Archive for Common Reporting Standard

So You Have Received A Bank Letter Asking You About Your Tax Residence For Common Reporting Standards (CRS) Or Foreign Accounting Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Part 4

John Richardson - Part IV

Part F – A “U.S. citizen” cannot use a “tax treaty tie breaker” to break U.S. “tax residence”. How then does a “U.S. citizen” cease to be a “U.S. tax resident”?

  1. I am a U.S. citizen. I do not live in the United States. I live in Canada. I am a Canadian citizen. How do I stop being subject to the all of the FBAR and other reporting rules, tax rules (including PFIC),  life restrictionsand inability to effectively invest and plan for retirement imposed by the Internal Revenue Code?
  2. Yourelinquish U.S. citizenship. Please note that a “renunciation” is one form of “relinquishment”. In general, the date of relinquishment of U.S. citizenship is more important than the form of relinquishment of U.S. citizenship. A Certificate of Loss of Nationality (“CLN”) may or may not (depending on the date of relinquishment) be necessary to cease to be subject to U.S. taxation.
  3. In simple terms, where do I get information about the process of renouncing U.S. citizenship?
  4. You can start here.
  5. What are the tax consequences of relinquishing or renouncing U.S. citizenship?
  6. The Internal Revenue Code describes the tax consequences of relinquishing/renouncing U.S. citizenship. See Internal Revenue Code S. 877A (the “Exit Tax” rules).

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So You Have Received A Bank Letter Asking You About Your Tax Residence For Common Reporting Standards (CRS) Or Foreign Accounting Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Part 3

John Richardson - Part III On FATCA AND CRS

Part E – Oh My God! I think I might be a “tax resident” of two countries – What is a “tax treaty tie breaker”? How does a “tax treaty” tie breaker work?

  1. I am a U.S. citizen and a “tax resident” of Canada who actually lives in Canada and not the United States. Can I use the “tax treaty” to become a “tax resident” of only Canada?
  2. Absolutely, positively NOT. U.S. citizens CANNOT use a tax treaty to break “tax residence” with the United States.The reason is that almost all U.S. tax treaties includes what is called a “savings clause“. The purpose of the “savings clause” is two-fold:

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So You Have Received A Bank Letter Asking You About Your Tax Residence For Common Reporting Standards (CRS) Or Foreign Accounting Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Part 2

Part B – The Combined FATCA/CRS Letter

This letter is particularly worrisome for Canadian residents (whether Canadian citizens or not) who were either born in the United States or are (otherwise) U.S. citizens or U.S. permanent residents (AKA Green Card Holders). Could this mean that they would be required to apply for a U.S. Social Security number?

What follows is a sample of a letter …

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How The U.S. Can Leverage FATCA Bilateral Process

TaxConnections Member Professor William Byrnes examines whether it is prudent for taxpayers to trust the governments of the 117 countries that scored a fifty or below on Transparency International’s corruption index. The complete information system invoked by the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) encourages, even prolongs, the bad behavior of black hat governments by providing fuel (financial information) to feed the fire of corruption and suppression of rivals. Professor Byrnes recommends that the United States leverage a “carrot-stick” policy tool to incentivize bad actors to adopt best tax administration practices.

Article download at https://ssrn.com/abstract=2916444

Written by | Posted in Common Reporting Standard • Common Reporting Standards • Exchange of Information • FATCA