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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. @Mark Twain, presumably they may hit similar problems once FATCA kicks in here in Switzerland. Certainly US individuals trying to run a business have been having problems with getting/keeping business accounts. The big companies may find it easier as they have plenty of dosh.

  2. FYI:

    Financial Data Provided to ‘Intel’ Agencies Considered ‘Not Inherently Confidential’ under U.S. Law
    FATCA: a Tool of the Electronic Surveillance State

    ____
    James George Jatras for RepealFATCA.com

    September 16, 2013
    Washington, DC

    Those familiar with the U.S. “Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act” (FATCA) – and in the United States, that’s not many people – think of it as either a as sledgehammer attempt to curb “offshore tax evasion” or (more accurately) as a costly, counterproductive, and indiscriminate burden on the global economic system; a compliance nightmare that only benefits tax lawyers, accountants, and software firms; a job-killing disincentive for foreign investment in the United States; a crude extraterritorial overreach in violation of every principle of sovereign legality; an abuse of the U.S. Senate’s constitutional treaty authority; a blatant violation of WTO and other trade commitments; and a financial “drone strike” against Americans living abroad.

    FATCA is all that and much, much more. But in light of sweeping revelations about the email, telephone, and internet surveillance activities of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), it’s time to take a look at FATCA’s implications for personal electronic privacy and the growing power of U.S. intelligence agencies’ global “surveillance state.”
    READ MORE:
    http://www.repealfatca.com/index.asp?idmenu=4&title=News&idsubmenu=135

  6. @calgary411

    That article is maybe the most in depth look at FATCA and the political landscape that surrounds it that I’ve ever seen.

    This line in particular is a lightening rod, at least to me:

    ” Tax havens exist because of the income tax system”

  7. @ calgary411
    Great find! I am e-mailing it to Flaherty even if the chances are nil that it will ever reach his eyes.

    When asked during a later conference where the number came from he said he “guessed.”

    That is so outrageous and we see that $100 billion number quoted to this day. Brockers are constantly having to debunk it.

  9. This piece was passed to me by another with interest in all of this — so I can’t take credit for the find. (I would likely never have stumbled across that.) I had not seen it before and wanted to bring it to light. It is dated January. Perhaps some have already seen it, but not me — I surely would have remembered such a brilliant writing.

  10. @Calgary
    In European dating format, that article is October first. You have to look to the middle to assertain the month and then to the first number for the day. So it is very current and topical. 🙂

  12. OK!! Thanks, Just Me and Bubblebustin!!!

    I have saved this as an html page and a Word Document page just in case it disappears from our clutches.

  15. I also saved the article as a WP doc and thank goodness it is dated October 1, 2013 because that is what I wrote in my Flaherty e-mail. I put in a few quotes from the article (link too, of course) which I hope wasn’t inappropriate. I really liked the title — FATCA – Predictions of Implementation Failure Proving True

  17. http://www.canadianlawyermag.com/4829/basel-iii-the-golden-era-for-lawyers.html

    ‘ Basel III: The ‘golden era’ for lawyers?
    Industry Spotlight
    Written by David Gambrill Issue Date: September 2013

    “”If crisis breeds new opportunity, the future of in-house lawyers at banks and other financial services institutions appears to be bright following all of the regulatory activity to come out of the global financial meltdown five years ago.”….

    …”…The cost of compliance is not cheap. For example, Wrobel estimates individual Canadian banks will have to spend $100 million each to comply with the U.S. government’s introduction of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, which focuses on reporting requirements by foreign financial institutions. FATCA is not even part of Basel III….”…

  20. http://www.infowars.com/obamacare-fines-to-be-seized-from-bank-accounts/

    Here you have a discussion of the Homelanders getting some of the same. ‘The tax lien is the standard IRS threat, I don’t Think it is big news. The seizure of bank accounts might be overblown (currently), as the US ought to have automatic monthly payment systems by now as is common in Europé. The threat upon driver’s licenses looks like an earlier implementation in Obamacare than Schumer would like to have with his XPatriot acts and revoking of passports for not being able to prove one is up to date on taxes.

  21. “Its modular design enables firms to deploy only the elements they require, integrating with proprietary or third party systems where appropriate.” This is a recurring theme of the FATCAnatics. They are ready for the next phase to be initiated either by DC or by themselves.

    FATCA does not hinder a bank from using its own means to identifying its customers, and most FATCA breakfast meetings with all of the Compliancesters discuss that banks need to immediately begin identifying their customers (by any means)

  22. “There are concerns that many Americans living in Cayman are still not aware of the Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Government initialed an agreement with the US in August, under which financial institutions will report assets and incomes of all US citizens.

    They had an opportunity to learn more about FATCA on Thursday (3 October) at a seminar hosted by Cayman Finance and the Ministry of Financial Services.” http://www.cayman27.com.ky/2013/10/04/fatca-concerns-for-those-in-cayman

    Americans in the Caymans still don’t know that their government signed a FATCA IGA? And their ‘opportunity’ to learn about it comes months AFTER the fact?

    Is this the scenario that is planned for > 1million Canadians?

  23. A bit of Triva, un-FATCA related, but I know the Canadians that read here might find this interesting…

    Could this be Canadians getting even over FATCA…. ? You would love to think so… 🙂

    IT Experts Say The Architecture Of The Obamacare Website Is Deeply Flawed

    Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/it-experts-say-the-architecture-of-the-obamacare-website-is-deeply-flawed-2013-10#ixzz2grRTSbZQ

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversaw development of the site, declined to make any of its IT experts available for interviews. CGI Group Inc, the Canadian contractor that built HealthCare.gov, is “declining to comment at this time,” said spokeswoman Linda Odorisio.

    This is too funny…

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