FATCA and Belgium
There are no posts specifically on FATCA and Belgium on Brock yet.
Note, 7 May 2018:
https://www.facebook.com/Association.Americains.Accidentels/posts/1032267573591315 …
“. . . La page Facebook du Collectif Belge pour la Défense des Américains Accidentels (CBDAA – BCTVA) est désormais en ligne.
Pour nos amis belges “américains accidentels”, je vous invite à liker leur page et à envoyer vos coordonnées à belgium.aaa@gmail.com pour rejoindre les 23 membres de ce collectif dont les actions au niveau Belge et Européen viendront soutenir celles menées par l’Association des Américains Accidentels.
Fabien Lehagre
Président de l’AAA”
Though it’s not recent, this IBS post from 2012 (http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2012/12/18/macleans-magazine-belgium-rejects-frances-push-to-tax-french-citizens-living-in-belgium/) might be of interest to the Belgian AAs.
It quotes an article from MacLean’s which quotes an interview in Le Figaro with Didier Reynders, the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs:
“…if this is about recognizing some French power to tax people who live in Belgium, that’s a whole other matter. Every European country must accept that its citizens decide to live elsewhere.”
Perhaps Belgian AAs would like to ask Didier Reynders why Belgium recognizes the American power to tax people who live in Belgium, and assists the Americans by reporting the Belgian bank accounts of Belgian residents to the IRS.
I have been contacted by someone in Belgium who says his bank is specifically threatening to close his accounts at the end of 2019. I don’t have the documents, and am surprised because I thought the banks in Belgium didn’t do this anymore since the 2016 agreement between Deutsche Bank and the antidiscrimination agency UNIA (https://www.unia.be/en/articles/accord-between-unia-and-a-bank-to-terminate-a-lawsuit-claiming-discrimination-based-on-nationality).
Any thoughts?
@Fred (B)
Has this person failed to provide an SSN? That would be the likely explanation, if the current stories are true.
@Ron Henderson
Indeed he doesn’t have a social security number. Maybe banks are terminating accounts when they have insufficient info on file.
Yes, this is has been much written about of late. If an account-holder is identified as a US person but has not provided an SSN, they risk having accounts closed come 2020. Your friend should read up on this, but unless there is some sort of relief, his only option may be to renounce US citizenship and show a CLN. (He can of course do this without attempting any form of US tax compliance.)