately Tom needs to enclose a significant campaign donation to garner any traction.
If you do visit New Hampshire or Iowa, beware that you might not get called on to ask a question. One trick is to have each member of your group sit in a different part of the audience. That increases your odds. Alas, the most popular candidates draw the biggest crowds and that reduces your odds.
http://birddognh.org/events-new-hampshire
I don’t think many Americans will be swayed by calling US Citizenship an infection.
It’s time to get our issue back in the news. Thanks for helping to make that happen, Tom!
I firmly believe that FATCA and all its derivatives/instruments can only be killed off, so to speak, by a coordinated, international effort.
I also believe that US expats, collectively, are the red-headed stepchilds of both America and their host countries. Our slightest complaint about tax unfairness only gets us a further beating or cruel indifference. Our host countries all, failed to protect us long term expats when they had the chance ten years ago. Indeed, it is they who do America’s FATCA bidding by proxy.
I say that getting FATCA seriously looked at by a presidential candidate is a fool’s errand. Democrat expats in particular are naive waifs if they believe any democrat, especially Bernie Sanders, truly gives a &$#! about you or your “money problems” abroad. And may I remind all you DNC worshippers abroad that FATCA was conceived and birthed by your political heros, I.e. democrats. Every jot and tittle of FATCA comes from hard left democrats and was signed into law by that facsimile of a president, barack obama.
Last thing. I firmly believe that if FATCA is to die then its demise must be as discrete and innocuous as its birth. That’s the only way any US politician would dare to put FATCA to rest.
As long as the average US voter sees us expats as wealthy traitors, no politician truly dares to fight for us. Ultimately, getting rid of FATCA must be done sneakily and by stealth.
@Eric
I agree with you.
It is regret that I have come to the same conclusion . We have been appealing to politicians, the press , the courts for the last 9 years with little success.
I had thought after the massive fines on banks such as BNP for going against the US anti trade dictates, stealing from other countries treasuries etc etc the rest of the world would wake up to the US financial hegemony and somehow organize to replace the dollar as the reserve currency. It has been alluded to in the financial press yet little if any action has been taken. I am no economist but guess many countries have funds , pensions etc vested heavily in the US stock market . Perhaps if/ when this collapses they will wake up and take some action.
The UK is already waking up to the financial control the US will have over them post Brexit when any trade deal will be dependent on towing the US line re Iran treaty, taxes on Internet companies and China trade and Huawei . I am afraid they will become a de facto 51st state.
Nothing can be done alone, it has to be a global effort.
In the meantime renunciation is the only defense for individuals.
The Canadians should (should have, long ago) talked to the Cuban government about switching from Cuban pesos and U.S. dollars to Cuban pesos and Canadian dollars. Simply ask the Cuban bureaucrats what has the USA done for Cuba lately? All international trade would be based on Cuban pesos or Canadian dollars, or the currency of the trade partner. They can buy anything they want with Canadian dollars.
@Heidi
Agree with all you said except for the number. The UK will have to be satisfied with being the 52nd. Canada is already the 51st.
@Heidi
I do think there are some positive signs coming out of continental European capitals. Just yesterday for example there was a big delegation of Accidental Americans in the Hague. However, you are right to suspect that in the UK and probably Canada too pro Americanism runs deep in the political culture and the civil service.
@TimSmyth
I had some hope that accidental Americans in France would have had some success with their lawsuit last year but it was rejected. I do now see they are continuing with the European commission and I live in hope for others even though I renounced 8 years ago.
https://americanexpatfinance.com/news/item/274-accidental-americans-association-files-complaint-with-european-commission
I was able to find tonight’s comment to U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (D-Colorado) on his campaign’s Facebook.com page. I address the candidate at 9:22 into the video, when the clock shows 56 minutes remain.
https://www.facebook.com/michaelbennet/videos/594493837999074/
@ Tom Alciere
Well done! Just found your video as I was about to go out (never leave home without checking Brock – 😉 ) and I’ll listen even more closely (with headphones) when I get back. You gave an excellent explanation of the CBT-FATCA injustice.
@ Tom Alciere
I’m back … nice you mentioned the Brock website. Did you just get off work or are you a gilets jaunes supporter too?
Thanks Tom, but I wonder why the audience thought your questions were so gosh-darn funny.
Bernie Sanders’ brother, Larry Sanders, is a dual US/UK citizen who lives in Oxford. He will be very aware of FATCA issues. Wonder if he might have any influence….
@star
There was some discussion about this 4 yrs ago when Bernie was up for the democratic nomination, here are some of the old discussion posts.
It seems that Bernie denied all knowledge of his brother’s position as an American in the UK but later commented he would consider same country exemption.
Perhaps as a salaried academic his brother is not affected to the same extent as others?
http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/media-and-blog-articles-open-for-comments-part-3-of-3/comment-page-16/