#FATCA – what it is, why it needs to be repealed and what you can do https://t.co/ZNVqntUS2S – Republicans Overseas outlines their lawsuit
— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) September 28, 2014
They also reference the Canadian lawsuit against the FATCA IGA launched by the Alliance For The Defense of Canadian Sovereignty
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@Mark Twain, The State Department form on relinquishment specifically asks where you vote. I would have to say that voting in the USofA is a clear sign you did not intend to relinquish.
That would be worse than using a US Passport solely to enter the USofA that was applied for and issued before the relinquishing act.
So, when the form asks where you vote, you give them the information where you have voted.
Because they asked.
@George
The form about relinquishment, Form DS 4079, asks in 13 (d) “Do you vote? If yes, please explain.” It is looking for evidence of that you retain ties with the US. The question asks about your present voting, so I think you can ignore what you might have done in the past, and simply say “No” if you do not intend to vote in 2014. It does not ask “Have you voted?” Do you think they are really so organised as to search voter registration records to see if you might have voted in the US elections of 2012?
Ricard
I would not put it past them to check the validity of such statements
Amazingly I was able to go online and find my full voting history prior to relinquishing and that was held by some thirdxparty private company at no fee
Besides why vote and take the risk for zero benefit
If anyone is interested over at Phil Hodgen’s site he writes in his blog about case last week in US Tax Court (Topsnik v Commissioner)
The bottom line is the court ruled unless you fill in the Form I-407 you remain a taxpayer in the IRS’ eyes until you do. It does matter if you live outside the US for 50 years, you’re still a US taxpayer.
You should be aware of legislation pending in this congress and who is behind them.
BILLS IN THIS CONGRESS https://www.americansabroad.org/files/8013/7071/5737/legislative.pdf
Bill: S. 268, HR 1554: CUT Loopholes Act (a bill in each house)
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/s268
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr1554
Makes FATCA more extensive and more punitive.
Zero percent 0% chance of being enacted.
2/11/2013–Introduced. Cut Unjustified Tax Loopholes Act or the CUT Loopholes Act – Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to impose restrictions on foreign jurisdictions or financial institutions operating in the United States that are of primary money laundering concern or that impede U.S. tax enforcement. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: establish a rebuttable presumption against the validity of transactions by institutions that do not comply with reporting requirements under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act
Sponsor: Sen Carl Levin (D-MI), Cosponsor: Sen Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) Sponsor: HR 1554 Dodgett, Lloy (D-TX)
Cosponsors (house only): Bass, Karen [D-CA37], Becerra, Xavier [D-CA34], Blumenauer, Earl [D-OR3], Capuano, Michael [D-MA7], Chu, Judy [D-CA27], Cicilline, David [D-RI1], Cohen, Steve [D-TN9], Conyers, John [D-MI13], Cummings, Elijah [D-MD7], DeFazio, Peter [D-OR4], DeGette, Diana [D-CO1], DeLauro, Rosa [D-CT3], Deutch, Theodore [D-FL21], Dingell, John [D-MI12], Edwards, Donna [D-MD4], Ellison, Keith [D-MN5], Farr, Sam [D-CA20], Garamendi, John [D-CA3], Green, Gene [D-TX29], Grijalva, Raúl [D-AZ3], Gutiérrez, Luis [D-IL4], Higgins, Brian [D-NY26], Holt, Rush [D-NJ12], Huffman, Jared [D-CA2], Johnson, Eddie [D-TX30], Johnson, Henry “Hank” [D-GA4], Langevin, James “Jim” [D-RI2], Larson, John [D-CT1], Lee, Barbara [D-CA13], Lewis, John [D-GA5], Lipinski, Daniel [D-IL3], Loebsack, David [D-IA2], Lynch, Stephen [D-MA8], Markey, Edward “Ed” [D-MA5], McCollum, Betty [D-MN4], McDermott, Jim [D-WA7], McGovern, James “Jim” [D-MA2], Miller, George [D-CA11], Moore, Gwen [D-WI4], Moran, James “Jim” [D-VA8], Pascrell, Bill [D-NJ9], Payne, Donald [D-NJ10], Peters, Gary [D-MI14], Rush, Bobby [D-IL1], Schakowsky, Janice “Jan” [D-IL9], Sherman, Brad [D-CA30], Slaughter, Louise [D-NY25], Tierney, John [D-MA6], Tonko, Paul [D-NY20], Tsongas, Niki [D-MA3], Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD8], Welch, Peter [D-VT0], Yarmuth, John [D-KY3], Fattah, Chaka [D-PA2], Fudge, Marcia [D-OH11], Michaud, Michael [D-ME2], Pallone, Frank [D-NJ6], Pingree, Chellie [D-ME1], Nadler, Jerrold [D-NY10], Hastings, Alcee [D-FL20], O’Rourke, Beto [D-TX16], Cartwright, Matthew [D-PA17], Napolitano, Grace [D-CA32], Norton, Eleanor [D-DC0], Ruiz, Raul [D-CA36], Schwartz, Allyson [D-PA13], Foster, Bill [D-IL11]
The Democrats are behind ALL of these bills.
The Dems want to be in control of every aspect of the financial lives of everyone in the world — Communism in everything but name.
Totalitarian Communism.
@Mark Twain:
This tells the whole story. Can only hope the Democrats lose the Senate next month – if not, the nightmare continues.
VERY good message from the delegation. VERY motivated. They are joining this at the same level we are—to persuade the masses that this is the right thing to do.
Attendance is the AARO profile—responsible savers in the upper age brackets.
Audience VERY animated, whilst under control.
Mike Lee is impressive.
Solomon let Mike Lee & James Bopp talk.
Mike Lee encouraged all participants to be vocal with their Congresspersons.
Message was very bipartisan. Definitely not partisan. Especially when questioned about their motives. They are VERY motivated based upon Constitutional principles and fair treatment of minorities.
James Bopp has been working upon this for 1.5 yrs.
Above is the report from the AARO reception of the Bopp Senator Mike Lee tour
@I Was There, when can we expect some concrete action to stop the damage?
i.e. start of the lawsuit.
The actions will be filed within 30-60 days of the finish of this 5 day tour. The audience asked the same question.
response James Bopp “I’m as serious as a heart attack”
@I Was There
Thanks for your account of the event. So likely filed after the next election. Voting Republican will involve a leap of faith if that’s the case. Remember how Obama talked the talk?
@bubblebustin – you mean the midterm elections, right? So if the Reps gain the Senate and don’t do what they promise re:FATCA, then there’s still time to slap their hands before the presidential election.
I guess so, GwEvil, but there’s so much I don’t like about the GOP that for me to give them a vote without anything concrete on their part to help us just bugs me.
These two guys were not seeking votes.
James Bopp is determined to stop unlawful and unconstitutional practices by litigation and other means. He stated that, even if the Senate should turn, any legislation on any of these issues would get vetoed and they would have not enough to go against it.
Senator Lee was there to promise his personal support to end these FBARs and FATCA unconstitutional practices. Senator Lee had no potential voters present (Utah) and isn’t up for election. He stated that in order for anything to happen it would require bipartisan action, especially with those Democratic party members that they work with on other issues.
They also need to gather support from whomever they work with. Primarily they need to educate their Senate colleagues as to how damaging this issue is.
There was an upper level Democrats abroad member there, who was implying or outright stating similar things. James Bopp asked him to work inside his party and to stop having his Democrats Abroad attacking RO’s efforts.
He also stated that if anybody has another method than the one they are pursuing, then they should indeed pursue it.
They asked for all participants to increase their efforts in educating their own Congresspersons and telling their Congresspersons that this issue will determine the way they vote.
The AARO leader volunteered to Senator Lee her personal connection with her own Democratic Senator
@I was there
Sounds good. I will ask my family members to donate to the Bopp lawsuit once I see that it has been launched. Until then I will continue donating myself and also to the Canadian lawsuit.
Sen Lee was contacted by his constituents about this issue—a large missionary population, and besides his background in Constitutional issues for all US citizens he is pursuing it in the interest of Utah.
@I Was There
This is very encouraging. Bi-partisan support of constitutional issues would go a long way.
@ I Was There. You prompted this tweet:
@SenMikeLee @LDSchurch @MORMONorg #FATCA is Anti Missionary – makes overseas accounts for missionaries too complex http://tiny.cc/ANTIFAMILY
@I was there
That makes a lot of sense. Utah is home to many Mormons which are known to have missionaries all over the world. So Mike Lee’s concerns about FATCA and FBAR are definitely genuine.
A piece of trivia — Mitt Romney is a former Mormon missionary.
https://www.facebook.com/republicansoverseas
Sen. Mike Lee and Mr. James Bopp Jr. made news at the Association of Americans Resident Overseas’ breakfast event in Paris yesterday:
As the only constitutional scholar in the U.S. Senate, Sen. Lee believes this Administration has used FATCA to target an underrepresented minority – 7.6 million overseas Americans as a new tax revenue source. He believes this is the case since their votes are not concentrated to elect a single Congressman or Senator. Even though those Americans can’t vote for him, he wants to vote for them by righting a wrong committed against them and by pulling FATCA out at its roots.
Sen. Lee is considering a three-pronged approach:
1) to have a congressional hearing regarding FATCA’s negative impact on overseas U.S. citizens and their foreign spouses,
2) to defund FATCA enforcement, and
3) to enlist bipartisan support to repeal FATCA legislatively in 2017, when the Republican Party controls the White House.
Sen. Lee encourages overseas Americans to look into AIPAC model to organize and to become a true political force on issues impacting them globally.
Mr. Bopp shared his Summary of FATCA Provisions Subject to Challenge with AARO members and encouraged them to help his FATCA lawsuit effort by donating at https://fatcalegalaction.com/. Mr. Bopp assured his audience that all contributions will be only used for FATCA legal challenge and building political support to repeal FATCA legislatively.
Thank you for the reports @ I Was There. This is a good step forward, I’d say. I would love to hear Sen. Lee and Mr. Bopp speaking. Was it recorded? Was John Richardson there too?