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.
It’s depressing to think that FATCA repeal may not have the votes. Why were they so stupid as to introduce these as standalone bills? FATCA should be put to death the same way it was born: as barely-noticed riders to bills that would have no chance of being defeated, such as the National Pet A Kitten Day Act or something.
Perhaps because repeal of FATCA was never the prize. Repeal of ACA is the prize. Again, just my speculation.
To speculate a little further: court action might actually have a better chance of success – and be more likely to actually persuade banks to be more careful how they treat their USP customers. Repeal of FATCA would not necessarily make foreign bankers any more willing to take on USPs. And a SCOTUS ruling would not increase the pressure on the US to join CRS and clean up its domestic tax havens, as repeal of FATCA would.
@Patricia Moon,
Republicans Abroad said this on their facebook page. Look for an post on the court case where they ask for money. I complained that I had already given them $2k and they have control of everything. They can’t repeal it under reconciliation (only budget stuff). So they need dem votes. Not going to happen.
@Neill
Thanks. I have vaguely heard of this reconciliation concept; was never aware of such distinctions or the effect of same on number of votes needed to pass a bill. So much for my US education, eh?
@Patricia Moon,
To be honest I have only recently got some idea whats going on with it. The basic idea seems to be if you can lower the deficit you can do that with a simple majority vote that the republicans have. There are some budget things that you can do that will sunset in 10 years as well. The kinds of things you can have in a bill that passes under reconciliation is limited by the Bird rule. This is why they want the ACA repealed before tax reform. The ACA is a massive entitlement so that want that repealed first to give them more room under reconciliation for tax reform. The AHCA could not contain a lot of stuff because of the Bird rule and hence they planned 3 bills with the others requiring dem votes.
So is Keith Redmond’s April 26 date with Congress still on? Or has the FATCA hearing been postponed? I’ve been away and came home to the great news that it was full speed ahead toward FATCA repeal. Now just a couple of days later it’s all off? What’s going on?
@Muzzled
The hearing is on as scheduled.
Where did you find this “Now just a couple of days later it’s all off? What’s going on?
Oh, I think I see. It is what Neill is saying and so on. We are talking about what may happen further down the line, when the bill goes up for a vote. We are not talking about the hearing on April 26th. These are two separate things.
Does that help?
@Neill
Thanks. I will have to read a couple of times to take that all in. To be honest, it makes me nervous-we have to get this moving by the end of the year………..
The bill and the hearing are not entirely two separate things. Meadows floated the plan for the hearing in a press release last September, around the same time he put forward his bill calling for repeal of FATCA.
http://origin-nyi.thehill.com/policy/finance/298130-lawmaker-seeks-to-investigate-obamas-foreign-tax-compliance-law
Following the election, the bill was reintroduced and the hearing was scheduled.
The hearing will presumably take place as expected, but hearings in themselves don’t necessarily change anything. As for the bill, if I understand correctly Republicans Overseas don’t now think it will get any further.
Hence they (RO) have turned their attention back to the court case and are renewing fundraising for a Supreme Court appeal – hoping that now Gorsuch has been approved, there may be a better chance of a favourable ruling.
It all needs a pretty long spoon.
@iota
I was referring to the fact that the hearing was taking place regardless.
@Patricia Moon – sorry if it sounded as if I was correcting you. Not my intention. I was just going over some of the rather confusing background – more to get it straight in my own head really.
While doing so, I had a look at the bill on govtrack (https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/hr2054) and was surprised to see the text of the bill is “not available yet”.
I had assumed the text would be the same as before but perhaps it won’t.
…and no co-sponsor to replace Mulvaney.
Tricia: Thanks for the clarification. If I interpret the discussion happening here correctly it seems that RO is continuing to actively pursue it’s lawsuit against the US government for this mess and I applaud them for that. I prefer not to interpret it as an indication that they think the upcoming hearings will fail. Just because RO is continuing to pursue the lawsuit doesn’t mean they have given up hope of a congressional solution. They are simply not withdrawing their guns until the enemy has completely left the field with its tail between its legs.
Considering all the positive news we have had recently about the Jatras/Green campaign and Keith’s upcoming meeting I’ll personally continue to adopt the positive “it’s happening” tone of another recent post. http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2017/04/06/rep-mark-meadows-sen-rand-paul-letter-to-white-housetreasury-urging-action-to-nullify-fatca/ There’s been so little to look forward to in the past six years.
Just had a look at Rand Paul’s bill on govtrack and it’s exactly the same – no text, no co-sponsor.
Perhaps the aim is to agree a text in committee, once the AHCA vote is done?
@iota
NP. I am a little grumpy today. Sorry if I came off huffy.
It is a very confusing mismash of facts. Esp since I’ve no sense of all the ins-and-outs of how it all works out in practice.
There is STILL no text up?
Re: Rand Paul – memory fails, was there a co-sponsor last time?
No – just had a look at the old bill. You’re right, Paul’s bill had no co-sponsor. The Meadows bill had two, Mulvaney and someone else.
It is as you say very confusing. But perhaps it’s just the way things are done.
Like the UK talked about some time ago, the US seems to be looking at going all Roth on 401ks. In papers I read on the subject at an international level that talk of tax at three levels. Contributions taxed, growth taxed and withdraw taxed. So EET is pretax 401k (deductible contributions and exempt growth but taxed withdraws). and TEE for Roth 401k.
Now hidden in this article is talk of new ‘Universal Savings Accounts’. Basically ISA/TFSA lookalikes. You would home this would mean the US finally does something about the gaps in the tax treaties wrt. these types of accounts.
http://www.benefitspro.com/2017/04/13/gop-contemplating-shift-to-all-roth-401k-system?page=2&slreturn=1492186344
Not quite on-topic: when U.S. government agents tell Canadians to ignore the Canadian government
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/family-blocked-from-flight-because-of-signature-on-daughter-s-passport-1.3349072
And on Reddit:
https://np.reddit.com/r/tax/comments/65fttb/a_canadian_confused_about_filling_american_taxes/
I am looking for statements by companies, govts etc regarding FATCA prior to FEB 2012 to the release of the regulations (that coincided with the statement of the 5 European countries who supported the IGA version).
I know one of the big four had a compilation of letters written to Treasury on their site.
Any chance anyone remembers this?
I remember this but I don’t believe that archive is active anymore. I will try to do some more searching.
There were links to compilations of the comment letters (such as: http://bsmlegal.com/fatca-comments.asp) back in Brock, all of them now dead.
https://www.pwc.com/us/en/tax-accounting-services/newsletters/global-information-reporting-withholding/assets/pwc-irs-hearing-proposed-fatca-regulations.pdf is an interesting early summary of Testimony and a bit on the Comments Letters, including a link to PwC’s Comments Letters Page, another dead end.
@Tim & calgary411
Thanks. I have managed to find some. Curiously though, one of the main indicators that other countries did not particularly willingly accept FATCA is described in the FATCA 2009 Hearing Post. One of the testimonies outright refers to it as a “sanction.”
Anti-CBT post over on Daily Kos (a very Democratic-leaning blog)
https://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/4/16/1653591/-How-America-holds-its-expats-hostage-on-tax-day
Surprisingly, not all the comments are hostile, though there’s the usual idiots who don’t understand the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion and think it solves all problems unless you’re rich
@Eric – excellent link, thanks for posting.
One to forward to baffled relatives.