Trouble in Canada, Latest Commentaries in the U.S. and Abroad
James George Jatras
The following went out by email distribution list tonight, and thought I would post it here for all to see and link to for your own posts or tweets.
Tag Archives: FATCA
Huff Post: American Expat Taxpayers Would Rather Ditch Citizenship Than Face New IRS Rules
Another Huffington Post article out last night on Expats and renouncing. This is the 3rd in a very short period of time. I only had time for couple short comments late last night in reply to someone else. I am off this tomorrow for an across state trip, and won’t be back to Seattle until late last night for more responses. I am re-posting this from a comment I made earlier for better visibility. Hope others can weigh in. I see Eric has made 3 comments before I went to bed, and I see some others in a quick peruse this AM. Got to run.
American Expat Taxpayers Would Rather Ditch Citizenship Than Face New IRS Rules
Fatca faces delay after bilateral disagreements
From Financial News, a DowJones news website:
October 26, 2012
Sophie Baker, “Fatca faces delay after bilateral disagreements”
The Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act, or Fatca, was due to be introduced from next year but, according to a notice published on the IRS website on Wednesday, the deadlines have been pushed back. The original 2013 deadline for financial institutions to put compliance procedures in place has been delayed until January 2014.
More:
Americans Who Leave the Country To Avoid High Taxes? Huh?
Another story in Business Insider. The headline is mis-characterized and that is too bad.
It comes to us via the Blaze, which means few progressives will give it much attention. They should!
Headline: In Last Night’s Debate, No One Discussed The Americans Who Leave the Country To Avoid High Taxes
I also posted it as a comment on the WSJ article here.
The story prompted the usual “Don’t let the Door Hit you in the ass” type comment, and I posted a response. Others are welcome to join in. Educating those poor ignorant Homelanders by one comment at a time is hard work, but we need to be persistent, IMHO
WSJ: Wary Swiss Banks Shun Yanks
Tim alerted me to this article at the Wall Street Journal, and I think it merits the attention of a post. It was well written by Anita Greil, with assistance from Laura Saunders who I have communicated with via email in the past.
I would recommend reading the story and adding your comment as Roger and I have. You will notice that this story has a lot of named sources and quotes. It is not just anonymous references. That makes for a much more personal and effective story that resonants with readers, I think. It makes harder to just dismiss. It is early yet, and I see the comments are already up to 81.
Washington Rep. Reichert questions IRS regarding FATCA IGAs
I think we have a new Hall of Fame candidate. I had not heard Representative Reichert’s name mentioned before in connection with FATCA concerns, but this post caught my attention yesterday. I thought it merited a ‘call out’ rather than just a comment on another thread. I have alerted ACA that we have a sympathetic ally that we should reach out to.
In early October, Ways and Means member David Reichert, R-Wash, raised several issues and questions regarding FATCA implementation in a letter sent to IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman. In the letter, Rep. Reichert appears to question the process and authority of the Executive branch to enter into intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) absent Congressional oversight:
Further, Rep. Reichert states that Congress must understand how the implications of these IGAs combined with FATCA could specifically impact the following:
US persons living abroad — the degree to which US persons, US companies and their foreign affiliates are increasingly unable to access normal financial services while living or working abroad, the disparate effect this may have on them in comparison with their compatriots at home, and the potential impact on US corporations’ ability to build export-led business caused by the potential difficulty in finding US persons prepared to accept the significant additional tax and personal financial burdens that a foreign posting to generate export sales may increasingly involve.
You can read the actual letter from his web site. BTW, notice his Issaquah Office which probably contains a lot of Microsoft employees! That tells me something. This might be a fertile area for FATCA discontent.
Update Oct 23. Here is the canned type of IRS response I would expect he will receive. It will contain these points, like the one Senator Rand Paul received.
Korean Americans withdraw funds from South Korean banks for fear of FATCA, FBAR penalties
With all the focus on American emigrants’ issues here at the Isaac Brock Society, it’s worth remembering that Doug Shulman’ whale-hunting efforts are also ruining the lives of immigrant minnows who keep some assets in their home countries. A major South Korean business newspaper reported earlier this month that some Korean Americans with accounts at South Korean banks are closing those accounts for fear of ridiculous IRS fines. I’ve been busy so I’m just getting around to translating this now.
European banks shut Americans out over U.S. FATCA tax rules
@CanuckDoc found this story and suggests that it should be given a separate post, as it is a mainstream story about Banks shutting out Americans Abroad.
The story was originally posted at USA Today and then picked up at ABC News. It will be interesting to watch today to see if it starts showing up elsewhere. It it ever gets discussed on Brian Williams NBC nightly news, so my 86 year old mother sees it, you will know the story finally came back to the homeland! I don’t expect to hear or see it there, however.
US Treasury now negotiating with at least 40 countries for FATCA tax information-sharing pacts
From Sept 13 Reuters article:
In February, in the face of industry complaints, the U.S. Treasury Department said some countries could comply by collecting required financial data from their home-country institutions and forwarding it to the United States.
Initially, Treasury said that France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom would be allowed to take this “intergovernmental approach.” Japan and Switzerland were later added to that list under a different model.
The UK on Friday became the first country to finalize a tax information-sharing pact with the United States under FATCA.
The U.S.-UK agreement, pending approval by Parliament, spares UK banks, funds and other financial companies from reporting client information directly to the United States.
Treasury is now negotiating with at least 40 countries for FATCA tax information-sharing pacts, tax lawyers said.
A Treasury FATCA negotiating team is scheduled to meet with foreign financial businesses on Thursday in Paris and on September 26 in Singapore on tax information exchanges.
Bilateral agreements to implement FATCA are “a workaround,” said Mark Matthews, a lawyer at Caplin & Drysdale and former head of the criminal investigation division at the Internal Revenue Service.
Source:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/18/us-usa-tax-facta-idUSBRE88H15X20120918
Note: Caplin & Drysdale, mentioned above, is home to Scott D. Michel and H. David Rosenbloom, who have written important articles on FATCA. Michel has also testified before the Canadian House of Commons Finance Committee on tax related issues.
Australia and FATCA
From the Government of Australia Treasury:
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) was enacted by the United States Congress in March 2010. It is intended to assist US efforts to improve compliance with US tax laws and will impose certain due diligence and reporting obligations on foreign (non-US) financial institutions.
In response to concerns about the impact of these obligations on Australian financial institutions and the Australian economy as a whole, the Australian Government is exploring the feasibility of an intergovernmental agreement with the US. The objective of such an agreement would be to minimise compliance costs for Australian stakeholders while enhancing the existing tax cooperation arrangements between Australia and the US.
Source: Intergovernmental agreement to implement FATCA
