This Is an Urgent Campaign to Repeal FATCA ALERT!
Support the Paul Amendment to Repeal FATCA!
November 29, 2017
This week the Senate version of the tax reform bill will come to the Senate
floor. The Campaign to Repeal FATCA has learned that Senator Rand Paul
(R-Kentucky) plans to offer as a floor amendment his bill S. 869 to repeal
the so-called “Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).
The Campaign to Repeal FATCA is asking everyone immediately to contact your
Senators with this simple message:
“Support the Paul Amendment to Repeal FATCA!”
You can find the contact information for your state’s two Senators
here. Given the partisan divide
in the Senate, it is especially important to contact Republican Senators. If
your state has one from each party, contact the Republican first!
Here is a suggested draft message you can use via the email contact. (NOTE:
If you are contacting a Democratic Senator, please delete the sentence in
red referring to the Platform.):
Dear Senator [Name]:
As your constituent, I strongly urge you to support the floor amendment to
be offered by Senator Rand Paul to repeal the so-called Foreign Account Tax
Compliance Act, or FATCA. Despite the claims of its sponsors when it was
passed in 2010, FATCA is a failure in its supposed aim to recover offshore
tax assets hidden by “fat cats.” Instead, it has imposed massive costs on
middle class Americans, violated Americans’ privacy without probable cause,
and led to a huge increase in U.S. citizenship renunciations. The 2016 GOP
Platform called for the repeal of this wrongheaded Obama-era law – and the
Republican Party should keep its promises! Please support the Paul Amendment
to repeal FATCA!
[Name, location]
In addition, if you represent an organization, please issue a statement in
support of the Paul Amendment to repeal FATCA and send it to Senate offices
and distribute via social media.
Time is of the essence. Thank you for your help at this critical moment!
Nigel Green and Jim Jatras
Co-Leaders, Campaign to Repeal FATCA
Further information points on why FATCA must be repealed follow:
The GOP called for repeal in its 2016 Platform. “The Foreign Account Tax
Compliance Act (FATCA) and the Foreign Bank and Asset Reporting Requirements
result in government’s warrantless seizure of personal financial information
without reasonable suspicion or probable cause. Americans overseas should
enjoy the same rights as Americans residing in the United States, whose
private financial information is not subject to disclosure to the government
except as to interest earned. The requirement for all banks around the world
to provide detailed information to the IRS about American account holders
outside the United States has resulted in banks refusing service to them.
Thus, FATCA not only allows ‘unreasonable search and seizures’ but also
threatens the ability of overseas Americans to lead normal lives. We call
for its repeal and for a change to residency-based taxation for U.S.
citizens overseas.”
FATCA fails in its stated purpose of recovering tax revenues. On enactment
in 2010, FATCA was scored as raising about $800M per year. According to
Texas A&M law professor William Byrnes, actual recoveries are closer to
$100-200M per year and falling. FATCA will soon cost more than it brings in.
FATCA is an indiscriminate violation of privacy. FATCA data reporting
requires no probable cause or even suspicion. Unlike domestic 1099s and W2s,
no taxable event is required. Compliance burdens fall disproportionately
upon people of moderate means, few of whom are engaged in evasion or owe any
tax. Foreign banks’ denying services to Americans leads to increased U.S
citizenship renunciations.
FATCA is costly. Estimates of global compliance spending rely on aggregation
of per-institution costs: millions for each small bank, hundreds of millions
for a big one. One projection puts cumulative cost at $58 to $170 billion.
This is an order of magnitude greater than any recoveries from FATCA.
FATCA relies on Obama-era Executive overreach. Because of other countries’
privacy laws, FATCA is unenforceable without so-called “intergovernmental
agreements” (IGAs) invented by Tim Geithner’s Treasury Department. The IGAs
are not authorized by statute or submitted to the U.S. Senate as treaties.
FATCA threatens our domestic financial industry. Reciprocal “Model 1” IGAs
promise “reciprocity” from U.S. domestic banks. This threatens massive
FATCA-like costs on U.S. banks and consumers.
Keeping FATCA on the books risks future harm. The OECD, which for years has
sought to extinguish personal financial privacy and create a worldwide
financial data fishbowl, has praised the IGAs as a “catalyst” to that end.
If FATCA remains on the books, the next Democrat Administration and Congress
may press reciprocity on domestic American financial firms to create a
global FATCA – or “GATCA.” This is the opposite of what the GOP Platform
promised.
Transparency is when citizens monitor government.
When government monitors citizens, that’s tyranny.
From RO Facebook;
“Unfortunately, the TTFI score was not included. Without JCT’s TTFI score, Sen. Heller’s two place-holder amendments cannot be moved to the Senate floor for debate and vote. Because Congress intends to pass tax reform using budget reconciliation (which imposes a limit on any increase in the budget deficit), no amendments without a JCT score can be included in the bill, and this, unfortunately, includes TTFI.”
Re: George (GB)’s comment: Is this, then, the end of our hopes for the adoption of SOME alternative to CBT? There are other ideas out there (including a notably bad one). Are they all dead?
I believe that RBT, TTFI and whatever else is over, not included, a done deal now. CNN currently reporting that the Senate plan will pass a vote. (I have no idea what the implications of that are, nor do I care. Presumably it will be disastrous for all except GOP donors, but whatever, it’s not my country.)
However, what is the status of Rand Paul’s amendment to repeal FATCA? That is still a separate vote, yes?
I’d be happy enough with that, to be honest. Kill FATCA and CBT becomes even more unenforceable; most of us would have even less reason to worry about non-compliance.
Prof William Byrnes has a blog post about the FATCA repeal amendment – it summarises the costs and benefits of FATCA. http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/intfinlaw/2017/12/will-fatca-be-repealed-today-senate-to-vote-this-afternoon.html
Here are the FATCA “benefits” and the costs according to William Byrnes (see link in the post by Karen, above).
Revenues:
“…the portion of the combined tax payments attributable solely to FATCA from income that would not otherwise have been reported from taxpayers who would not have been in compliance absent FATCA is a fraction of the OVDP, less than $300M and probably more realistically in the range of $100-200M and falling over time.”
IRS Costs:
“…a base of least $75M for FATCA activities is a conservative estimate of legacy annual FATCA spending, with the new projected total in the range of $200M, perhaps as high as $250M. This is only IRS costs and does not include damage to U.S. geopolitical interests through the forcing of FATCA and “intergovernmental agreements” upon foreign governments, with the industry costs associated therefrom more than $100 billion.”
Salamander: “How do I work out who my senator is? I am British-American and I have not lived in the USA since I was 8.”
Well, which state did you live in when you were 8? For US citizens who never lived in the USA, I believe your default residence is Washington DC. So you have no senators.
@Zla’od
I believe that an AmCit born abroad inherits the state citizenship of his/her parents. If they’re from different states, I don’t know how that works. As I recall, in the past it would have been the father’s but I’m sure that’s no longer operable. In any case, to send an email to Senators now you need an address in their state.
@Jim any updates on the Rand Paul amendment?
@Jim Jatras….does the GOP and Pres Trump fully understand that after today every renunciation will be on their watch?
They are about to grasp and fully own FATCA and CBT as their progeny.
@Jim Jatras, re;
“…I believe that an AmCit born abroad inherits the state citizenship of his/her parents. If they’re from different states, I don’t know how that works…..”
Only some states allow a US citizen ‘abroad’ who has never lived in the US to register to vote from abroad based on the last state in which a parent was registered or lived.
https://www.fvap.gov/citizen-voter/reside
That excludes many born abroad who have never lived in the US, or were born there but did not live there for some specified period of time. Or whose USC parent did not meet State specific specified US residence requirements.
So I would assume that there are many USCs ‘abroad’ who have not even a symbolic Senator or Representative to appeal to.
Re FATCA, the IRS has posted that they are calling for;
‘FATCA Forms User Group Solicitation’
“The IRS LB&I Division, in collaboration with Tax Forms and Publications, is soliciting members for a FATCA related Forms User Group (“User Group”) to serve in 2018. Statements of interest will be accepted through December 31, 2017.
As a part of our efforts to obtain a broad range of input from external stakeholders relating to key forms and instructions the User Group will provide feedback on the instructions for the Forms 8938, 8966, 1042-S, W-8BEN-E and W-8IMY, and the forms themselves, for Tax Year 2019. The IRS is looking to constitute a group of approximately 10-12 members who are representatives of the financial industry, gaming industry, and multinational corporations that are impacted by the requirements under FATCA. Members of IRPAC will be excluded since they receive the same materials and have an existing channel to provide feedback. The User Group will include IRS subject matter experts and their counsel.
We anticipate holding a kick-off meeting no later than February 2018 with a follow up meeting no later than late fall of 2018. These meetings will be scheduled around internal deadlines for updating forms and instructions in an effort to ensure enough time to evaluate all comments and suggestions received from the group.
Statements of Interest should be sent to: Email at fatcaformsusergroup@irs.gov.”
As usual though, the ‘stakeholders’ don’t include actual expats, accidentals, individual taxpayers, or expat advocate groups.
More BS.
You can be the compliance condor industrial complex will get in there to lobby for whatever they see as beneficial to themselves.
Re my comment above; the IRS is only soliciting membership and feedback from;”…a group of approximately 10-12 members who are representatives of the financial industry, gaming industry, and multinational corporations that are impacted by the requirements under FATCA…..”
Yeah, the banks, gambling and corporations. No interest in hearing from real ordinary people and family already paying taxes to the governments located where they actually live, work, and bank locally – outside the US.
@Badger……get with the program, why would they want to talk to us? We are simply trash as Keith Redmund sussed out correctly.
@George
The repeal provision did not get into the managers amendment. Still no word if there will be a floor vote.
I guess it’s not looking very good right now. Does the “manager” know that Fatca repeal was in the Republican party platform?
@Marie
That was certainly in the talking points Senator Paul sent out in support of his amendment.
@jim jatras
I hope the Republicans realize that the the planets have aligned. This is the best moment to make changes. I hope overseas Americans are not ignored. If it does not happen now, it probably never will.
@Jim, does the GOP not understand that they will OWN both FATCA and CBT after today?
Obama and the democrats will be laughing how they handed the problem to them.
There are now going to be renunciation hit pieces in the media where the renunciant is going to blame the GOP and blaming them for lying in the election.
I know of one particular teen (but a legal adult) who has been saving cash in a jar for the last several years not being able to open a bank account and that jar is the renunciation fee jar.
This particular teen did vote in the last election and supported Trump and the Republicans down ticket, they did a selfie of the federal absentee ballot.
This person has now made contact with the main street media who are chomping to take the photographs going into the embassy with the cash jar to renounce after voting for Trump.
The gloves are now off and the GOP is going to be skinned.
@George
No, really, they don’t own jack. Virtually nobody out there was thinking about FATCA, much less CBT. We had a shot that came up rather unexpectedly, we’ll have others. This ain’t over by a long shot.
If only Rand Paul had the guts to threaten a “No” vote on the tax bill unless his FATCA repeal amendment is included. From what I read, there are only 51 senators supporting the bill. He would have great leverage.
Well if the Republicans can’t fix FATCA and CBT, there’s really no good reason to delay things now. Let’s everybody roll up our sleeves and get to work on the impeachment!
Tax reform passes Senate. Sounds like no USP overseas issues included.
@Nonymous, who said: “Well if the Republicans can’t fix FATCA and CBT, there’s really no good reason to delay things now. Let’s everybody roll up our sleeves and get to work on the impeachment!”
Let me correct your statement:
“Well if the Republicans can’t fix FATCA and CBT, there’s really no good reason to delay things now. Let’s everybody roll up our sleeves and get to work on renunciation!”
Is there any other option now?
It passed the Senate , now conference with the House on the differences. IF THERE IS ANYONE WHO BELIEVES THIS IS TAX REFORM, I HAVE SOME OCEANFRONT LAND IN AZ I WILL SELL CHEAP. This is merely rearranging the deck chairs on a sinking ship (state). These criminals refuse to reform taxes. They simply take a bunch of things off so they can accept large campaign contributionf to add them back on. The loosers are the middle class who has no lobbyist and no check in the left hand nor did they or their representatives write the bill. This bill was authored by a ”K” Street lobbyist.
Apparently this is what passed the Senate https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/TAX%20SUBSTITUTE.pdf