* Candidate for J.D., Washington and Lee University School of Law, May 2013. I would like to thank my advisor, Professor Michelle Drumbl, for her guidance. I would also like to thank my family and friends for their support and encouragement.
“notamused” has asked if this, which “Johnson” found and commented on could be posted on its own. (Good suggestion, notamused! Thanks, Johnson.) Note, the important comment from SwissPinoy.
FATCA: Toward a Multilateral Automatic Information Reporting Regime
From “SwissPinoy”
@Johnson, the following part of the report is nonsense:
“Thus, renunciation only serves as a way for individuals to avoid U.S. reporting requirements and related penalties after the date of renunciation.”
It incorrectly assumes that everyone who renounces has “annual income of approximately $150,000 or a net worth of at least $2 million”
Comment on original thread from “Just Me“:
Joanna is hardly a FATCAnatic, but it would have been good if she was…
http://www.linkedin.com/in/joannaheiberg
Student at Washington & Lee University School of Law Lexington, VirginiaDo you know the date this was written and what the distribution was? She has a lot of good foot note references?
From “Johnson”
FATCAnatics propose to cut us loose:
FATCA: Toward a Multilateral Automatic Information Reporting Regime
This Note will argue that international cooperation is essential for successful FATCA implementation.
Part II will provide background information on offshore tax evasion and existing U.S. mechanisms for international tax enforcement.
Part III will explain key FATCA provisions, and
Part IV will discuss concerns regarding FATCA as originally enacted.
Finally, Part V will introduce the proposed intergovernmental approach to FATCA and argue that international cooperation and development of standardized requirements will mitigate FATCA concerns and facilitate its implementation.
Part V also argues that abandonment of the U.S. policy of citizenship-based taxation is necessary to achieve an efficient multilateral FATCA regime.
From “notamused”
@SwissPinoy
Indeed, a false assumption. To make matters worse, if I remember correctly, that particular criterium for covered expats is not $150K annual income, but rather $150K annual tax liability. Still, I think the report is overall quite good, especially since it brings many of the severe problems associated with FATCA to light.
and ANON:
It incorrectly assumes that everyone who renounces has “annual income of approximately $150,000 or a net worth of at least $2 million”…… Not annual income of $150K ….. annual tax liability !
It looks like Hell may just be freezing over.
“Russia to Join FATCA Tax Watchdog”
http://en.ria.ru/world/20130517/181204662/Russia-to-Join-FATCA-Tax-Watchdog.html
“Russia’s Finance Ministry and the US Treasury Department should soon finalize an agreement on Russia’s accession to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Friday.”
“Russia’s accession to FATCA was discussed during a G20 finance ministers meeting in Washington in April, he said.”
The article in the link (http://en.rian.ru/world/20130517/181204662/Russia-to-Join-FATCA-Tax-Watchdog.html) suggests that Russian FIs would be required to identify US RESIDENTS and report. That is a lot different than the so called “US PERSONS”.
Only A Canadian, indeed it is. I wonder sometimes if we are the only ones to note the difference given how little heed other Canadians, who seem to think they could never be targeted by the USG for taxes, seem to pay.
The “person” thing is a giant and quite flexible definition that can cast as wide a net as the Americans feel like fishing for revenue they aren’t actually entitled to.
The fact that Russian has now indicated it will sign and IGA as well as Singapore in the last week is very troubling. In speaking to a FATCA literate accountant from the ‘Compliance Industry’ who clearly is ‘excited’ about FATCA and how wonderful it is – well, his words were that it was a well thought out and ‘brilliant’ move by the US to tie compliance to a 30% withholding tax and that it would uncover criminals and money launderers. I engaged him and he clearly never thought about the damage or unfairness to normal people trying to live normal lives in the country of their choice. Very scary.
I’ll believe Russia is joining when I see the Duma actually voting on the treaty. The Finance Ministry, like in most countries, is a well-known shill for bankers who want to dump all the costs & the harms of FATCA compliance onto the taxpayers and account holders. And even the Finance Ministry have had several flip-flops of attitude on the issue over the past year. In contrast the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been implacably opposed to FATCA all along. On their website they’ve even reposted editorials by economics professors nearly calling it an act of war by the US:
http://www.mid.ru/brics.nsf/WEBNovstart/C325786100462DFE43257B250000AE39
So basically it comes down to a bureaucratic turf war.
It incorrectly assumes that everyone who renounces has “annual income of approximately $150,000 or a net worth of at least $2 million”……
Not annual income of $150K ….. annual tax liability !
@Eric
I find it hard to believe that the Russian government will actually sign an IGA or enact the laws required to implement an IGA. Just last week we had the comical arrest of Mr. Fogle with his wigs and cash and the naming and shaming of the CIA station chief in Moscow. I presume these are knock-on impacts of the long-running Sergei Magnitsky dispute.