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FATCA Discussion Thread (Ask your questions) Part Two

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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.

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3,498 thoughts on “FATCA Discussion Thread (Ask your questions) Part Two”

  1. @ badger
    That ought to mess up the “beautiful” minds of Mich U “units” — all that icky, complicated and befuddling FATCA “educational” material. Hope they enjoy their journey into the deep, dark world of FATCA compliance.

    FATCA Corner must be directed at their “units” who have overseas investments, all of which the IRS presumes guilty of being dirty money seeking a laundering … UNTIL totally documented down to the finest detail and thus proven innocent … UNLESS a foot fault occurred along the way and then there’s miles to go before they can sleep in perfect compliance.

    I’m Ms. Snarky Pants today.

  2. @Embee,
    You are right on the money as usual. And I hope that the U of Michigan and equivalents in the US start complaining about how FATCA is affecting them re complexity, etc. All this further proves that FATCA is a useless mess of garbage foisted on everyone else other than those that theoretically it is designed to punish. Really, what are the odds that billionaire US homelanders who haven’t paid their US taxes are going to be money laundering at U of Michigan or its colleagues?

    The US is forcing everyone to turn over their couch cushions just in case a billion might be found there among the crumbs.

    Hope this kind of US homeland instance fuels FATCA discontent amongst US residents.

    @The Mom,
    I still don’t get how it is applicable to vendors.

    How far and how absurd is this going to get?

  3. @badger, I think it has to do with proving there is no off-shore American ownership of the foreign vendors. If there is American ownership, taxes are due?, as it’s US-based income?

  4. @badger

    @And I hope that the U of Michigan and equivalents in the US start complaining about how FATCA is affecting them re complexity, etc*

    There will be some noise by non-americans… aka US persons… but they have no vote or representation… who the heck cares since other then the money they will hand over… they do nothing for anyone of importance… Even if they try to say anything… all they get is… ohh… sorry to hear about your troubles.but you must excuse me… I have an appointment with a citizen who will vote or help me… I already know some small businesses who will not do business with anyone in the US… even if they are in a foreign country… they have to prove they are not a US person… They rather make less money then have to deal with this crap

  5. http://blogs.angloinfo.com/us-tax/2015/04/27/identity-theft-fatca-security-risks-tax-zombies-phishing-and-other-scams-be-careful-out-there/

    ‘Part I: Identity Theft, FATCA Security Risks, Tax Zombies, Phishing and Other Scams – Be Careful Out There…. ‘
    April 27, 2015

    “…FATCA Security Risks with Sensitive Data

    The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, commonly called “FATCA” has caused Americans abroad to be fearful of security risks when their personal financial information is reported by non-US financial institutions or foreign government agencies to the IRS. FATCA reporting will include the name, address and taxpayer identification number of each US account holder at the financial institution; the account number; account balance and value; the account’s gross receipts and gross withdrawals or payments; and other account related information requested by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has expressed concerns with the security of data transmission as mandated by FATCA. In September of 2014 the IRS issued a fraud alert to all international financial institutions that are complying with FATCA. Scam artists posing as the IRS have fraudulently solicited financial institutions seeking account holder identities as well as financial account information. Financial institutions directly registered to comply with FATCA, and those in jurisdictions that are treated as having an IGA in effect to implement the FATCA provisions through their home governments, have already been approached by parties impersonating themselves as the IRS. The IRS now has reports of incidents from various countries and continents….”…

  6. Can someone pls. clarify the following for me as I have recevied different answers from so-called FATCA specialists on the same;
    1. A company registered outside USA (eg Saudi Arabia) is 100% owned by a US national. Will this be reported to IRS under FATCA regulations?
    2. Can NFFEs have a GIIN? if yes, then what type of entities would be these

  8. The US Treasury has helped Banksters further commodify us;

    Now financial instiitutions are gathering more information about accountholders because of FATCA, they want to make money out of the data:
    “…….the challenge isn’t one of how to classify clients or manage the deluge of reporting, it’s about making better use of the information available. As a result of the initial FATCA on-boarding process, institutions now have more knowledge about their customers. This raises the question, how do the relevant parts of an organisation access the most useful insights in order to drive top-line revenue?…..”

    ….”…….a longer term strategy would look at these and future regulations together – analysing the various data assets before starting to mine the information for real insights into customer behaviour. .”
    http://www.ftseglobalmarkets.com/news/fatca-at-five-why-financial-institutions-need-to-play-the-long-game-for-future-gain.html

  9. http://www.kpmg.com/US/en/IssuesAndInsights/ArticlesPublications/taxnewsflash/Pages/2015-1/notice-2015-10-refund-claims-on-non-resident-alien-fatca-withheld-amounts-not-deposited-with-treasury.aspx

    “……..Today’s IRS notice is being issued in response to concerns of Treasury and the IRS about instances when persons subject to withholding, under the non-resident alien or FATCA provisions of Code chapter 3 or chapter 4, file claims for refunds or credit, but the withholding agent has failed to deposit the amounts withheld to the Treasury Department.

    If a refund or credit is issued for an amount that has not been deposited, the IRS may not be able to recover that amount because the claimant and, in some cases, the relevant withholding agent, may be outside the United States. ..”

  10. @ishfaq
    I suggest you ask your questions on the Phil Hodgen blog. He is a very helpful tax expert. You can find a link on the right hand sidebar of this page. I don’t think there would be anyone here who would feel qualified to answer.
    Good luck

  15. Is any part of these raised bank fees intended as a FATCA implementation offset?
    http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/royal-bank-backs-down-on-fees-for-credit-card-mortgage-payments-1.3083915

    We don’t know. What we do know is that Canadian and other banks have said that FATCA implementation has cost them dearly: “A U.S. law aimed at cracking down on tax evasion by expatriates has collectively cost Canada’s five biggest banks about 750 million Canadian dollars (US$693.5 million) in initial compliance expenses, according to people familiar with the matter….”
    http://www.wsj.com/articles/canada-banks-tally-their-tax-compliance-tab-1406504252

    Those are the quoted “initial costs”. They’re going to try and recover those costs somehow. And as we know, FATCA is meant to be FOREVER. Then there is the OECD CRS implementation.

  17. http://taxfoundation.org/blog/how-countries-define-their-income-tax-borders-0
    ‘How Countries Define their Income Tax Borders’
    By
    Kyle Pomerleau

    One unique aspect of the United States’ tax code is that it taxes the income of all its citizens no matter where they live. In recent years, this has caused a lot of headaches for U.S. citizens living abroad, especially since the passage of FATCA. Many believe this is leading U.S. expatriates to renounce their citizenship.

    The practice of a country taxing its citizens’ income no matter where they live is actually very rare in the world. The United States is one of just two countries (the other being the African nation of Eritrea) that taxes individuals’ based on their citizenship. Other countries mainly levy their income tax on those who live in the country, ignoring those who live elsewhere…….”…….

    “…The United States is a unique country in regard to how it taxes its citizens. But, that may not be a positive thing. Citizen-based taxation plus the new reporting requirements under FATCA have caused a number of problems for citizens living overseas and may have led to a number of people renouncing their citizenship. Perhaps it is time the U.S. move towards the global norm and tax only residents’ income.”

  18. And imagine if this below was your FBAR and FATCA reporting banking and personal records? And now we will also have GATCA and “..Sec. 603 of the Senate-passed version of H.R. 1295 (“Trade Preferences Extension Act”) “…..http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2015/06/05/gatca-and-datca-alert-action-now/

    “….The hacking of the IRS “Get Transcript” application last month left over 100,000 taxpayers at risk of identity theft; it also left the much-criticized IRS reeling in its wake….”
    http://blogs.angloinfo.com/us-tax/2015/06/03/irs-changes-policy-will-provide-bogus-tax-returns-to-victims-of-identity-theft/

    “”…There is a general notion that government agencies unilaterally have their act together when it comes to protecting their information assets,” Jay Kaplan, the founder of security firm Synack, and a former NSA analyst, told Motherboard. “This is fundamentally false….” ”
    http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-us-agency-that-handles-all-federal-employee-data-has-been-hacked

    http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/04/politics/federal-agency-hacked-personnel-management/index.html
    “…..The cybersecurity experts added that some government agencies have not been following the government’s own best practices for cybersecurity, such as updating operating systems with latest protections…….”

  20. Although he doesn’t come out and call it FATCA, it’s obvious Paul Craig Roberts know the lay and the lie of his land.
    http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2015/06/04/ukrainians-dispossessed-americans-next-paul-craig-roberts/
    He writes:

    For decades Americans with foreign bank accounts have been required to report them on their income tax returns. Now if an American owns a gold coin in a vault overseas, this must be reported to Washington.

    Once Washington knows the location of your assets, the assets can be confiscated at will. Washington only has to make some declaration or accusation or the other, and your wealth is gone.

  21. Any one have a scan of a blank Certificate of Loss of Nationality?
    How many banks around the world would actually check to see if my self completed form was issued by a US consulate?

  24. The Mom,

    …but, curiously, the authentic CLN has no numbering for which it would be better possible to count the number of expatriations that we absolutely believe are not accurately reported by the US.

  25. @The Mom, if you send the bank a photocopy it doesn’t show up anyway. And my Swiss banks were perfectly happy once they had a photocopy of my CLN.

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