Liberty and justice for all United States persons abroad

The Isaac Brock Society

Media and Blog Articles Open for Comments – Part 4 of 11 (Year 2017)

You can access all years at this link: Media and Blog Articles – Links for All Years

 If clicking on a comment link brings you to the wrong comment, click here  to get on the most recent page of comments.(alternatively, to reach the most recent comment page, go to  the url in the bar at the top of your browser and delete everything after http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/media-and-blog-articles-open-for-comments-part-4-of-4)

Media and Blog Articles

EmBee suggested that it would be good if there was a thread for new articles, so that people would be aware of where to comment.   So, I created this permanent page.   I’ll make a permanent list of links posted here and keep adding to it,  but not deleting, so we’ll end up having sort of a  “bibliography” of FATCA/CBT articles.  [Note:  Some articles are not open for comments]

For more articles on FATCA, enter FATCA into Google then click on the link “more news for fatca” just below the most recent featured article.

Notes:

From JC:   To see #FATCA on Twitter for latest breaking news.  JC finds that is quite a good source and there even are some international articles that one may read using Google Translate.   Others may help certain tweets and articles remain in elevated position by retweeting them.

From Badger:   On an important archival note, please use the Internet Archive Wayback machine https://archive.org/web/ (see bottom right ‘Save Page Now’ box to enter URLs of webpages you want saved for posterity, and try to save backup copies of articles and other items of interest in some other form – such as a datastick or external drive. Some important and very significant webpages and the fulltexts of articles are no longer available (although some can be retrieved if someone using the Wayback machine saved them).

Be sure to read the comment stream for this thread — there are usually very recent articles mentioned there that aren’t on this list yet.

2017.12.28
It’s time to address the double standard about tax havens, Angela Wrights, Macleans, Canada.
The US Is Becoming the World’s New Tax Haven, The Editors, Bloomberg View, US.
2017.12.21
Rep. Dina Titus Supports Americans Abroad Tax Reform, Democrats Abroad, US. 
Now That The GOP Tax Bill Is Approved, The IRS Gets Busy, Brian Naylor, NPR, US.
2017.12.20
Taxpayers will have to wait to find out how they fare under new legislation , Renae Merle and Aaron Gregg, Denver Post (reprint from Washington Post), US.
U.S. Shareholders –Take Action by December 31, KPMG.
2017.12.18
Have You Ever Felt Sorry for the I.R.S? Now Might Be the Time, Patricia Cohen, New York Times, US.
2017.12.12
EU finance ministers issue warning to Trump over tax reforms, RTÉ, Ireland.
2017.12.11
Banque: les consequences étonnantes de l’accord FATCA, Edouard Lederer, Les Echos, France.
2017.12.10
As Australia ousts MPs with dual citizenship, Canada’s Parliament embraces many in its ranks, Kathleen Harris, Canada. (mentions MP who “assumed his U.S. citizenship was automatically rescinded because he did not meet several requirements for continued citizenship. [But when travelling to Washington] was told he was ineligible to enter the U.S. on a Canadian passport because he was a U.S. citizen. He was . . . allowed in on a one-time basis . . . it cost him $3,000 to later sort out the administrative requirements.”)
2017.12.09
The American Diaspora: Outreach and Organization, Victoria Ferauge, The Franco-American Flophouse, Japan.
2017.12.08
Foreign-owned banks to be hit by US tax rules, Financial Times, UK.
Trump Tax Plan Worries Europe, Christian Reiermann, Der Spiegel, Germany.

For articles earlier in 2017, click here.

1,720 thoughts on “Media and Blog Articles Open for Comments – Part 4 of 11 (Year 2017)”

  2. @embee
    Oh, the irony: when I go to that page I see at least two ads for a service offering European bank accounts for I would assume American Homelanders “with just a smart phone”. Little do they know.
    (Funny, I’m using an ad-blocking browser, too.)

  4. It appears that the ‘Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act’, thought solidly dead and buried some two or three years ago, appears yet again to have risen from the grave. Sigh.

    https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/whitehouse-doggett-introduce-stop-tax-haven-abuse-act

    This “new” bill looks like a close-to-verbatim repeat of its earlier incarnations, so contrary to his press release — also a close-to-verbatim copy of previous ones — Sheldon Whitehouse doesn’t appear to be working all that hard for Rhode Islanders, or anyone for that matter. Unless you count asking an aide or intern to do a quick cut-and-paste job as working.

    Of particular note to individuals:
    “Section 202: Strengthening the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act of 2010 (FATCA)
    In addition to rebuttable presumptions, Section 202 would strengthen FATCA disclosure requirements. It would ensure that checking accounts and derivatives are disclosed. … Section 202 would also allow the IRS to share taxpayer information with other regulators and law enforcement agencies and require foreign holding companies (passive foreign investment companies) to file tax returns.
    …
    Section 203: Reporting U.S. beneficial owners of foreign owned financial accounts
    …
    Section 208: Improving enforcement of foreign financial account reporting
    Under current law, a person holding a foreign bank account worth over $10,000 is required to file a Foreign Bank Account Report (FBAR) with the IRS. Section 208 would allow the IRS to more easily use other information from tax filings to determine if a taxpayer should have filed an FBAR. It would also clarify that any FBAR penalties be calculated using the highest account balance in the reporting period.”

  6. Has anyone heard anything about the IRS planning to start using dept collection agencies? If it’s true then what are the implications? Could the IRS cherry pick files of people who owe no tax but owe penalties for not filing forms, and hand those files to a collection agency? If the agency has a 25% stake in the game then they’d have no problem hounding you wherever you live.
    Thoughts?

  9. I can’t even begin to imagine how much I’d enjoy receiving a phone call, in Canada, from a US collection agency demanding I pay FBAR fines. I’d pee myself laughing.

    Sadly it will never happen.

  10. @Watcher, thanks for keeping watch, and updating us as to the latest attempts to enact;
    “…the ‘Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act’, thought solidly dead and buried some two or three years ago, appears yet again to have risen from the grave. Sigh.

    https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/whitehouse-doggett-introduce-stop-tax-haven-abuse-act“……….

    They are obsessed with the delusion that outside the US millionaires and billionaires grow on every tree and hide behind every bush. Whereas the US tax lawyer I used (or the other way round) tried to persuade me that the US streets were paved with US gold just waiting for my child to access if they were to qualify for US citizenship via my parentage (despite that would tragically morph them into a UStaxableperson and expose their legal local Canadian birthday savings account and Canadian government blessed Canadian funded and Canadian held RESP education savings to the confiscatory extraterritorial FBAR and ‘foreign trust’ penalty regimes).

    Amazing how they can hold multiple opposing things at one time – like the White Queen ( “…..Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
    Alice in Wonderland.”….. http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Quotations/Dodgson.html). They profess that the US is the best of all possible worlds and the streets are paved with gold, yet obsessively also swear that there are 9 million billionaires out there in the world ‘abroad’ who must be hiding fortunes and must owe the US a free lunch just because of a birthplace or parentage.

  12. Congratulations to those of you commenting on The Hill article! Several people are receiving quite the education from you guys! Well done!

  14. On The Hill: In the process of turning around whatshappening, I believe a lot of FATCA facts were absorbed by all readers … except OnAMission appeared on the scene and I don’t think there’s anything that will turn that one around.

    If our admins think it wrong, please feel free to delete, but I’d like to blockquote the comment by Erik here that went into moderation there (probably due to it’s length). Erik wrote:

    I am a Democrat and have been living in Belgium for many years. I pay a 53% income tax rate. Overall I pay 42% of my income in taxes. I have voted Kerry, Obama, Obama, and Clinton from abroad. I voted Sanders in the primary. I am for universal health care and I don’t complain about taxes.

    In 2014 my bank in Belgium threw me out, closed my accounts, because of FATCA. I was told to leave and tell them where they could transfer the money. I learned at that time that I had to file my bank account information to the Financial Crimes Enforcement network, under threat of heavy fines. I am a low-net worth middle class person, some of my accounts have zero euros. But since from time to time the combined balance of ALL my accounts is over $10000 I must report them.

    My other bank has stated that since I am a US person they will keep my accounts but report them to the Belgian government (which can report them to the US), something they cannot do to other residents, because in Belgium, as in the US, the government needs court permission to access someone’s accounts. They have also told me they will no longer consider me for mortgages or mutual funds or any investment vehicle.

    If I sold my house, there would be no capital gains in Belgium because that’s how it works here (but there is a 12.5% acquisition tax when you buy and you cannot deduct mortgage payments). But the US would want to tax that (even though I wouldn’t have been able to deduct mortgage payments) — it’s impossible to be compliant with 2 tax systems at once, they are each with their own quirks and balances).

    I can no longer hope to build a business or invest normally because of FATCA. And I owe NO US TAX. In fact, after 15 years of not filing, I decided that I had to file again to be able to renounce my beloved US passport some day, needing 5 years of compliance. I hired a tax preparer and it cost me $400 per year filed. I will save for the $2350 needed to renounce my US passport. And then I got a surprise: given my low income and 2 kids the US gave me a tax credit of $1200, which offset my tax preparation costs somewhat. But also highlighted the ridiculousness of citizenship-based taxation, unique to the US (and Eritrea, which the US has criticized because it wants to tax its citizens abroad…). Why should US taxpayers give me money? All I ask is to mind my own business and pay taxes where I reside. Instead, Democrats passed FATCA (it was an overwhelmingly, though not exclusive Dem vote).

    Believe me, this is NOT happening to the “rich tax evaders” you refer to. They are informed, they avoid taxation, as do the biggest corporations. They don’t care, and are not concerned with, FATCA. FATCA has been a costly boondoggle which has hurt lower and middle class Americans abroad. We are FORCED to renounce our citizenships, or else move back to the greatest tax haven on earth: the US of A.
    Seriously, this loyal Democrat has been stabbed in the back by Obama and a Dem congress. He now hopes the GOP can get its act together and fix the problem, otherwise he will have to renounce.

  16. @ Karen
    There’s so much infernal ignorance going on in those comments that it’s best to let them all flame out, I think. It almost looks like compliance condors and IRS agent provocateurs are making ad hominen mayhem at the expense of FATCA/CBT victims. Too, too sad.

  17. @embee
    Wow. What an EXCELLENT comment Eric made.
    But again and again and even with thousands of letters ( remember?) it seems to me that nobody up there is listening.
    Maybe now. Maybe with Repubs in office. Maybe.

  19. The Real Reason Everyone Offered You Free Tax Prep This Year
    As more Americans file their own taxes online, paid preparers are thirsty for data they can use in offers for tax-wise financial services
    https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-real-reason-everyone-offered-you-free-tax-prep-this-year-1491557402 (archive link: https://archive.fo/FDn9m)

    As a result, tax-preparation firms need more than taxes to ensure their future. Some are using tax filers’ information to recommend credit cards and loans; others see profits in using data to suggest financial strategies based on tax returns.
    “The winner is the taxpayer, and the loser is everyone who can’t monetize [their customers],” said Brad Smith, Intuit chief executive.
    With millions of Americans handing over some of their most private data to corporate middlemen, though, there are risks for both privacy and security. Credit Karma, on its consent form this year, told tax filers it can use their 2016 return data through 2025.

    Reminder: if you’re not paying, you’re the product.

  20. You really have to laugh.

    “Behind the wave of free offers is a significant trend: More Americans than ever are comfortable filing their taxes online. This development has made TurboTax a household name, but it now threatens margins across the industry.”

    As regards the security issue, though, it’s no joke. Personally I think anyone living in a country with reasonable data protection rights could simply refuse to file FBARs (which can _only_ be filed online) due to the total absence of even any pretence at data protection, and they would be on very solid ground. (IANAL, of course)

  22. @JC,
    They outlined their strategy on facebook when I complained about them wanting more money. They don’t have the votes to repeal FATCA so they want to continue with the legal challenge.

  23. https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/64pvv2/taxes_double_nationality_americanbelgium_have_to/

    Hello, I was born in New London. Both my parents are Belgian and I never lived in America since I was 2 yo ( now 50 yo). A few weeks ago I received a notice that I normally will have to pay taxes on the added value of a house that I sold 2 years ago (because Belgium doesnt taxes this kind of added values). Isn’t that ridiculous? Belgium already taxes the sh*t out of me and now America is trying to do the same thing, whilst never working there (working for a belgium Company in belgium…) or living there. I never received any monetary advantages whatsoever, why would I be obligied to pay taxes? Btw I HAD to apply for double nationality (because every american has to enter the country with an American pasport (holiday purposes a few years ago). What to do?

    189 comments. Usual mix of Homelanders being insulting, expats who have never heard of anything beyond Form 2555 talking about how the FEIE will save him, and a few more knowledgeable expats getting buried in the torrent of shit

  24. @Neill

    Where did you get the information that they do not have the votes to repeal FATCA? I am presuming that is not stated somewhere publicly……

  25. Speculation. Horse-trading appears to have been proceeding apace. The August tax-reform “deadline” has been dropped; healthcare is back at the top of the agenda; revenue neutrality is to be dropped – apparently along with the problematic border adjustment tax. Who knows what other cards may have been swapped or dropped as no longer needed.

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