FATCA Discussion Thread (Ask your questions) Part Two
Please ask your questions here about FATCA.
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FATCA is in full swing in Europe. In the past week, I was contacted by two people who have had to go into their banks and fill out forms related to US Personhood.
The first is an American in the UK (not dual) who was asked by HSBC to come in and show his passport, fill in a W-9 and another form.
The second is a dual national in Italy who was asked to come in and give his social security number and sign a paper attesting to the veracity of the number. His bank, CariChieti, knows of his US connections as he has a mailing address in the US associated with his account.
Levin has it all wrong,
WE ABROAD are the hardworking, honest Americans who are sick and tired of picking up the tab – for US homeland resident tax dodgers hiding money offshore, and pinning it on us as convenient scapegoats. We’ve already paid one set of taxes, where we live. We should not be forced to pay for the US free lunch for life at the point of the FATCA and CBT and FBAR gun.
US citizens take note: Fatca has landed
Please credit and share this article with others using this link:http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/investigation/420249/us-citizens-take-note-fatca-has-landed.
Note: Nothing to worry about.
@Just Me, put a comment in on that paragraph in the article. Let’s see if it gets through moderation.
That’s the “reality” huh? Maybe in bizarro world where they live.
@FearDept, is one of my favourite twitter “friends” We’ve been tweeting each other back and forth about FATCA for as long as I’ve been in twitter amost two years. @FearDept is a great account to follow!!
‘Newsweek Delves Into FATCA and the Growing Trend in Expatriation ‘
Let’s Talk About: US Tax
July 14, 2014
http://blogs.angloinfo.com/us-tax/2014/07/14/newsweek-delves-into-fatca-and-the-growing-trend-in-expatriatio
Author says: “Many of my statements did not make it into the ultimate Newsweek article, but I believe readers will find the entire interview most revealing…………”
.”I understand that many Consulates and Embassies in Europe have waiting lines for those wishing to expatriate…”
……..
……….”9. NEWSWEEK: Do you think that US lawmakers realize that how much hassle FATCA is causing for ordinary overseas citizens?
VLJ: It has certainly been all over the press. I have to assume that those on Capitol Hill can read!”……
@Just Me
Yep, that’s what I thought. My comment on the inaccuracy of the renunciation figures hasn’t appeared at all. What a surprise.
CBT and FATCA: the gifts that keep on giving.
From the article referenced by badger:
Economic study of FATCA to be done AFTER the FACT. That’s responsible government in action – NOT. Letter from World Councll of Credit Unions mentions; “….myriad unintended consequences of the law on U.S. financial institutions and U.S. citizens living abroad,”
See:
‘CUNA, World Council letter precedes passage of FATCA amendment’
WASHINGTON (7/15/14)–
“An amendment that transfers $1 million to the Internal Revenue Service Inspector General’s office for an economic study of the newly implemented Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) passed the House of Representatives by a voice vote Monday evening, hours after the Credit Union National Association and the World Council of Credit Unions submitted a letter to U.S. Rep. Bill Posey (R-Fla.).
Posey’s amendment to the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act of 2015 (H.R. 5016) would transfer the funding from the IRS enforcement division.
“We believe this study is necessary given the complexity of implementing FATCA, the complex rulemaking that has taken place, and the myriad unintended consequences of the law on U.S. financial institutions and U.S. citizens living abroad,” says the letter signed by CUNA interim President/CEO Bill Hampel and World Council President/CEO Brian Branch. …”
http://www.cuna.org/Stay-Informed/News-Now/Washington/CUNA,-World-Council-letter-precedes-passage-of-FATCA-amendment/
@Badger
Are you kidding me? A bunch of morons running the entire North American Continent, just makes you feel so warm, fuzzy and safe. I guess I should be delighted that they are doing a feasibility study now, they are actually admitting they jumped into this as clueless fools. I’ll bet the ranch it is about the unintended consequences for them. (As in folks pulling their funds out of the US or opps, that whole reciprocity thing that they can’t deliver on, now what?). Screw the whole world up and then do a feasibility study….I actually want to scream!
@Badger
Further down the letter: “making it difficult for U.S. citizens living overseas, including credit union members, to maintain access to financial services in America.” So perhaps this investigation is only on a small part of the consequences of the legislation. I would be more impressed with an independent evaluation rather than the: Internal Revenue Service Inspector General’s office.
@JC
I found that line curious, as it’s the Patriot Act that’s makes it difficult for Americans abroad to open US bank accounts. Could it perhaps be that the persecution of US citizens living abroad is gaining some traction and the US credit unions wish to capitalize on that?
This article by Fortune is misinformed, yet the comments make interesting reading.
http://fortune.com/2014/06/25/foreign-tax-evasion-law/
The Federal Statistics Office in Germany has just released this years report on naturalisations in Germany. Here are the figures from 2006-2013 pertaining to US citizens who became German citizens. Note that dual citizenship in Germany is generally not allowed, so it’s fairly safe to assume that these US citizens renounced/relinquished their US citizenship before naturalising.
2006: 429
2007: 434
2008: 595
2009: 578
2010: 771
2011: 869
2012: 756
2013: 994
https://www.destatis.de/DE/Publikationen/Thematisch/Bevoelkerung/MigrationIntegration/Einbuergerungen2010210137004.pdf?__blob=publicationFile
I’d say the numbers speak for themselves. Incidentally, if the US official renunciation numbers for 2013 were correct (2999 if I remember correctly), then approximately one-third (!) of all renunciants were in Germany.
Just how many CLNs are being issued? How many US births abroad are being registered? These things I would like to know.
Also , how many US citizens have RELINQUISHED ?. I am one of them with a formal CLN, which I got two months ago back dated to the 90s when I became Cdn.
How many green cards have been handed back?
Why don’t the CLN’s even have an identifying number on them to keep track of how many? It’s archaic. I presume the registrations for US births abroad must have some such to keep track.
http://thecapitalpress.com/irs-launches-largest-privacy-violation-history/
‘IRS Launches Largest Privacy Violation in History’
…”“No single law can eradicate tax evasion through foreign accounts. If it comes close, it can’t do so constitutionally,”…”…
@Badger,
RE: “FATCA’s attempt at omniscience is its downfall.”
As you know, the problem is, that the FATCAnatics think they can be omniscience. Remember Baucus’s words? Frame them. Ideologues have a godlike mentality.
http://bit.ly/V6Aee7
I’m going to apologize in advance if some are offended by the comment i’m about to make.
Here’s a fun little exercise for some of you with Siri voice recognition. Siri thinks FATCA sounds like “fat cock”. Makes sense considering how so many of use are about to get screwed.
Ahahahaa!!!
@Badger…
BTW, there is a guy out of UK who is doing a GATCA podcast about the impacts of FATCA and the movement towards OECD Common Reporting Standards (CRS), or what I have called GATCA.
@MarkTwain alerted me to his first attempt… which was a little too full of acronym jargon designed for the professional elites..
With tweets back and forth I have encouraged him to define better and speak more to the common man so they don’t get bored. You know, “don’t hide that evil inside of something boring.”
He is trying to improve on it.
He is doing a pretty good job on the second attempt.
I especially noted this which I had NOT focused on before….
Specified U.S. persons have to be “cured” of U.S. indicia. As he says, it really is a pejorative. Since when is U.S. citizenship such a bad thing that you have to be ‘cured’ of it?
Which motivated me to create this tweet…
#youknowyoureanAmericanwhen U.S. Person indicia is such a bad thing that in #FATCA regs U have to be “cured” of it. http://bit.ly/1kzL0Rv
Also you might note, as I am pretty sure has been stated elsewhere on IBS, that having that having a U.S. area code puts you at indicia risk, including a “Skypein” number which many people have for the local call convenience.
Literally, as the regs are beginning to sink in, under FATCA everyone in the world is at risk of being a “U.S. Person” until they can prove they are NOT. That is the bottomline impact.
@Bubblebustin. FAT Cock indeed!
@just me
Oh yes, the panacea, or better yet the war cry that usually ends in a lot of taxpayer’s money, and worse yet LIVES being lost through some boondoggle of theirs.
Jamaica getting a little disillusioned…
The fate of the USA’s #FATCA law @JamaicaGleaner http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20140717/cleisure/cleisure3.html#.U8gJjzSEDBM.twitter
So it now seems we have a form of economic totalitarianism!