Media and Blog Articles Open for Comments – Part 6 of 11 (Year 2019)
You can access all years at this link: Media and Blog Articles – Links for All Years
If clicking on a link brings you to the wrong page in the comment stream, click here to get to the most recent comments.
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.
2019.12.15
Canadians travelling to or through the US should pay attention to their withering rights, H.M. Jocelyn, CBC News, Canada.
2019.12.12
EU revives issue of FATCA information exchange as year-end deadline for banks approaches, Helen Burggraf, AmericanExpatFinance.
2019.12.10
13 Reasons Why I Committed Citizide, John Richardson, TaxConnections.
US tax filing requirements that Americans living in Canada should know, David Altro and Avi Guttman, Globe and Mail, Canada.
2019.12.07
Confirmed – Rep. Holding to leave Congress at end of 2020, after reintroducing Tax Fairness for Americans Abroad Act, Helen Burggraf, AmericanExpatFinance.
2019.12.06
Trump is trying to make it took expensive for poor immigrants to stay, Annalisa Merrelli, Quartz, US.
2019.12.05
Revenue Neutrality And A Move To Residence-based Taxation: Open Letter To Democrats Abroad, John Richardson, Karen Alpert, Laura Snyder, TaxConnections.
What It’s Like to Retire Abroad, Glenn Ruffenach, Wall Street Journal, US.
2020.01.01: This thread is now closed. Please comment at Media and Blog Articles Part 7 of 7
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My four questions for the speakers, in short form: (OK not addressed to me, but here goes:)
1. What are the potential consequences of non-compliance for a dual citizen with no US income or assets?
If no US heirs, probably none. Until and unless nonpayment of US tax is equated to money-laundering and common-law fraud. In egregious cases that’s been done, or tried. And of course a US tax debt might be enforced in certain (5 or 6) countries other than the one of your (other) nationality. Query whether the Good Friday Agreement and EU law on right of free establishment are relevant to supersede such a limiting clause.
2. Are you aware of any attempts by the IRS to contact or pursue non-filers outside the US who have been reported under FATCA?
Only those with substantial US assets or those who (were) “volunteered” for OVDP.
3. Is it true that you can renounce US citizenship without coming into tax compliance?
Yes.
4. Is it ethical for tax advisors to not give potential clients the answers to the three questions above?
In the UK it is unethical not to “make” a client pay foreign tax due. Or not to turn him/her to the British Government. Here’s some stuff on that: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=ethics+foreign+tax+evasion+site%3Auk&atb=v127-1&ia=web In the USA outside a Kovel Letter there is no client privilege for what you say to an accountant, nor to a lawyer if s/he does not encourage you to be or become compliant (although s/he can advise you either way on the law). On the other hand a lawyer can publish opinions on such questions, as I have just done, without risk. I am not encouraging or discouraging anything: just answering based on statistical knowledge and with nothing to gain either way.
“Gonesoon
If you have renounced and have a cln you should have no problem entering from any port. My ESTA although intrusive and asked for citizenships past and present , was approved online in about 2 minutes.
Yes, they cannot refuse an American entry. I believe Wil Self the British Journalist was refused entry in the past because of a drug conviction, he told them he was also an American although did not have a passport, they spent a while checking and he was allowed entry. I wonder-if he regrets that now!
@ andy 05
” Is it ethical for tax advisors to not give potential clients the answers to the three questions above?”
In regards to the list referenced in your link, they apply to commercial enterprises . I am not involved in any commercial undertaking but I might be a persioner of limited means, a middle class worker of modest means. Any accountant ,after a cursory review of a client’s folder, would be able to telll if filing an uninforceable foreign tax law could present a hardship to his/her client’s financial well being.. To neglect to tell the client of all consequences is certainly unethical,if not indecent . Unless ,of course, you have another definition of ethics .
James Jatras deftly weaves FATCA and even the Avro Arrow into a examination of Canada’s serious sovereignty deficit. I’d love to see my country develop an independence streak but we’d need a leader with a backbone and we certainly don’t have one at present.
http://theduran.com/o-canada-the-true-north-strong-and-free-not/
First we’re told a Democrat co-sponsor has been secured, but their identity must be kept under wraps. Then we’re told (e.g. by Solomon Yue) the bill will be introduced before the end of 2018. Now we’re being told the bill still needs a Dem co-sponsor, it’s the second quarter of 2019 and it hasn’t been introduced because it lacks the aforementioned co-sponsor. Are anyone else’s alarm bells going off? Is this just a carrot dangling out of reach?
https://americanexpatfinance.com/news/item/158-dem-sponsor-needed-for-expat-tax-fairness-bill-holding-says
I may as well add to Pelover’s bad news by linking now to John Richardson’s recent revelation about the $5 absurdity. Let those dark clouds pass by and then maybe, with some luck, someone will find something in the media to bring a little ray of sunshine back into our lives.
http://www.citizenshipsolutions.ca/2019/04/18/youcantmakethisup-married-americans-abroad-are-more-likely-to-meet-requirements-to-file-us-tax-returns-than-are-singles/
With regards to Solomon Yue. Please don’t hold your breath; he needs a lot more than one co sponsor. ( thanks to the crazy US system.
With regards to J. R. ‘s client with $500. Give me a break. Ignore it.
Sounds like some recognition of problems of FATCA for persons overseas.
April2019: FOREIGN ASSET REPORTING
Actions Needed to Enhance Compliance Efforts, Eliminate Overlapping Requirements, and Mitigate Burdens on U.S. Persons Abroad
“Specific effects of FATCA implementation contributing to decisions to renounce U.S. citizenship included reduced access to foreign financial services and employment or promotion opportunities in a foreign-owned company—as identified above from our document reviews, focus groups, and interviews—and burdens in meeting FATCA reporting requirements.”
https://www.gao.gov/assets/700/698133.pdf
Emphasis on enhance compliance efforts. Trying to read this bureaucratic gobbledegook is liking wading through treacle.
It’s clear they have no intention or ability to do the right thing which would be to abolish FATCA. The first priority of a civil servant is to preserve his or her fiefdom. Hence the never ending recommendations for further study. All roads lead to renunciation.
@ Portland
I too detected an emphasis to enhance compliance rather than emphathy for the “more than 20” (21 maybe?) “U.S. persons living overseas” they interviewed about the impact of FATCA on their lives. Would it even register on them that some of these persons would actually be citizens of other countries who have been deemed (unjustly and illogically IMHO) to be U.S. tax residents? I rather think the “officials from IRS, other federal agencies and organizations” and “selected tax practitioners” — all of whom view taxes as bread-and-butter issues (THEIR bread and THEIR butter) — were listened to the most. So someone got paid to write an 83 page, dull sounding, no fury, report signifying nothing’s going to change enough to help much but at least a need was perceived for a report to be written.
@Pacifica- IMO, that GAO report should be a Brock feature. Just post it and ask for comments about the document. & maybe include the two comments above.
@Portland, wise words.
The other take away is that minnows have nothing to fear from FAtCA or FBAR. there were 375 people who reported more than a billion dollars in foreign accounts. 350 of them were US residents. The IRS and FINCEN didn’t appear to know what to do with them.
Phone and laptop searches at US border ‘quadruple’ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-48118558
Royal baby Sussex: seventh in line for the throne and liable for US taxes
May 7, 2019 7.28pm AEST
Amanda Klekowski von Koppenfels
https://theconversation.com/royal-baby-sussex-seventh-in-line-for-the-throne-and-liable-for-us-taxes-116090?fbclid=IwAR1mY7A3G_IISjaLxlnVZqzFtHgJtzaZ4htlOXV5Yzjs1je5y6ncWmBhUtI
Comments open!
@JC
Sad to see know-it-all-nots like Steve making misinformed comments like this:
It isn’t about being issued a SSN; it’s about who’s his mama. I hope AKvK will straighten Steve out on this. Baby Sussex, like all the other children in his situation, is a USC period, with or without applying for a SSN. Besides Meghan wants a dual kiddo so that application will be made. Meanwhile the IRS and FinCEN will be eagerly awaiting the eventual arrival of his 1040s and FBARs. Obviously this royal lad cannot escape under the IRS radar because he’s simply too high profile.
As a run-up to John Richardson’s discussion with Edward Zelinsky (“Should The U. S. Impose Worldwide Taxation And Reporting On People Who Are Residents Of Other Countries?”) John is featuring a 4 part series written by Laura Snyder which provides excellent background for the May 17th podcast.
http://www.citizenshipsolutions.ca/2019/05/04/part-1-of-4-how-do-i-protect-myself-a-case-study-in-the-marginalization-of-americans-living-overseas/
https://www.taxconnections.com/taxblog/part-2-of-4-it-hurts-my-heart-the-case-for-fairer-taxation-of-non-resident-us-citizens/#.XNNFgYVunIp
As a reminder, here’s where to sign-up for Tax Connections’ livestream. They even include a link to find the time anywhere you might be in the world. Sweet!
https://www.taxconnections.com/livestream
Embee: the comment you highlight as misinformed seems completely true to me, per citizenship (not talking about SSN).
He says:
“This child will NOT be a US citizen without doing paperwork. This child will never be liable for US taxes if paperwork for citizenship hasn’t been filed. The child has the right to apply for citizenship based on its mother but that is all. This article attempts to show that all people who have a parent born in the USA automatically get US citizenship without paperwork. That is absolute garbage.” is true and exactly what I have observed ever since I had my own children and got them US passports. If I had not actively filled in all the forms, documented my own life to prove that I fit the criteria, and so forth, they would never have been US citizens. To illustrate my case, before my first son was born I calculated my days of presence in the US and was missing a week. So I flew to the US for a week, so I’d meet the criteria. Sure, I could have lied, and gotten the passports, but if the US had wanted my son to be a US citizen and I had not gone that extra week, they could not have made him. My interpretation is that it is NOT automatic and if the royal couple does NOT apply for US citizenship, Archie will NOT be a US citizen.
If you look on the US state dept website it clearly states that legally Archie is a US citizen in the same way other countries such as Ireland state that having one citizen parent makes one a citizen of said country, the citizenship exists but of course it needs to be documented . But Megan has stated she means Archie to have both citizenships.
She must be aware of the situation, perhaps she thinks or knows they will be immune to the circumstances ?
@Heidi
” the citizenship exists but of course it needs to be documented. ”
If one was born in the US ,no matter how momentary his/her presence there , it would be documented or registered somewhere. However, the same can not be said of those born abroad..
Is there any requirement that a citzenship by acquisition abroad has to be registered. I would think in order to acquire such citzenship ,information has to be correctly submitted and authenticated before hand.Without such registration and verification, the person seeking such citzenship can’t vote,have a US passport, most likely not be obliged to file tax returns. In other words ,he needs to stake a claim to the citzenship ,it’s not automatic.
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There are smart people saying a baby born abroad to a US parent is automatically a US citizen.
I’m sorry, I just don’t think that’s true in practice. You need to meet some criteria; if you don’t you’re not (or your child is not) a US citizen. The only way to know is to file the paperwork. If Susie is born in Spain and is Spanish, there is no way she’ll get into the US just by saying “hey, my dad’s American”. At least that’s what I think. She cannot walk in to the Embassy and get a passport by showing her Spanish birth certificate.
On the other hand if Dad (or Mom) met the physical presence requirements, did a consular report of birth abroad, and filed an affidavit, etc, and asked for the passport, she’ll get it. Doesn’t sound automatic to me. Perhaps in theory she is, but she isn’t until proven such, in practice; reminds me of the “in theory, theory and practice are the same, in practice they are not” attributed I believe to Einstein.
@Fred &Robert Ross
If you take the example of Ireland, anyone born abroad to one Irish parent who was born in Ireland IS automatically an Irish citizen. One does not have to apply for citizenship but just show the parent birth certificate to obtain an Irish passport, in contrast one can apply for Irish citizenship through an Irish grandparent if one wants to obtain it, but citizenship does not automatically exist, one has to prove the line of decent and apply for registration before being granted citizenship and then an Irish passport.
In the same way the US State dept states on their website that one IS automatically a US citizen if born abroad to one US parent as long as that parent has lived the requisite number of years in the US.
But I agree that this is all acaedemic if the child does not register and get a passport as no one in the US would know he/she exists.
Perhaps it depends on the way one regards US citizenship, a gift or a burden?!
re: Archie, the Baby Sussex
Amanda elaborated on the issue of is he or isn’t he a USC in the comment section.
https://theconversation.com/royal-baby-sussex-seventh-in-line-for-the-throne-and-liable-for-us-taxes-116090?fbclid=IwAR1mY7A3G_IISjaLxlnVZqzFtHgJtzaZ4htlOXV5Yzjs1je5y6ncWmBhUtI
OK, Amanda rocks. She embodies the best of academia I believe. She has deep knowledge and understanding of the issue, clear ideas, and can communicate clearly and respectfully. Jeez, so refreshing. Oh, and having met her personally, I can vouch that she’s a truly great person in real life as well.
So I stand corrected. Archie (and others like him and my sons) are actually automatically US citizens, and the US could treat them as such without doing paperwork.
EmBee and Heidi: you were right, I was wrong.
The United States has the (universally accepted?) right to impose its citizenship on persons born in a foreign country?
Does consent matter? Does Archie have a say in this?
@StephenKish
If your parents register you or if you’re rich and famous then it can be a potential problem. If it weren’t for CBT then the gift of US citizenship could be an advantage as it is with most other countries. Irish citizenship with its access to EU jobs and rights of residence has become very desirable now since the Brexit vote!