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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. @ bubblebustin
    Jim has taken on causes other that FATCA. He’s a busy man but I’m sure he hasn’t abandoned the FATCA fight. Like you, I wonder what he’s cooking up. Hope it’s a delicious meal of repeal.

  3. From American Citizens Abroad:
    If you have had a bank account closed, have been denied banking services or are just having problems maintaining overseas financial relationships due to FATCA, CNN reporter Sophia Yan would like to hear from you.

    Sophia Yan
    CNNMoney
    +852 3128 3247
    +852 9170 9285
    @sophia_yan

  5. “FATCA IS A BENEFIT TO JAMAICA”
    http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20130904/news/news6.html

    In a field of strong contenders, this may be the worst FATCA article yet published!

    It is so fill of errors, half-truths, wishful thinking and sheer malice as to be “artistic in reverse”.

    The author seems to be some kind of accountant. Cui bono?

    Jamaica undoubtedly needs many things; I doubt FATCA is one of them.

  7. @Just me

    Thank you posting “US Citizen Living in Canada? It’s Time to File Your US Tax returns Before it’s too Late” where you can see I’ve been having a conversation with Phil Hogan, CA, CPA. My initial question was: “When exactly will it be “too late” to file US taxes?”. I called up the international tax office in Philadelphia today. After 15 minutes on pause I gave my credentials, he said my USA taxes are clean (I did backdated taxes to 2003 and of course us Canadians owe nothing to the USA). On to liberty! My renounce is on Friday in Vancouver.

  8. Sophia Yan published her article.
    http://money.cnn.com/2013/09/04/news/citizenship-us-tax/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

    Rather disappointing. It doesn’t even mention FATCA by name and only points out the difficulty and complexity of tax filing for Americans abroad. At least she does not demonize them, but Edwardo Saverin is mentioned.
    No mention of banking discrimination, no mention of bankrupting fines. No mention of FBAR and invasion of privacy. No mention of OVDI – only the complexity of filing is given as an explanation for the number of people giving up their citizenship.

  9. Might have to sign up for Financial Times to read this one…


    G20 to back moves to expose tax evaders

    The Dutch government has offered to renegotiate loophole-ridden tax treaties with nearly two dozen developing countries, in a sign of the drive to crack down on avoidance and evasion that is set to intensify at the summit of world leaders in Russia this week. Leaders of the G20 countries meeting in St Petersburg are due to throw their weight behind moves to close corporate tax loopholes and expose tax evaders through greater transparency.

  10. @Chris…

    Actually my read was that it was NOT such a disappointment. Let’s face it that writers are not going to follow our narrative exactly, and she did get in some very good points and quotes even if she did NOT use the acronym FATCA, she certainly spelled it out…

    and it appears she isn’t done. See the comment at the end…. So, give her feedback. You have her email above.

    Are you an expat who has faced challenges with your bank accounts or taxes in recent years? Email Sophia Yan and you could be featured in an upcoming story for CNNMoney.com.

  11. @Chris, actually she does mention the law in the article. Given that the increasing difficulty and costs of filing is what’s driving many to renounce I think it’s not too bad. I found her figure of 1,809 already shucking off the US so far this year interesting as it includes green card holders. Wonder where she got the figure from.

  12. @kermitzii

    Did you manage to book an appointment in Vancouver, if so, how?

    Or are you doing a walk-in?

    Nobody seems to know what is going on in Vancouver with renunciation appointments. The online booking system has not allowed anybody to book an appointment for months.

  15. Another ultra wealthy individual marries a US citizen – and may have to do significant financial planning re FATCA and US extraterritorial taxation as a result:
    http://genevalunch.com/2013/09/01/aga-khan-son-weds-american-model/

    This time, it is Prince Rahim, oldest son of the Aga Khan, who is marrying an American “supermodel”.

    ….”.The Aga Khan, who announced the pair’s engagement in April, is the leader of Shia Ismaili Muslims throughout the world. He is also a well-known billionaire who owns some of the world’s finest racehorses. Prince Rahim’s mother is the British first wife of the Aga Khan, Begum Salimah Aga Khan. He was born in Geneva in 1971….”..

    I guess they won’t be sharing any joint accounts eh? Otherwise, they’ll be filing one heck of a form 8938 and FBAR.

  18. Someone may want to make a post of this… I don’t have time…, but I am sure someone is already preparing one! Looks like U.S. Persons are going to be thrown under the bus in Canada.


    Flaherty says tax deal near on Americans living in Canada

    Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said a deal is near that could see Canadian authorities begin collecting financial information on Americans living in Canada and remit it to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.

    Mr. Flaherty said Monday that he expects to reach an agreement “before too long” with the U.S. government.

    You will love this…

    “People have to take care of their own financial affairs,” Mr. Flaherty cautioned. “I can’t deal with peoples’ individual tax returns.”

  20. Oh, I see it now. Just behind, and was expecting to see something like this as a separate post and not buried in a thread. 🙂

  23. Don’t know if this has been posted before (or is lost on an earlier thread), but I like the premise, which I haven’t seen before, that FATCA witholding provisions – which are unrelated to any actual US tax assessed or owed is unique, undesirable and unacceptable. A valuable criticism of any government that signs an IGA agreeing to these FATCA terms;

    “..The FATCA reporting and withholding provisions depart from the norm
    of using withholding as a tax enforcement mechanism, and instead use it as a coercive compliance measure. This Comment looks to current domestic and international withholding systems as a point of comparison for this new regime. By examining the objectives and operation of these existing systems as compared to
    those of FATCA, it becomes clear that withholding income serves a drastically different purpose. Existing systems utilizewithholding as a means of ensuring that taxes will be paid, while FATCA implements it as a way to force foreign banks to comply with a set of reporting requirements. Considering this is the first time withholding
    appears to be used in this way, it is prudent to ask whether this is a
    desirable use of withholding in our current international taxation system.
    This Comment posits that, without significant revision to account for
    conflicts arising with pre-existing obligations, converting the accepted
    concept of withholding into a drastically different punitive measure is both undesirable and unacceptable….”
    from
    COMMENT
    THE FATCA PROVISIONS
    OF THE HIRE ACT: BOLDLY GOING WHERE N
    O WITHHOLDING HAS GONE BEFORE
    by Melissa A. Dizdarevic

    http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4728&context=flr&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fscholar.google.ca%2Fscholar_url%3Fhl%3Den%26q%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fir.lawnet.fordham.edu%2Fcgi%2Fviewcontent.cgi%253Farticle%253D4728%2526context%253Dflr%26sa%3DX%26scisig%3DAAGBfm3juc9EkSGgQIVJIVxb3WLAIfCSrQ%26oi%3Dscholarr%26ei%3D3c4xUtzdNMe-2QXn9IDQCA%26ved%3D0CCsQgAMoADAA#search=%22http%3A%2F%2Fir.lawnet.fordham.edu%2Fcgi%2Fviewcontent.cgi%3Farticle%3D4728%26context%3Dflr%22

  24. Good find, Badger.

    Who’ll forward it to Kevin Shoom at Canada’s Department of Finance? I wonder if James Jatras has seen it?

  25. @bubblebustin, this one is really good too (and may have been posted before as well) because it shows the tactics that FATCAfather Harvey is advocating and why. It shows why Canada is so important to the success of FATCA and where some vulnerabilities and assumptions are. It admits where FATCA is weak, and where certain aspects may not be implementable. I now understand the ‘pass-thru’ witholding scenarios better. Good to see where Harvey flags vulnerabilities, in order to highlight them for ANTI-fatca people. He makes NO distinctions between those of us living lawful lives as duals or permanent residents outside the US, and US resident deliberate ‘tax cheats’. He does not acknowledge that our accounts are already primarily post-tax wages, and that we pay tax on interest earned to the country where the account is held – except in cases where the US insists that it is taxable as ‘foreign trusts’ – like our Registered Disability Savings Plan, RESPs and TFSAs.

    I read this article with Harvey’s recent comments in mind, but it seems glaringly obvious to me that increasing renunciations and relingquishments were inevitable – I can’t see why he thought that was an unexpected result. Particularly for those who thought they lost US status long ago, and those that owed no US tax and could backfile, file forward, or become ‘compliant’ some other way. What incentive is there for those of us ‘abroad’ to stay bound to a country who slanders and abuses us? What incentive is there for ex-greencard holders to come forward?

    How could Harvey think that non-US institutions wouldn’t try to cut their US account holders loose in places where their loss was nothing compared to being stuck in bed with the US and IRS forever?

    http://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/vlr/vol57/iss3/4/
    J. Richard Harvey Jr., Offshore Accounts: Insider’s Summary of FATCA and Its Potential Future, 57 Vill. L. Rev. 471 (2012).
    Available at: http://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/vlr/vol57/iss3/4

    Here is a better link for the one I posted above if anyone wants to email it on:
    http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol79/iss6/14/
    Melissa A. Dizdarevic, The FATCA Provisions of the Hire Act: Boldly Going Where No Withholding Has Gone Before , 79 Fordham L. Rev. 2967 (2011).
    Available at: http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol79/iss6/14

    Here are others at the same source, including one we’ve seen before by Allison Christians
    http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/do/search/?q=fatca&start=0&context=1

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