Liberty and justice for all United States persons abroad

The Isaac Brock Society

Category Archives: Issues regarding US persons abroad

FACT FINDING FORUM ON FACTA

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Saturday, December 15, 2012

11:00 noon – 6:00 p.m. (doors will open at 10:00 a.m.)

University of Toronto – Victoria College – Victoria College Building – Room 115

Here are the details:

  • The Progressive Canadian Party is sponsoring this event.
  • The Fact Finding Conference has been convened in response to the November 8, 2012 announcement from the Department of Finance that they are seeking input on FATCA.
  • The Progressive Canadian Party is seeking the views, experiences and contributions of Canadians for the purposes of its submission.
  • Speakers will include Jim Jatras of Squire Sanders;
  • and Professor Allison Christians, H. Heward Stikeman Chair in Tax Law at the McGill University Faculty of Law.

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Accountants to Taiwan: “All the cool kids are snorting coke and jumping off bridges, why aren’t you?”

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The tax-industrial complex continues its efforts to promote lifetime employment and ever-rising salaries for tax consultants. Today they’ve turned their efforts towards Taiwan, whose governing officials have recently shown an alarming outbreak of insufficient zeal for kowtowing to Washington’s divide-and-conquer FATCA strategy. Two Deloitte accountants take time out of their busy schedules of helping large companies “optimise” their tax burdens in order to encourage these wayward souls back on to the straight and narrow.

肥咖協商進度
我輸日星韓		 FATCA negotiations progress: our country losing to Japan, Singapore, South Korea
http://money.chinatimes.com/news/news-content.aspx?id=20121129000119&cid=1209
2012-11-29 01:21
《工商時報》記者張國仁		 29 November 2012, 01:21
Commercial Times reporter Chang Kuo-jen
美國總統歐巴馬連任成功，美國打擊美國人海外逃稅動作加快，預計今年底前將與約50個國家完成簽訂政府間協定或協商，遵守外國帳戶稅收遵從法（FATCA） 規定，而我國應對性不足，迄無任何具體行動，金融業界擔心受罰憂心忡忡。 With U.S. president Obama’s re-election, the U.S.’ attack on overseas tax evasion by Americans is picking up speed, and it is forecast that by the end of the year it will conclude the signing of intergovernmental agreements or negotiations with more than fifty countries regarding compliance with Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act regulations. However, our country is not being responsive enough, and up to now has not taken any concrete action, leaving the finance industry worried that it will be penalised.

 
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Truth in Advertising

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I see that the House has finally passed a bill that would automatically grant green card status to anyone foreign graduate of an American university whose degree is in one of the so called S.T.E.M. (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) disciplines. Now given the strident attitude that the Congress has displayed towards any U.S. person who voluntarily gives up citizenship and their accusations of “traitor”.  It really makes you wonder how these Congressmen/women would view a person from another country who would so easily be seduced to take up permanent residence in America?

Don’t these people owe something to their country of birth that is just as deep as what it is claimed a U.S. person owes to the U.S.?  It should be noted that these foreign students can in no way be accused of being “ungrateful” to the U.S. government, since many of them have actually paid a hefty sum for the priviliege of attending a U.S. educational institution. There are actually some U.S. educational institutions that would not be able to survive if it weren’t for their foreign students. Many top U.S. universities have programs that actively court foreign students.

Will the U.S. Congress also attach to these green cards a full disclosure document detailing the very unique tax obligations that are a part of becoming a U.S. person?  Are these people simply expected to “know” about Pub. 54 and the other IRC’s?

Thankfully the article says that passage of this bill is not likely and I hope that the author is right.  The idea that America should go about topbankinfo.ru poaching students from other countries- some of those countries being poor countries- would be another new low for American exceptionalism.

http://news.yahoo.com/house-votes-offer-advanced-degree-visas-192517799.html;_ylt=A2KJjb0TfLtQoxMAy0DQtDMD

FATCA: Obama’s New Year surprise against American expats

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“In Ernest Hemingway’s reminiscence A Movable Feast, one gets a glimpse of life among American expatriate artists and writers living and having adventures in Paris during the Roaring 20s. Today, American expats live all over the world – having adventures in Africa, creating art in Berlin, helping children in Cambodia, discovering ancient spirituality in India, and starting businesses in Tianjin. But all this may soon come to an end.”

Will FATCA mark the end of American global migration?

http://www.examiner.com/article/fatca-obama-s-new-year-surprise-against-american-expats

Travelling to the US while renunciation is in progress

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If you have a non-U.S. travel document with a U.S. birthplace, you may face trouble entering U.S. territory unless you can demonstrate that you’re no longer a U.S. citizen. But the State Department might take more than a year from the time of your final visit to the consulate to give you a CLN. Worse yet, there’s always the possibility that they’ll find some legally dubious reason to “reject” your renunciation. So would-be former U.S. Persons could be stuck for a long period as “Schrödinger citizens” — neither citizens nor non-citizens, with no proof whatsoever of your status.

Which leads to the question: what if you need to go to the U.S. while you’re stuck in this limbo? Eido Inoue, who comments here on occasion, just wrote a post about this very topic:

For Americans, there is a time when you apply for relinquishment of your U.S. citizenship and you send your U.S. passport to the State Department for processing. However, as you as still technically a U.S. citizen until the U.S. State Department has issued you a CLN (Certificate of Loss of Nationality), you are issued a letter from the embassy explaining that you are in the process and your U.S. passport is in possession of the State Department. This letter is solely for travel to the United States, and America requires those who are U.S. nationals to use their U.S. passport when travelling to/from the United States, regardless of what other passports or nationalities you may possess.

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India and FATCA

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The government [of India] has asked the Reserve Bank of India to draft an agreement that Delhi can sign with Washington to shield Indian financial institutions from a controversial US legislation,which seeks to penalise entities that fail to report dealings of American residents to the US revenue authority

Full article:

Times of India

FATCA FEAR
RBI to Work on Pact to Counter US Law Impact

Central bank to draft agreement that Delhi can sign with Washington

DEEPSHIKHA SIKARWAR NEW DELHI

The government has asked the Reserve Bank of India to draft an agreement that Delhi can sign with Washington to shield Indian financial institutions from a controversial US legislation,which seeks to penalise entities that fail to report dealings of American residents to the US revenue authority.The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act,due to come into force from January 1,proposes a 30% withholding tax on any payment made to a foreign financial institution by a US firm if it does not comply with the regulation.We are examining as to how we need to deal with it… RBI will prepare a draft of an enabling domestic legislation, a finance ministry official told ET.The FATCA,enacted in 2010 as part of the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act,aims to combat tax evasion by US nationals holding investments in offshore accounts.It is seen as advancement over the antimoney laundering framework put in place by the Financial Action Task Force,a global body tasked with curbing money laundering.Under the provisions of the new law,US taxpayers holding financial assets outside the country must report those assets to the revenue authorities.The law also requires foreign financial institutions to report directly to the US Internal Revenue Service details of accounts held by US taxpayers or foreign entities in which US taxpayers hold a substantial ownership interest.Any entity failing to register will face a higher witholding tax rate from all US firms that they deal with.The law will pose a similar challenge to Indian financial institutions.Indian entities may need to intensify the know your customer (KYC) requirements and also register with American tax authorities individually if there is no bilateral agreement among the two countries.They will need to undertake prescribed identification exercise for US taxpayers and report annually to the US revenue authorities.Experts say the Indian governments move is in the right direction.Any Indian financial institutions dealing with a US resident directly or indirectly will have to ensure compliance with FATCA … Entering into agreement with US authorities on individual basis may prove cumbersome for institutions, said Anish Thacker,partner (tax and regulatory services) at Ernst & Young.However,experts point out that norms under the Foreign Exchange Management Act also mandate stringent KYC norms.The existing restrictions under FEMA significantly reduce exposure of Indian financial institutions to FATCA, said Shinjini Kumar,director at PwC.She,however,said lack of clarity in the law makes it difficult to ascertain the exact impact on Indian financial institutions.

http://mobileet.timesofindia.com/mobile.aspx?article=yes&pageid=9&sectid=edid=&edlabel=ETKM&mydateHid=27-11-2012&pubname=Economic+Times+-+Kolkata&edname=&articleid=Ar00901&publabel=ET