FATCA Discussion Thread (Ask your questions) Part Two
Please ask your questions here about FATCA.
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NB: This discussion is a continuation of an older discussion that became too large for our software to handle well. See FATCA Discussion Thread (Ask your questions) for earlier discussion.
@Monalisa
Remember that Democrats Abroad are nothing more than Stepford Wives.
………. sorry but it should be : less than one dollar does not need to be reported as taxable income…..
details,details,details.
@Mike, I knew that’s what you meant 😉
@Mike Tarrantes,
Re: the $1500 limit for the stream-lined program, not being a hard and fast rule. Knowing that still doesn’t make me want to spend $1000’s on back returns, or $1000’s going forward. Nor does it inspire me to sell my Canadian mutual funds, or dump my RESP’s and TFSAs. Neither do I now feel fine about the IRS knowing my private financial details.
All the OVDP programs and ways of disclosure are for the guilty, or for the innocent but screwed. Even if IRS came out with a new program with a guarantee of no penalties, I wouldn’t bite. I’m done with being bullied.
@ WhiteKat YES SIR, I hear you !
Hate to say it, it is stories like this that show why we have FATCA, Not that we NEEDED FATCA to solve these cases, but it is what the Politicians will point to as to why they think it was necessary..
Swiss Tax Advisor’s List of Clients Inadvertently Reaches U.S. Prosecutors
@ Mike Tarrantes
Not Sir, Madame. 🙂
there are lots of reports with the same text out now–that Billary Clinton diverted 1.7 trillion of Fed Money to a clandestine account in China, that Chelsea bought a $10.5 million apt in NYC.
http://breakingobama.blogspot.se/2013/03/breaking-news-hillary-clinton-under.html
@WhiteKat oooops, pardon moi !
@Mike Tarrantes
I saw an attorney on Linkedin this morning (morning in NZ) promoting the streamline VD program, so just put up a comment here… http://lnkd.in/ayUhFC
From today’s Barrons:
“FATCA Is U.S. Hedge Fund Managers’ Biggest Worry: DMS
By Teresa Rivas
Regulation of foreign assets tops the list of U.S. hedge fund director’s worries, according to a new poll by the DMS Offshore Investment Services.
Specifically, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA (which requires U.S. taxpayers and foreign financial institutions to report to the Internal Revenue Service about certain foreign assets) beats out other forms of regulation from lawmakers, government rules, and the Securities Exchange Commission.”
http://blogs.barrons.com/focusonfunds/2013/03/19/fatca-is-u-s-hedge-fund-managers-biggest-worry-dms/?mod=BOL_hpp_blog_fof
@ Just Me … yes thank you I saw the link
Thanks @ Mike & Mona
Just for giggles, I dug out the old statements from that illicit account. When I said less than a dollar in interest a year, I should have said less than a Hong Kong Dollar. I earned a grand total of eight cents over that three year period.
I suppose then I’ll have no choice but to enter the program to bring myself into compliance for my unreported foreign wealth. Woe is me. 😛
@HKGS ……. yes you are definately a Whale with serious criminal intentions and compliance is a must in your pressing case otherwise your wealth is in danger. Make sure you secure a tax lawyer with a $ 20,000 retainer but watch out he might tell you that he got you covered and make sure you help him figuring out your FTA otherwise he might forget about it or even worst has to read IBS . 🙂
As mentioned by “notamused” above, three of the five large political parties in Switzerland are proposing a referendum to place a bank customer privacy amendment into the Swiss constitution. This is a shot across the bow of the Swiss Finance Minister and her BDP Citizen Democrats political party which has caved in on the issue of bank customer privacy. Previously, only the nationalistic party, SVP Social Peoples, supported a constitutional amendment. Now, the FDP Free Democrats and CVP Christian Democrats are supporting this amendment. (The SP Social Democrats and Greens, and the minor BDP Citizen Democrats (the current Finance Minister’s party), generally do not support bank customer privacy as a concept).
Given the current view in Switzerland – that foreign countries are kicking the heck out of it – and support from these three large political parties, the initiative should likely receive the required number of signatures (100’000) to be placed on the ballot for a referendum. Then it will be the decision of the voters.
Here is an overview of this initiative in the Swiss NZZ (German) for those interested:
http://www.nzz.ch/aktuell/schweiz/buergerliche-front-fuer-das-bankgeheimnis-1.18049641
Daily Caller has an Andrew Quinlan piece…
FATCA and US fiscal imperialism threaten to sink global economy
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2013/03/19/fatca-and-us-fiscal-imperialism-threaten-to-sink-global-economy/#ixzz2O1kNSXu9
@Justme… the conspiracy theorist in me has to wonder whether tanking the global economy wasn’t the plan the whole time (though this is looking WAY beyond partisan politics and into NWO territory).
@HKGS
Generally, I am not a conspiracy theorist, but I am a “stupidity” theorist when it comes to ideologues. Beware of those who have certainty (left or right or religious) as to how to deal with and solve the problems of human nature. 🙂
FATCA The end of banking secrecy & privacy & human rights too?
http://bit.ly/Zx5JfI Facebook banking has arrived. Twitter ur acct balance
Discussion of depositor privacy rights, the Phillipine constitution, and conflict with FATCA IGA:
http://businessmirror.com.ph/index.php/business/banking-finance/10937-2013-03-20-12-18-35
‘Fatca: The end of banking secrecy?’
Published on Wednesday, 20 March 2013 20:18
Written by Edzyl Josef G. Magante / Contributor
……..”At first glance, it is easy to conclude that a bilateral agreement between Manila and Washington to implement Fatca will create a new exception to the rule of banking secrecy.
Precedents, however, seem to point in the opposite direction. The Supreme Court has consistently ruled that bank deposits are statutorily protected and fall within recognized zones of privacy.
In BSB Group Inc. v. Go, the Supreme Court stated that the present legal order is obliged to conserve the absolutely confidential nature of bank deposits. It is thus uncertain whether a bilateral agreement to implement Fatca will create an exception to the rule of banking secrecy. It is questionable whether such an agreement, whose enforceability may only be anchored on RA 10021, barring a Senate ratification that transforms it into a treaty, can sanction a departure from the rule of banking secrecy, which may have its roots in the right to privacy.
In fact, if as further held in Republic v. Eugenio Jr., there is a right to privacy governing bank accounts in the Philippines, then even with a Senate ratification, there may still be constitutional imperatives that must be balanced with legitimate government objectives.”….
Sorry JustMe, it’s the same article!
Has any country actually passed legislation to implement FATCA to date, i.e. not just signed an IGA?
Notamused, the UK has a Swiss/UK version already agreed and implemented. Here’s the info from HMRC website:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxtreaties/ukswiss.htm
Came into force on 1st January 2013 with supporting legislation to back it up.
As far as the UK/US one goes, it’s still being drafted. Comments, suggestions, etc, were sought last year and a summary issued, but any legislation has stalled because they had to wait for the final US rules/regs to be issued which only happened recently. So whether we’ll see UK legislation passed for FATCA this year I don’t know.
Switzerland threw out the current IGA agreement that was signed pending Parliamentary approval which it didn’t get and it’s heading towards a popular referendum vote by the Swiss people on a new propsal put forward by some of the Swiss political parties. Of course, whether the US will be happy with what is proposed is another question entirely.
@Medea Fleecestealer
OK – thanks for that. I wasn’t sure if the UK had or had not. So, as it stands, no country to date has passed legislation which ratifies a FATCA IGA with the USA.
No, I wouldn’t think so as they’ve had to wait for the US to issue the final FATCA info. No government is going to bring in legislation without knowing what the rules/regs are going to be, no matter how eager they are to jump on the tax bandwagon. How many will now start drafing the necessary documentation to put to their parliaments and whether any will be enshrined in law by the end of the year we will have to wait and see.