If you’re an American expat in Taiwan, or an immigrant from Taiwan living in the U.S., or even a former immigrant who went back to Taiwan after you got your green card or U.S. passport, look out: your bank in Taiwan wants to sell you and your kids down the river in order to cut their costs of complying with FATCA. Here’s two recent items of coverage from Taiwan newspapers that I’ve translated into English. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Banking Problems
How would you challenge FATCA if you were a world leader?
As “US persons” abroad there is one thing that we all have in common: we are all vulnerable to the US government and subject to the whims of politicians and a tax code from a distant foreign country, who do not represent us as overseas citizens yet still subject us to their laws as if we lived there. Many of our own countries are busy lining up to sell us out (“us” being dual citizens and “US person” permanent residents) as quickly as they can to the US government.
Are China, Russia, the EU and Switzerland poised to give in to FATCA?
The news of a deal between the 5 major EU governments and the US regarding FATCA came as a major shock to many, including myself, last week. I have now come across news that the EU, now bolstered by the US drive to implement FATCA, has on its agenda to really join US pressure and try to “break Switzerland” as I like to say. On the forums I have also come across posts which have implied that Russia and China are probably not going to resist FATCA either. See everything below.
European Deal could double the pressure on Switzerland with the EU joining the US in violating Swiss sovereignty:
New Debate on Swiss TV
Again for those of you that understand French or that do not mind making sense of translation tool outputs, please find here a link for tomorrow night’s live debate on Swiss bank secrecy and US attempts to weaken it: http://www.infrarouge.ch/ir/1887-banquiers-suisses-tricheurs The debate will be available for view on the tsr.ch website by at least Wednesday night. Please feel free to enroll on the site and post your comments straightaway, (even in English— I have seen at least one comment in English accepted and displayed on the site).
FATCA, Place of Birth in Passports & Second Class Citizenship
My place of birth has begun to bother me more than ever with the systematic rise in discrimination of those with US birth places, clearly obvious for all to see the moment that you open your passport, by banks and other financial institutions due to FATCA. Yes, that horrible component of your personal data that, along with your name and date of birth, allows you to be systematically categorised and cataloged. For many, where you were born also happens to be where you grew up and where you most identify with. Many are born, live and die in the same city their entire lives and come from families that go back generations in the same city as well. Some of my French friends have even told me that an unwritten rule in Paris is that you need to be no less than the 5th generation to be born and raised in the city to be a real “Parisian”.
US tax policy, FATCA, FBAR criticized on a Swiss website: the embarrassment of the United States — English translation of the open letter
I would encourage anyone here who has the time to post responses on the TSR Infrarouge website in order to fuel the debate and increase awareness amoung the Swiss of how bad the situation is:
http://www.infrarouge.ch/ir/thread-364069-suisse-protege-assez-peuple-contre
