FATCA Questions
Ask your questions about FATCA here.
This thread will be focused closely on renunciation questions and answers. If the conversation starts to ramble, those comments will be moved to another thread.
Related threads:
FATCA Discussion Thread for more general discussion of FATCA has opposed to specific questions and answers.
We were discussing Canada. As I mentioned earlier, Europe is a whole different kettle o’ fish.
Yet European banks are being accused here of supporting FATCA, through choice.
More than one post accusing people of being stupid for not using ID to open an account with something other than their ID card. Some seem to have forgotten that this forum is about all US citizens abroad, not just Canada.
A little empathy and understanding of the situation for others rather than ignorant accusations might go a long way, because otherwise you soon end up looking like your ignorant persecutors that sent people here in the first place.
Means and motive.
Means: European banks had records of citizenship and have always required ID showing birthplace. Canadian banks did not and still do not.
Motive: No idea why Canadian banks are so much less afraid of FATCA than European banks. History of Swiss banks being badly smacked perhaps, or fear of alienating large numbers of customers with US ties. Who knows?
Not sure where to ask — I cannot find the old information I think I had read here on the State Department Federal Credit Union. Interestingly, given that Belgium’s new tax laws are slowly but surely evolving towards total state control of everybody’s finances (starting in 2022 banks have to report balances of everybody’s accounts to a central unit that the finance ministry can access if they suspect fraud based on high balances — sounds like Biden’s plan cited above), I am thinking of opening another US account. I remember reading that the SDFCU was one of the only ones easily opened from abroad (if one is a member of, for instance, ACA). But online reviews are quite negative. I’d be grateful to have informed opinions… Thanks. And sorry for posting this in the wrong place…
@ Fred (B),
I moved your comment here on the FATCA questions thread.
Re: ” I cannot find the old information I think I had read here on the State Department Federal Credit Union.”
I found some comments about SDFCU on the Renunciation thread::
http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/renunciation/comment-page-318/#comment-8257842
http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/renunciation/comment-page-318/#comment-8257925
http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/renunciation/comment-page-318/#comment-8257954
The links don’t always work correctly for long threads. So, if the links land you on the wrong page, you can edit the address bar to read http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/renunciation/comment-page-342/#comments The first comment is timestamped 2018.06.03 at 4:30 am.
Thanks!
I’m having a problem auto-moving DogDude’s question from another thread to here, the FATCA Questions Thread, so I’m doing it manually:
DogDude says
October 27, 2022 at 2:30 pm
Ok so with fatca .. if one was discovered by the bank they use as a US persons. And they are a citizen of Canada whats the worse that can happen you don’t give them your info they shut your account down? You give them the info and keeps your account open.. but puts you on the radar. …. but then what can be done if they can’t collect if your a citizen of the other country and not just a US person with a account?
@DogDude
It’s a little hard to parse your question, so maybe more detail would help. What country are you in? Did the bank discover definitive proof of your US person status, or do they just suspect it based on US indicia (e.g. an old mailing address)?
If you refuse to confirm US person status or provide an SSN, some banks in some countries may close your account. it’s possible that they may also include you in their FATCA reporting for that year, as a “recalcitrant account-holder” – a lovely expression.
If you do provide your SSN, you will be subject to FATCA reporting. This is limited to your personal details, year-end balance and any interest/dividend income, for reportable accounts only (many types of registered investment account, like RRSP of TFSA in Canada, are excluded from reporting). Currently the IRS does not have the resources to proactively use FATCA data to find US persons abroad who are not compliant with US tax and FBAR filing requirements. So you’re not really on the radar in any meaningful way. And in the unlikely event that the IRS did figure out that you owed it money, as you point out, it has extremely limited ability to collect debts from US persons overseas. If you are a citizen in your country of residence, your assets cannot be touched by the US government (unless you are some sort or billionaire criminal oligarch, in which case you wouldn’t be looking for advice here).
Could someone confirm whether this piece of news is valid?…
[link removed]*
I don’t know what to make of it.
*[see next comment]
@Duality,
No it’s not. I removed the link because it’s on a site that sells AI services. Thanks for indicating you weren’t sure it was valid.
@pacifica777
Thank you for confirming this. It was too good to be true, hence why I came here first. There is so much misinformation on the Internet nowadays that we should all be vigilant.
Question…. I moved from the US permanently in the 1980s and live in Europe (where I have been naturalised and have two passports). Having renounced my US citizenship more than 10 years ago, I have had no difficulty entering or leaving the US (on an ESTA), on occasion since my renunciation. However, all of that was before Trump II. Would be very interested to hear what experiences others have had of enter8ng/leaving the US on an ESTA since Trump’s re-installation in the White House. Many thanks!
Please put replies on the Entering the US thread, http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/entering-the-us-thread