Category Archives: Issues regarding US persons abroad

New videos have been posted of the GMU seminar on FATCA with Jesse Eggert and Jim Jatras.

http://www.georgemasonjicl.org/fall-2012-symposium-videos/

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Why is Tina Turner switching from American to Swiss citizenship? The legendary singer, a longtime Zurich resident, told the Blick newspaper that she has been very happy in Switzerland and “can’t imagine a better place to live.” But some observers believe she may be one of thousands of American expatriates who have taken the drastic and irrevocable step of giving up their citizenship because of what they consider to be the unjust and discriminatory taxation practices of their government…

Read more: Time

Full Reciprocity Under FATCA Is a Work in Progress, IRS Official Says

ORLANDO, Fla.–Although the United States has committed to achieving reciprocity regarding the exchange of financial transaction information under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, domestic banks are not subject to the same reporting requirements as are their foreign counterparts, an Internal Revenue Service official said Jan. 25.

According to Ted Setzer, manager of IRS’s Large Business & International Division, although existing requirements on U.S. banks will provide other governments with similar information required of foreign banks under FATCA, “clearly existing U.S. rules don’t require U.S. financial institutions to provide the exact same information that a foreign institution has to under FATCA.”

“How we get to full reciprocity and how long it takes is something we’ll have to be working on.”

Ted Setzer, LB&I Division

Setzer made his comments during a session at the 2013 midyear meeting of the American Bar Association Section of Taxation on recently released implementing FATCA. [snip]

Responding to a question about reciprocity, Setzer said the United States had committed to such a concept. However, U.S. reporting rules for domestic banks “are what they are,” and do not require identification procedures identical to those required under FATCA, he said.

“How we get to full reciprocity and how long it takes is something we’ll have to be working on,” Setzer said.

I have a better solution lets FIRE Ted Setzer and strip him and his family of all US General Services Administration employee and retirement benefits.

The largest pension schemes in Hong Kong escape from Fatca after being judged to be low risk for tax evasion.

Hong Kong retirement funds to be exempt from Fatca

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – Ed. note: William Olenick has been active in Republicans Abroad in Switzerland, where he is a longtime resident. He sent the following email letter to friends 28 January; we reprint it in full as part of our coverage of the ongoing problems for US citizens in Switzerland.“Dear all,

Read the article below my comments and you will see why I also have my problems with the banks and I am tax compliant.

For the last 25 years I have been busting open nitch markets for American products, contributing to lowering the trade deficit, developing new markets for US producers, creating employment for my brethren back home, increasing the tax base where they live.

The only way to do this is to be on the ground in the countries you are selling.

In my case, my markets were Europe, North Africa and the Middle East so it made sense to set up a base of operations in Switzerland, as it was close to the markets, was a well run country, my wife happened to be Swiss, from a large, close-knit family, so it was a no brainer.

Two months ago my bank informed me that I could no longer make wire transfers to the states.

That being the case how will I pay my suppliers?
 
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On a somewhat lighter note, since we have Isaac as a mascot here, shouldn’t we have a caricature for our arch-nemisis?   Continue reading →

This just out from Steven Mopsick after a few week’s radio silence:

http://mopsicktaxlaw.blogspot.ch/2013/01/living-with-fatca-uncertainty-what.html

There is some interesting material in his post.   Calling all Brockers, please hammer the Mopsick site with comments and spread the link around as well as the link to this thread here at IBS.    Some quotes: Continue reading →

By Amy Feldman

NEW YORK | Mon Jan 28, 2013 3:25pm EST

(Reuters) – When Andrew Winfield applied to become a U.S. citizen in 2011, he realized he owed taxes on accounts he had left behind in his native England.

So he paid what he believed he owed — $2,800 in back taxes, plus the estimated interest and penalties – and entered the U.S. Internal Revenue Service’s overseas disclosure program.

But when the IRS assessed its penalty in November, Winfield was stunned to learn that it would be $28,000 — 10 times the amount of tax he owed from 2003 to 2010.

“My first reaction was: ‘There’s no way in hell I’m going to pay that,'” the 39-year-old Wake Forest, North Carolina, resident says. “It’s kind of crazy when you look at the numbers and compare the penalty to the $2,800 (in back taxes) due.”

The IRS has been aggressively seeking out taxpayers with offshore assets, asking them to come in on their own to avoid further prosecution and requiring foreign financial institutions to send information about American accounts.

But the voluntary disclosure programs have lumped together overseas Americans and immigrants with relatively small accounts and those trying to evade taxes by putting their money offshore….

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