Next Tuesday, two bankers who now work for Taiwan’s executive branch will meet some people from the Bankers Association (yes, that’s their official name, not Bankers’ Association) in order to get recommendations on how to help banks deal with FATCA. Unsurprisingly, the Bankers Association is recommending complete and total surrender, without even asking for anything in return from the IRS. And the worst part is, the media are barely paying any attention to it. The only coverage I’ve seen at all is an article in Taiwan’s Apple Daily earlier this week, which I’ve translated below.
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Tag Archives: Taiwan
Comparing renunciation rates around the world
Curtis Poe, a fellow U.S. Person abroad and occasional Isaac Brock Society commenter, has an interesting post over at his blog Overseas Exile comparing renunciation rates in New Zealand and the United States. He wrote to New Zealand’s Department of Internal Affairs to get their data, and he’s looking for renunciation-of-citizenship data from other countries as well. This was as good a kick-in-the-pants as I’m ever going to get to compile and summarise the data that I’ve been bookmarking over the past few months from various Asian countries, so I’ve written it all up below. I’ve also done a bit of my own back-of-the-envelope analysis: the U.S. renunciation rate may look small, but it’s actually rather high compared to other countries which allow dual citizenship. Since we have commenters from all over the world here, hopefully some of you can help Curtis out with data from your own countries as well.
Taiwan banks having second thoughts about FATCA?
The latest FATCA news from Taiwan and mainland China: Taiwan banks are busy worrying about the mainland’s attitude, but Beijing is still not releasing any details besides confirming the fact that FATCA discussions with Washington are underway. On the bright side, the lack of confirmation about the mainland’s final disposition towards FATCA seems to be spooking banks in Taiwan. They certainly seem less confident in their original “bright idea” of solving all their problems by shredding Taiwan’s consumer data privacy laws in order to reduce their costs of complying with FATCA — because they realised they might also face issues in other major markets where they have far less lobbying power to encourage similar “solutions”. Translations below.
A celebrity's relinquishment report from Taipei, 2009
This story was published in Taiwan’s Apple Daily last summer; a friend of mine forwarded it to me recently. It recounts the relinquishment experience of Ms. Chi Cheng, an Olympic medalist and Cal Poly Pomona graduate who gave up her U.S. citizenship in 2009 to take up a policy-level advisory job with the government in Taipei under Ma Ying-jeou. (According to Article 28(2) of their Civil Service Employment Act, civil servants are not permitted to hold foreign citizenship.) Translation and my comments after the jump. Continue reading
Civic groups filling in where the IRS falls down on the job: educating immigrant taxpayers about FBAR and FATCA
Thanks to Congress and the IRS, ordinary taxpayers who migrate from one country to another face incomprehensible tax reporting and payment obligations, involving a burden of time and accountants’ fees all out of proportion to the actual monetary amounts involved. Immigrant and emigrant taxpayers who have failed to comply with these requirements despite their best efforts face huge fines. In response, voluntary groups are picking up the slack and holding seminars at their own expense to warn immigrant taxpayers about the burdens they face. The World Journal, a Chinese-language newspaper based in New York, reports on one such seminar held in Florida this past week. I’ve translated their article below.
Taiwan bankers urge government to surrender sovereignty to IRS on FATCA
If you’re an American expat in Taiwan, or an immigrant from Taiwan living in the U.S., or even a former immigrant who went back to Taiwan after you got your green card or U.S. passport, look out: your bank in Taiwan wants to sell you and your kids down the river in order to cut their costs of complying with FATCA. Here’s two recent items of coverage from Taiwan newspapers that I’ve translated into English. Continue reading
Politicians all around the world discuss FATCA
Americans abroad — frustrated by the uncertainty of what FATCA will do to their financial lives, and facing repeated delays of the IRS’ promises to bring some clarity through proposed regulations — are increasingly turning to the politicians of the places where they live in an effort to get some answers. In the past week several government officials at the national or supranational level have brought up the issue of FATCA, in response to concerns expressed by constituents — both dual citizens who elected them, and banks and other institutions for whom FATCA amounts to yet another extra-territorial unfunded mandate by the US. A number of scholars have also released draft papers about FATCA and FBAR. Here’s the roundup for the past week or so. If you see any more, leave them in the comments:
