Author Archives: Mark Twain

SwedishPublic Radio (SR) has sense of humor!

They created tag #FATCAINFO to list the reciprocal data you think USA should xchange for Swedish FATCA data.

What US data would Sweden really be interested in?

Use your imagination—what could that tax haven Sweden use for FATCA reciprocity that they could possibly use?

You can’t understand it, but the Swedish national radio satire program requested it here:

http://sverigesradio.se/topsy/ljudfil/5116840.mp3

(No blocks, you can send serious sh_t, too)

Tweet away—humor is more powerful than seriousness!

The time is coming near to when I must surrender.  In my country of Sweden, the real Swedish people are being mapped, while the US persons remain out there unidentified.  It’s time to do what is right for my Sweden and for you to do what is right your country too. I must turn myself in., and so should you.

My country is spending more than $25 per person in order to find me.  This must stop.

I know that I am worth 30 000 SEK to Sweden—they are paying more than $200 million dollars to find all of the US persons here, and there are about 50,000 US persons located here.  I can do my part and give myself to Sweden. I am worth 30,000 SEK to them.  If all of the others can follow and do the right thing, the country will be saved and the FATCA money can go back to being spent upon real Swedish people.

Soon, I shall dress myself up, and take myself first to my bank.  I will take my number in the bank line, and when I reach the front of the line, I shall declare: “I admit, I am a US person”  “Please save Sweden from me”.

From there, I shall walk to the local tax authority skatteverket, and I shall again take a number for the que.  When I reach the front of the que, I shall humbly state “I am a US person” “Please save Sweden from me”

I shall pick the appropriate time, Perhaps it shall be Tuesday, the 11th of November, at 9:30 pm, depending upon what is convenient, and if anyone should decide to accompany me.

Perhaps someone shall also be willing to do the right thing. The world must be saved from these US persons and Sweden must be saved from me..   I shall turn myself in. So should you.

I shall do my part to save Sweden from me, for I AM A US PERSON.

Cross post from

http://samuelclemmons.wordpress.com/2014/10/22/the-time-has-come-to-surrender-myself-i-am-a-us-person/

(Read the other articles, too)

Sweden begins to implement FATCA by sending out FATCA questionaires in a spray to Swedish citizens.

Since FATCA only has minimum reporting requirements, each bank and each customer in any country is deputized to do anything it wants to US citizens. This fulfills the opposite of the function of a government—which is supposed to PROTECT its citizens from harm no matter where they are in the world. Not to deputize foreign banks and foreign countries to violate the rights of their citizens.

Please note the VERY intrustive questions. Have we returned to the McCarthy era?

Sweden has a weak government—it will do whatever is demanded-and then some.

“Are you a politically exposed person, have you or have you ever had a high political post, high government office or close family member of such a person?”

“What is the origin of the capital that is currently on your Nordea account?”

“What is the purpose of your current banking relationship with Nordea?”

from this article

ROUGH TRANSLATION: “Any Swedish bank customers must shortly certify that they are not taxable in the United States. The reason is a new cooperation agreement between the United States and Sweden. An agreement under which both critics endangers both the privacy and may violate EU laws.

“Are you a politically exposed person, have you or have you ever had a high political post, high government office or close family member of such a person?”

“What is the origin of the capital that is currently on your Nordea account?”

“What is the purpose of your current banking relationship with Nordea?”

When a letter from the bank with these issues tumbled down the home of Janne Bengtsson in Alingsås, he became suspicious.

– I thought it was the imposter and was thinking of going to the police, but on the way there, I took the turn for Nordea to ask them. They said it was about an agreement with the USA and Sweden signed and that I would answer the questions, he says. Did not bother to answer

But he still thought it was creepy and thought it could not happen anything serious if he did not care to answer the questions, because he is a customer of the bank since long. It turned out to be wrong.

The reason that Janne Bengtsson got the letter on the other side of the Atlantic.

After the American financial crisis, the United States imposed a new law that would help them find tax evaders in the world, even in Sweden. As recently as August, the then Swedish government an agreement with the United States, known as FATCA Agreement.

The agreement is the basis for a bill that the Finance Ministry is working on right now and that parliament is expected to approve this spring. The legislation will come into force on 1 April by 2015. collects information

Nordea says to SVT that all who become customers after July 1, 2014, and further, some people get the questions from the bank. Although the legislation has not yet entered into force, one has in gathering information for the United States. The next step is that banks violate bank secrecy and hand over customer information to the Tax Office, but it requires a change in the law.

According to sources in the Ministry of Finance, the banks in the future be required to terminate accounts if customers do not provide the information requested.

Swedes in the US shall be reported

The debate surrounding FATCA has been rather lukewarm, although criticized by heavy bodies Swedjsh Bar Association and the Swedish banking association.

According to the Ministry of Finance is an agreement between the countries better than the American law applies over the head of the Swedish authorities. Now Sweden has an exchange, since the United States in the contract (IGA) agrees to the return report Swedish taxpayers in the United States.

In the end, Janne Bengtsson in Alingsås responded to the questions, but only after Nordea informed him that he would not be able to use their bank account in full if he did not respond.

– I’m dependent upon being able to transfer money, I send money to friends in Tanzania to help with medical care and food, so I had to fill out. But I think it feels like Sweden sold to the United States, says he said.”

#FATCA: A Taxing Law Made by a Whole Bunch of Zeroes.

A new US tax law raises only $9,000,000,000 for the USA.  However the world pays $200,000,000,000 to implement that tax law. That means that 9 zeroes were made by 11 zeroes.

The 2010 Congress’ HR 2847 Jobs for Mainstream Act, a domestic jobs bill, was funded by the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).  FATCA’s mechanism is to force all of the world’s banks to identify their resident customers who might be suspected of being dual US citizens or US green card holders.  The law takes advantage of US’ globally-unique taxation system, which is allowed to tax any dual citizens or US visa holders even when such persons do not reside in US.   The only two countries of the world practicing this type of taxation is US and Eritrea.  To better understand this method, envision being born in Iowa and paying lifelong taxes to Iowa even while living in Georgia or Ohio.

Of course, there is limited relief to this taxation.  A dual citizen living in Sweden, via the use of a complicated set of forms, might be able to offset most of the US taxes with exclusions and credits for having paid Swedish taxes. Unfortunately, his Swedish pensions and Swedish unemployment benefits could still be taxed by USA. He could also be subject to self-employment taxes and (if qualified) could also not escape the Obamacare tax upon the rich.  FATCA will make its revenue gains by ensuring that dual US/Swedish citizens in Sweden are identified so as to pay taxes upon their income not taxed by Sweden.  And so forth.  Country-by-country and instance-by-instance, FATCA would enable further IRS revenue by identifying previously-unidentified US dual citizens throughout the world.

Australia’s study determined that FATCA would cost its banks $1.065 billion USD, or $42.12 USD per capita. Hence, its recommendation was for the Australian government to absorb some of FATCA’s implementation costs, by signing an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with the US Treasury Department.  With the IGA,  it was determined that its banks costs would be reduced by more than half—from $42.12 USD to $20.46 per capita. Canada and UK have also absorbed some of the banks implementation costs, so that their banks are only burdened with $26.02 and $25.28 USD per capita.  These three countries verify each other’s calculations, in being able to transfer more than half of their bank’s implementation costs into each country’s own administration.

Up to half of the world’s governments have signed IGA’s.  Even China, Russia, Kosovo, and UAE have agreed to collect and store FATCA’s identification of US persons within their countries.  As a result, we can see that about half of the world has reduced it’s banks’ implementation costs from $42.12 to as low as approximately $22 US. Even though these IGA’s are not all the same, this could succeed to bring FATCA’s global bank burden down to as low as $221 billion USD.

FATCA is a law created by specialist US accountants with specialist FATCA competency.  As such, FATCA’s implementation is primarily by very-high priced compliance firms.  There are few discounts available in lower income countries.  There are few lower-cost specialists outside of the developed world.  It would be difficult to say that FATCA-implementation cost reductions might be possible in low income regions or in non-IGA countries.

It might also be said that low income countries have fewer banks for their populations and fewer banks trading in US investment products.  If these banks could succeed to stay out of US investments, indeed, the global FATCA implementation costs might be reduced somewhat.  Another possible reduction might be that, although the 2010 Congress intended for the entire world to implement FATCA, many developing countries can not or will not implement FATCA.

There is no other analyses available showing other than an $8.5-8.9 billion USD FATCA revenue benefit over a 10 year period. Round that up to $9,000,000,000—9 zeroes.  However, with the analysis in this article, it shows that the FATCA implementation costs have been reduced from $291 billion to $221 billion.  FATCA has then been shown to globally lose $212 billion dollars net.   Rounding down, we see that FATCA is made by $200,000,000,000—11 zeroes.

FATCA was created by a whole bunch of zeroes.

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This is a guest post—submitted by a fan. For reprints-contact the blog.

http://samuelclemmons.wordpress.com/2014/10/16/fatca-a-taxing-law-made-by-a-bunch-of-zeroes/

Calculations and sources found at the blog, in the comment section.