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. Karen – good point. A degree less insane (for expat owners) than it seemed.

2. ‘Accidental Americans’ in France Press Macron for IRS Relief
   Gregory Viscusi
   April 16, 2018

   The two main arguments presented last October by Patrice Spinosi, the lawyer handing the case: the French constitution requires treaties to be reciprocal and Fatca violates French and European laws protecting personal data.

   https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-16/-accidental-americans-in-france-press-macron-for-irs-relief

3. Excellent! Thanks for posting that JC.

   “they’ll propose measures preventing French banks from discriminating against clients for being dual nationals”

   It will be interesting to see the EC reaction, if France enacts these measures.

   M. LeHagre, well done!

4. Another article on Fabien Lehagre and the Américains accidentels in France, related to the Bloomberg piece posted above by JC:

   Plight of French ‘Américains Accidentels’ gets major US media coverage, Helen Burggraf, International Investment, 2016.04.16.

5. Excellent news out of France! Here’s hoping the French government and courts have better ears than their North American counterparts so far. Brains and hearts wouldn’t hurt either.

6. It’s worth reading this post on the Facebook group about one woman’s current horror story with Swiss bank BCV:

   https://www.facebook.com/groups/AmericanExpatriates/permalink/973106702855402/

7. “After months of congressional plans for continued flat funding, the Internal Revenue Service this month found itself on the receiving end of a $320 million cash infusion via the just-enacted $1.3 trillion fiscal 2018 omnibus spending bill.
   [..]
   The new law gives IRS 79 explicit grants of regulatory authority, the acting chief reported, though more than 70 percent of the funding will go to reprogramming and modernizing information technology.”

   https://www.govexec.com/management/2018/03/irs-acting-chief-pleased-funding-hike-critics-say-isnt-enough/147030

   “Though”?

   A lot can be done by reprogramming.

8. “Ways and Means Moves 12 IRS Reform Bills, Many With Technology Focus”

   “With Tax Day looming on April 17, congressional Republicans last week continued their ongoing push to remake the Internal Revenue Service, with the House Ways and Means Committee clearing a dozen tax-related bills for possible floor action this week.”

   https://www.govexec.com/oversight/2018/04/ways-and-means-moves-12-irs-reform-bills-many-technology-focus/147473

9. The recent IRS notice 2018-26 ends with a Request For Comments. Now that OIRA is scrutinizing, it might be worth pelting the IRS with comments pointing out that owners/shareholders of foreign corporations can’t possibly either repatriate or pay tax on the imaginary money without bankrupting the business.

   “SECTION 8. REQUEST FOR COMMENTS AND CONTACT INFORMATION The Treasury Department and the IRS request comments on the rules described in this notice. The Treasury Department and the IRS expect to issue additional guidance under section 965, and the Treasury Department and the IRS request comments on what additional guidance should be issued to assist taxpayers in applying section 965. Written comments may be submitted to the Office of Associate Chief Counsel (International), Attention: Leni C. Perkins, Internal Revenue Service, IR-4579, 1111 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20224. Alternatively, taxpayers may submit comments electronically to Notice.comments@irscounsel.treas.gov. Comments will be available for public inspection and copying.”

   https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-18-26.pdf

10. Here is Democrats Abroad’s submission to the IRS’ request for comments Plaxy refers to in the above comment:

    https://www.democratsabroad.org/submission_in_response_to_irs_notice_on_transition_taxes_on_foreign_earnings

11. Personal comments from USCs facing the TT demand might be more useful to Republicans favouring relief, than a comment from the Democrats Abroad, I would have thought. It would give them evidence of (presemed unintentional) harm to point to, in proposing, for instance, to narrow the definition of which CFCs should be treated as covered by the transition tax, and which should not. Just my opinion.

12. @plaxy

    I don’t really know what you mean by that comment, but it’s clear to ALL of the expat groups that we need to have a somewhat united front to successful fight the Transition Tax.

13. I don’t know what you mean you don’t know what I mean.

    It’s a straightforward comment, intended to be possibly of interest to any USCs facing the transition tax who may be reading. There are no hidden meanings about unity/disunity or slurs against the Democratic Party or anyone else.

    Sheesh!!

14. There is a new broom waiting in the wings – a new broom who was made it known that he would like to see an IRS more attuned to the taxpayer than to punishment. A new broom who has commented that perhaps it’s time America accepted that long-time expats actually live in their residence countries and their accounts are therefore not foreign. The recent reinstatement of OIRA scrutiny of IRS regulations suggests (to me at any rate) that the “remake” of the IRS is under way. If so, then I suggest that one way to help the OIRA bring about modifications to regulations might be to send in comments detailing the difficulties that would be caused, not in broad terms but in dollars and cents, and the resulting damage to the (presumably active) business. This might be useful to scrutineers favouring relief, as it might give them evidence with which to substantiate the need for relief.

    If it was me, I would search for information on the OIRA process that the IRS is now no longer exempt from, and see exactly how I could make use of it. Point by point, show why the regulations need to exempt USC owner/shareholders of foreign corporations. Give them something they can use to help you (generic you), should it be their intention to help. If it’s not their intention to help, then of course putting effort into a detailed personal comment will be wasted time.

15. Here you are (generic you), anyone interested:

    https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm0345

    https://home.treasury.gov/sites/default/files/2018-04/04-11%20Signed%20Treasury%20OIRA%20MOA.pdf

16. Hmm.

    So according to Democrats, the ‘Transition Tax’ and GILTI are “… a retroactive imposition of tax that is not related to the realization of revenue that might be use to pay the tax” and “… imposed on profits where there may be no realization of revenue to use to pay the tax.“.

    Both these things are also completely true of HEART and the ‘exit tax’. Proposed by Democrat congressmen and then passed by a Democrat house in 2008. No complaints at all at the time from Democrats Abroad. Not a whisper.

    The message here seems to be that inventing income that might never exist and then taxing it retroactively as if it does is entirely okay if done by Democrats, but not if it is done by others.

17. @Watcher

    I feel confident enough to say that consensus among the various expat groups is that the past is the past and we need the strength of each other’s efforts to get us over the finish line TOGETHER and without partisanship, which would only work to undermine each other’s efforts.

    @plaxy

    “Sheesh” indeed.

18. But what’s partisan or divisive about suggesting that USCs facing the transition tax might want to consider commenting on IRS guidance?

19. I don’t know what your getting at, but I’ve commented at the IRS this afternoon by sending them he letter I wrote to my Republican congressman about the TT.

20. Ah well. We seem to be talking at cross purposes. Good luck with the comment, I hope all the comments submitted will have a combined effect and lead to exemption.

21. From the Democrats Abroad submission to the IRS, re. the Transition Tax (emphasis mine): “We believe strongly that a remedy is needed to exempt these taxpayers from a potentially crushing **new** tax liability – one that Congress never intended.”

    So was the “old” tax liability OK? I agree that the Transition Tax as applied to expat US citizens has got to go, but so does the rest of CBT! I wish that influential groups like DA would state this openly in their communications. If the government could see their way to reworking the TT why not encourage them to deal with CBT also, once and for all, while they’re at it?

22. And by the way, today is #Charter day – the 36th anniversary of our transformative Charter of Rights and Freedoms. https://t.co/Mf0dwfHykr #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/N8BaqZZ8Wg

    — Stephen Lautens (@stephenlautens) April 17, 2018

23. Have finally posted the following on Wikipedia:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relinquishment_of_United_States_nationality

    Mercifully it has not attracted any attention from easily-offended Homelanders nor compliance condors so far. Probably because I do not edit Wikipedia’s FATCA article (so none of the usual suspects are following me around Wikipedia trying to find fault in everything I write) and did not add a link to this new article from the FATCA article either.

    Suggestions for improvement welcome (keeping in mind Wikipedia’s idea of what counts as a “reliable source”, which includes the US government, newspapers, academic journals, and condors, but generally excludes publications by any groups actually affected by the problem)

    Most of the material there should be familiar to Brockers: almost all of it came from articles we’d collected here previously in “Media Articles” threads, so I owe everyone thanks for digging all those up over the years. One historical episode discussed there I which I don’t think we’ve discussed here previously:

    https://adst.org/2017/02/american-israeli-tensions-black-hebrew-community/

24. Eric — Wow, that’s a LOT of work. The article is very well-written, and the links work very well; great reference list. Impressive. Thank you!!!

25. @Eric,
    Note that foreign bonds also face complex reporting via the OID (original issue discount) rules if they don’t pay out interest yearly. I faced this with some index linked bonds my wife owned in the UK that matured over I think 4 years. The US creates fake income for each year.

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