52 thoughts on “Residence Based Taxation for Americans Abroad”
Perfect for the homelanders who either can’t or won’t read! Excellent work ACA!
Very well presented, I wonder how many years it will take before RBT becomes a reality for USC/USPs?
@Allou,
It won’t matter, cause there won’t be any ‘US persons’ abroad soon.
Further to my comment “Perfect for the homelanders who either can’t or won’t read”, which makes it the perfect for congress too, or maybe slip it into a bill somewhere where they won’t read it.
Very nice and simple. Reminds me of a Sesame Street vignette. Homelanders should have no trouble understanding it. Go ACA!
Good example of how you have to condense the story you want to tell to something that is visual and less than 3 minutes. (Note to self, learn that lesson, will ya?!!)
I am not sure of the origins of this and would like to know more about who created it. I am checking with ACA, as it is NOT posted on their web site (yet?) hummm… Sadly, Only 66 views says it all but it just went up today… So, let’s spread it around..
Too many BIG words in video…They won’t understand. 😛
@Just Me, ACA did tweet it:
See why America and Americans Abroad need Residency-based taxation (RBT). http://t.co/1Hk345y5P9— Americans Abroad (@ACAVoice) July 5, 2013
Finally, something I can post on Facebook that won’t make all my American homelander friends bored or hostile. None of them understand what expats have to deal with.
I have a problem with the last sentence “ACA represents the interests of American citizens abroad.” That sentence makes it seem like ACA is trying to get their own out of having to pay taxes. This sentence alone can be majorly miscontrued.
It shouldnt even mention that, because RBT would help homelanders too.
Blooper: The US map shown includes a large part of Canada. It goes all the way up to Hudson Bay.
Otherwise, nice video.
Was posted on Facebook.
@Shadow Raider
I’d like to hear more about how you can approach Posey on my behalf. Should we talk offline?
@bubblebustin, You may ask one of the moderators for my email address.
@ Shadow Raider,
Done.
Although not perfect, I posted it on FB, and I think it may help to educate many people who just don’t get it.
@Suki…
It is pretty darn good, but it needs to be on the ACA home web page, and nothing new there since June 4th, that I can see.
I thought this was excellent. Very concise, very simple presentation, perfect for the intended audience. I missed the map error completely, guess that’s pretty sad for someone who was actually born and lived here my whole life!
xyz’s comment is also quite valid. Too bad. I doubt they’ll take it out. It is true that that’s what the mission of the ACA is, though, so you can understand why they say it. I suppose one could argue that by including that statement, it’s more honest and may prevent people from claiming that the video is inaccurate propaganda created by an organization with a hidden agenda.
Has this article/blog entry already been shared here? I never thought about this point before, but it’s pretty interesting and scary (and seems valid enough):
…”I am afraid that in the near future the personal and financial details of many Americans overseas will be up for grabs on torrent servers, dumped in internet paste bins and burned to DVDs that get ‘lost’ – solely because of FATCA and their inability to function as a local regulator overseas – much less manage a multi-time zone, multilingual, international support operation.”
Bob,
The question asked,
“Does the US really grasp the consequences of forcing the world to track down its citizens? Have they considered where this data may end up next? How it can be misused?”
has been asked by others, and the answer is a resounding NOOOOOO!
Here is another article from earlier in the year that speaks to the serious security flaw in FATCA that we ALL should be concerned about…
Thanks for the link to the Lebanese/NOW article, I thought it was excellent. So many sites I’ve never heard of… Impossible to take it all in…
That is a very scary article @Bob. “Now, when the US fills the role of a local regulator on foreign soil under the umbrella of FATCA, it does so without providing any authorization channels or any means of verifying the identities of its staff overseas. I am guessing we can forget any multi-time zone, multilingual service desks…” http://waybeyondthebeltway.com/2013/06/14/data_protection/
And you can be certain that the government functionaries and politicians that are about to sign an IGA have NO clue about any of this. And we can be certain that the genie cannot be put back in the bottle if our data is stolen. Banks and the government will NOT admit to errors or liability. We do not have the means or the knowledge or the expertise to force them into accountability if this all goes wrong. And this is the data of ordinary households – with joint accounts held with NON-US citizens who we are married to for example. Their NON-US accounts, with NO US economic connection are jeopardized merely because of their relationship with us. NO governments or banks have addressed this one at all. That is because they know that this is an issue that they have no good answer for. And the US is jeopardizing ALL of us just in case they might locate a few who have not paid up their US taxes. Probably mostly those living inside the US as US residents – since the rest of us already paid one set of taxes to the revenue agencies of the countries where we live, and are often citizens as well as taxpayers. The US is willing to risk the financial and personal data of millions worldwide, just in case they might locate a few of those they are really looking for.
And that is in the complete absence of ANY evidence of wrongdoing on our part, or of any US tax owed. Merely having a local bank account local to where we live and work is not a crime. It is a necessity of life. Instead of focusing on US residents, the US is arrogantly endangering all of us.
What a country.
Better to cut the ties and save ourselves from US hubris.
I think all of us, Americans and dual citizens abroad as well as Green Carders should join and contribute to ACA. http://www.aca.ch
The hypocrisy and “damned if you do/damned if you don’t” nature of this whole enormous violation of basic rights is so frustrating. Some democracy…
@Bob
Like many of these article this was written by a member of the compliance industry. I believe that the gist of this article is fundamentally wrong. Here is why:
Perfect for the homelanders who either can’t or won’t read! Excellent work ACA!
Very well presented, I wonder how many years it will take before RBT becomes a reality for USC/USPs?
@Allou,
It won’t matter, cause there won’t be any ‘US persons’ abroad soon.
Further to my comment “Perfect for the homelanders who either can’t or won’t read”, which makes it the perfect for congress too, or maybe slip it into a bill somewhere where they won’t read it.
Very nice and simple. Reminds me of a Sesame Street vignette. Homelanders should have no trouble understanding it. Go ACA!
Good example of how you have to condense the story you want to tell to something that is visual and less than 3 minutes. (Note to self, learn that lesson, will ya?!!)
I am not sure of the origins of this and would like to know more about who created it. I am checking with ACA, as it is NOT posted on their web site (yet?) hummm… Sadly, Only 66 views says it all but it just went up today… So, let’s spread it around..
Too many BIG words in video…They won’t understand. 😛
@Just Me, ACA did tweet it:
Finally, something I can post on Facebook that won’t make all my American homelander friends bored or hostile. None of them understand what expats have to deal with.
I have a problem with the last sentence “ACA represents the interests of American citizens abroad.” That sentence makes it seem like ACA is trying to get their own out of having to pay taxes. This sentence alone can be majorly miscontrued.
It shouldnt even mention that, because RBT would help homelanders too.
Blooper: The US map shown includes a large part of Canada. It goes all the way up to Hudson Bay.
Otherwise, nice video.
Was posted on Facebook.
@Shadow Raider
I’d like to hear more about how you can approach Posey on my behalf. Should we talk offline?
@bubblebustin, You may ask one of the moderators for my email address.
@ Shadow Raider,
Done.
Although not perfect, I posted it on FB, and I think it may help to educate many people who just don’t get it.
@Suki…
It is pretty darn good, but it needs to be on the ACA home web page, and nothing new there since June 4th, that I can see.
I thought this was excellent. Very concise, very simple presentation, perfect for the intended audience. I missed the map error completely, guess that’s pretty sad for someone who was actually born and lived here my whole life!
xyz’s comment is also quite valid. Too bad. I doubt they’ll take it out. It is true that that’s what the mission of the ACA is, though, so you can understand why they say it. I suppose one could argue that by including that statement, it’s more honest and may prevent people from claiming that the video is inaccurate propaganda created by an organization with a hidden agenda.
Has this article/blog entry already been shared here? I never thought about this point before, but it’s pretty interesting and scary (and seems valid enough):
http://waybeyondthebeltway.com/2013/06/14/data_protection/
…”I am afraid that in the near future the personal and financial details of many Americans overseas will be up for grabs on torrent servers, dumped in internet paste bins and burned to DVDs that get ‘lost’ – solely because of FATCA and their inability to function as a local regulator overseas – much less manage a multi-time zone, multilingual, international support operation.”
Bob,
The question asked,
has been asked by others, and the answer is a resounding NOOOOOO!
Here is another article from earlier in the year that speaks to the serious security flaw in FATCA that we ALL should be concerned about…
http://bit.ly/X1J8ES
@Just Me:
Thanks for the link to the Lebanese/NOW article, I thought it was excellent. So many sites I’ve never heard of… Impossible to take it all in…
That is a very scary article @Bob. “Now, when the US fills the role of a local regulator on foreign soil under the umbrella of FATCA, it does so without providing any authorization channels or any means of verifying the identities of its staff overseas. I am guessing we can forget any multi-time zone, multilingual service desks…” http://waybeyondthebeltway.com/2013/06/14/data_protection/
And you can be certain that the government functionaries and politicians that are about to sign an IGA have NO clue about any of this. And we can be certain that the genie cannot be put back in the bottle if our data is stolen. Banks and the government will NOT admit to errors or liability. We do not have the means or the knowledge or the expertise to force them into accountability if this all goes wrong. And this is the data of ordinary households – with joint accounts held with NON-US citizens who we are married to for example. Their NON-US accounts, with NO US economic connection are jeopardized merely because of their relationship with us. NO governments or banks have addressed this one at all. That is because they know that this is an issue that they have no good answer for. And the US is jeopardizing ALL of us just in case they might locate a few who have not paid up their US taxes. Probably mostly those living inside the US as US residents – since the rest of us already paid one set of taxes to the revenue agencies of the countries where we live, and are often citizens as well as taxpayers. The US is willing to risk the financial and personal data of millions worldwide, just in case they might locate a few of those they are really looking for.
And that is in the complete absence of ANY evidence of wrongdoing on our part, or of any US tax owed. Merely having a local bank account local to where we live and work is not a crime. It is a necessity of life. Instead of focusing on US residents, the US is arrogantly endangering all of us.
What a country.
Better to cut the ties and save ourselves from US hubris.
I think all of us, Americans and dual citizens abroad as well as Green Carders should join and contribute to ACA. http://www.aca.ch
Was this already posted and discussed?
http://americansabroad.org/issues/taxation/quiet-disclosures-jig/
The hypocrisy and “damned if you do/damned if you don’t” nature of this whole enormous violation of basic rights is so frustrating. Some democracy…
@Bob
Like many of these article this was written by a member of the compliance industry. I believe that the gist of this article is fundamentally wrong. Here is why:
http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2013/06/14/irs-hates-quiet-disclosures-and-some-tax-lawyers-mean-it/