Media and Blog Articles Open for Comments – Part 5 of 11 (Year 2018)

1,714 thoughts on “Media and Blog Articles Open for Comments – Part 5 of 11 (Year 2018)”

1. Plaxy

   We all have the choice to deal with the situation as we see fit. There are many who for many reasons have to play by their rules, to get out, which with the help of informed knowledge given by the likes of Hodgen and Brock can ameliorate their situation.
   False information is not helpful.

   One attitude does not fit all.

2. @plaxy
   Truce :-)?

3. For those considering paying the transition tax: one more press mention – may or may not be significant:

   Taxpayers shouldn’t hold their breath waiting for guidance on how foreign income tax factors into the calculation of the overseas earnings they bring back to the U.S. under the recently enacted tax overhaul, a U.S. Department of Treasury official said Friday at a conference in Houston.

   https://www.law360.com/articles/1015824/no-quick-answer-on-transition-tax-treasury-official-says
   Paywall

   I deduce that the conference in question is:
   http://www.ifausa.org/page/2018_annual_agenda

   Usual suspects all attending.

4. Also, for those within reach of London and preparing to pay GILTI, BEAT, and other cute Americanisms:

   15/03/2018 MACFARLANES LLP AT 1800-1930

   US Tax Update

   Presenters: Eric Sensenbrenner (Tax Partner, Skadden Washington DC office); Moshe Spinowitz (Tax Partner, Skadden Boston office); Mike Williams (Director Business and International Tax at HM Treasury).

   Eric Sensenbrenner and Moshe Spinowtiz, both highly regarded tax partners in the US Tax practice of Skadden, will lead a discussion focussing on the international elements of US tax reform, including BEAT and GILTI, and explore what the impact on business has been so far in the first couple of months since enactment.

   Mike Williams of HM Treasury will then offer some thoughts on the US Tax Reform from a UK policy perspective.

   This promises to be a very informative and interesting review of US Tax Reform from both a policy and practical perspective which we strongly encourage members to attend!

   FEE: FREE FOR IFA MEMBERS

   https://ifa-uk.org/2017/12/19/us-tax-update-date-15-03-2018-time-1800-1930/

   Individual membership is £115. Probably not tax-deductible for non-condors.

5. Also – those seeking a bit of light relief from the unending task of trying to make sense of IRS instructions will want to catch the latest from Democrats Abroad (https://www.democratsabroad.org/carmelan/how_to_fix_23_tax_problems_for_americans_abroad_with_3_solutions, link seen on American Expatriates page)

   Simply hilarious – especially the bit at the end complaining that it’s because of KYC/CYA rules that my bank is treating me like a criminal. Uh duh they’ve known this customer for forty years … they just didn’t know or need to know that I was born in America until the Democrats threatened to close them down for doing business with me.

   Anyway – there it is: what the Democrats think the Republicans should do about international taxation. A laugh a day keeps the IRS away.

6. @plaxy,

   Truly amazing how they see all the problems now what a decade later after they started them?
   I agree that the current administration has made things worse in a terrible way as well. The original issue was much bigger though.

7. Neill – yes, they’re all as bad as each other. But the irony quotient is a lot higher for the Democrats.

8. ‘Canada seeks exemption to Trump’s steel tariffs, vows retaliation
   Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calls proposal ‘absolutely unacceptable’ and warns of serious disruption’
   http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/steel-trade-tariffs-trump-1.4558967

   Trudeau’s government issues strong statements and vows retaliation on potential US trade tariffs imposed on aluminum and steel http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/steel-trade-tariffs-trump-1.4558967 and publicly opposes US actions on softwood lumber, and Bombardier https://globalnews.ca/news/3977126/canada-triggers-nafta-chapter-19-over-hefty-bombardier-tarriffs/ but after coming to power now defends ( https://ipolitics.ca/2016/03/17/trudeau-liberals-reverse-position-on-controversial-irs-information-sharing-deal/ ) what amounts to an unwarranted US tariff and withholding penalty regime imposed by the US via FATCA, on Canadian taxpayers, our domestic local financial sector and Canadian citizens and residents banking legally and locally and opposes Canadian taxpayer opposition to the Charter injurious and unconstitutional FATCA IGA. FATCA is a NAFTA issue ( https://openparliament.ca/committees/finance/41-2/34/prof-arthur-cockfield-1/ ) but the Liberals choose to defend the imposition of a foreign US law on Canadian residents and taxpayers.

   The Liberals are emulating the Harper Cons who pushed through the FATCA IGA enabling legislation hidden in an omnibus bill ( 41st Parliament, 2nd Session Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1 , 2014 https://openparliament.ca/bills/41-2/C-31/ ), as they push through their own tax related “information sharing” privacy-depriving proposal http://www.advisor.ca/tax/tax-news/morneau-talks-tax-crackdown-and-information-sharing-251494 https://www.budget.gc.ca/2018/docs/tm-mf/tax-measures-mesures-fiscales-2018-en.pdf ) has been inserted under the radar into the latest Liberal budget so as to pass without debate on its own merits http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/budget-tax-privacy-crime-1.4558410 (sound familiar? http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/conservative-budget-bill-loaded-with-unrelated-measures-critics-say-1.2590254 ).

   As with the Cons, the Glibs proposal offends Canadian taxpayer rights to privacy, and to data protection. https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/budget-2018-includes-plan-to-share-canadian-tax-info-with-foreign-governments-1.3824420 . ” …Tobi Cohen, spokeswoman for Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien’s office, said the office has not yet received a privacy impact assessment (PIA) from the government for the measures included in the budget.

   “We would expect to receive a PIA for any new or redesigned program or service that raises privacy issues,” she said….” http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/budget-tax-privacy-crime-1.4558410

9. https://www.smh.com.au/money/tax/tax-fears-us-aussie-dual-citizens-provide-irs-with-details-of-184-billion-20180221-p4z12g.html

   The FATCA data dump from Australia last year was huge. We obtained numbers from the Australian Tax Office via Freedom of Information – and a local journalist has picked up the story.

10. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/lgbtq-parents-kids-citizens-state-department_us_5a8848a4e4b00bc49f449455?0p

    Interesting discussion of citizenship transmission from another point of view.

11. I swear they think the holy substance is transmitted in the blood.

12. Great article and exposure Karen, thanks for your constant diligence.

13. Since apparently I still need a hobby, would someone be kind enough to list forums favouring tax compliance where I could endlessly post boilerplate advice to not play the US game if you meet the basic conditions for non-compliance.

14. @ Karen
    The article is very good except there are way too many lines dedicated to Mr. Let-Me-Help-You-With-Your-US-Tax-Dilemma’s pitch for more business — ka-ching, ka-ching. Many thanks to you for being the strong voice of reason. I’m glad the writer included a link to fixthetreaty.org and not to Moodys-Will-Garner-Your-Hard-Earned-Dollars.

15. Excellent exposure for our issue, Karen! That’s also a stunning amount of money now exposed to the IRS from just one single country.

16. Re Australian Article:

    “details of $184 billion held in about 862,339 Australian bank accounts by US citizens living in Australia”

    Great to have this kind of article.

    I have a few questions, which may not have answers…

    I wonder how many US persons hold those 862000 accounts.

    I wonder if, as the article says, these are mostly (or all) Australian residents (excluding, that is, accounts reported by Australia that belong to US residents).

    Do we know if Australia adhered to FATCA/IGA thresholds when transmitting data, that is did they send everything they had, or did they just transmit accounts worth over $50000 (I believe that is the threshold for reportable accounts)? Did banks respect the thresholds for reporting to the Australian Government?

    Were these end-of-year balances?

17. Plaxy: I was quite angry with the Democratic Party when I learned of FATCA, but Democrats Abroad seems to have finally come around to a sensible platform. Do note their unequivocal support for RBT (mentioning that a switch from CBT could be revenue neutral). Naturally DA doesn’t have a lot of influence in party, but some influence is better than none. While we here know the situation, getting Democrats in the US to change will require navigating the current leftist climate within the party and carefully underlining, repeatedly, that Americans Abroad are not fat cats cheating.
    As for the last paragraph on KYC/CYA rules, it applies to US banks, if I read correctly, not FFIs. I for one have not been thrown out of my US bank, despite a foreign address.

    I think it’s important to have people in both parties (at least for their “abroad” part) now speak the same language, more or less. It could even be argued that DA is now more coherent by advocating RBT, while what we hear from Republicans varies from abolishing FATCA to TTFI, which are, truth be told, distractions (albeit very useful ones if ever implemented).

18. Fred – I’m afraid I’m now pretty sceptical about all US political parties. Though I certainly agree it would be better for the US and the world if the Democrats regain enough seats to restore at least a bit of balance.

    I agree it’s good that DA now support RBT, and if the Dems should ever get back in the White House I actually think RBT could be a possibility. I don’t give the credit for that to DA but to the expat community and websites like this one and, to some degree, to ACA. I’m afraid I think DA’s change of heart springs from fear not genuine remorse.

    “what we hear from Republicans varies from abolishing FATCA to TTFI, which are, truth be told, distractions”

    Completely agree. The most promising figure on the Republican side is George Holding IMO. Only I can’t understand how the Republicans can possibly bring in any form of RBT until the transition tax and GILTI have been sorted out, as these appear to absolutely require CBT in order to be able to bring home the bacon. So why did Holding mention April? I do hope not through sheer stupidity. 🙂

    Rettig is still a dark horse. He may make changes to FATCA if he ever does become commissioner.

19. Plaxy: I totally agree. As I said DA realised its members were extremely pissed off, hence learning to say RBT.

    This Dem hopes the GOP stays long enough to enact RBT. But of course I’m not really counting on it.

20. I’m a little confused.

    The Paris-based OECD, which is overseeing the global move towards automatic disclosure of information known as the Common Reporting Standard, whereby some 98 countries have agreed to disclose tax-relevant information among themselves, yesterday published a consultation document on the potentional misuse of these citizenship-by-investment schemes as part of what it calls its “CRS loophole strategy”.
    [..]
    Citizenship-by-investment/residence by investment schemes can potentially be exploited to help undermine the CRS due diligence procedures”, the OECD consultation notes.

    “This may lead to inaccurate or incomplete reporting under the CRS, in particular when not all jurisdictions are disclosed to the reporting financial institution.

    “Such a scenario could arise where an individual does not actually reside in the relevant jurisdiction, but claims to be resident [there] for tax purposes only, and provides his financial institution with supporting documentary evidence (eg certificate of residence; ID card; passport; utility bill of second house).”

    So a USC who does not actually reside in the US should not claim to be resident there for tax purposes?

    http://www.internationalinvestment.net/other/oecd-warns-potential-mis-use-citizenship-investment-avoid-crs

21. @plaxy

    I think what the OECD is complaining about is the scenario where I buy a somewhat fictitious citizenship or tax residence in, say, Malta or Cyprus, and therefore tell my Maltese or Cypriot bank not to report the millions I’ve stashed there to any other countries under CRS, because I am tax resident in Malta or Cyprus only, even though I might not set foot in the country more than one day per year.

    That’s my guess, anyway.

    But I do see the parallel, and it is funny. A US citizen living outside the US is a US tax resident despite not living in the US. A Russian oligarch with a Cypriot passport living outside Cyprus is a Cypriot tax resident despite not living in Cyprus.

22. Nononymous – yes, my tongue was in my cheek.

    A more interesting article on the same subject:

    https://www.barbadosadvocate.com/columns/view-europe-oecd-has-citizenship-programmes-its-sights

23. Rep Kevin Brady just tweeted this:

    #AskChairmanBrady about how #taxreform benefits American families and #smallbiz. I will answer questions

    https://twitter.com/RepKevinBrady/status/970777849929060352

    Karen responded with: Please RT/Like on Twitter:

    #AskChairmanBrady How does #taxreform benefit #smallbiz run by #AmericansAbroad in the countries where they live?

    http://www.americansabroadfortaxfairness.org/

    No wonder the US has a trade deficit!

    https://twitter.com/FixTheTaxTreaty/status/970782877662158849

    Karen referenced the petition specifically against the Transition Tax: http://www.americansabroadfortaxfairness.org/

24. Would someone be kind enough to create a post for the Transition Tax petition out of Israel JC and Karen are referring to?

25. Plaxy: interesting, and I have already toyed with the idea. If in the end the US is obligatory for a US Person, and in addition somewhat of a tax haven, maybe I’m better off “residing” there. The US will not complain, I believe there is no minimum length of stay per year to be a tax resident 😉

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