A economist friend, who I email correspond with, has made some broader salient observations and points about the recent EU FATCA meeting, which Victoria has eloquently blogged about here. As he points out, FATCA has greater impacts than just those on Dual Citizens and accidental Americans living in Europe that we all should be concerned about irrespective of our status.
I thought I would ask his permission to share his thoughts to add and expand the discussion. Rather than just bury them in a comment stream, here or here, I thought I would make a separate post as they are extensive. He wishes to maintain anonymity for the purpose of this post.
Note to Reader: When you watch, and/or read the testimony of the US Treasury guy, Mr Robert Stack ( Deputy Assistant, Secretary for International Tax Affairs, International Tax Council of the United States Department of Treasury) you will notice that there has been no mention of the IRS. However, he represents the face of the IRS for FATCA administration and enforcement. The IRS Commissioner reports directly to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew who reports to Obama. The IRS is NOT an independent government agency. The International Revenue Service (IRS), as guided by the Administration and Treasury are the ones that implement the Treasury FATCA IGAs specifically and 544 pages of FATCA regulations generally.
So, when you hear Treasury in the context of this EU public hearing, think IRS, as they are the ‘heavies” given the task, with full enthusiasm for the mission, I might add. The Economist commentary below used IRS terminology only, but I have included both for clarity, as it relates to this EU FATCA Public hearing.
What follows are his comments with a little editorial license:
