FATCA | TaxConnections

11 Oct 2017

FATCA’S Unintended Consequences – Feeding Corruption And Suppression Of Political Rivals

FATCA’s primary purpose was for the U.S. government to obtain otherwise private financial information and exercise control of the global financial industry. Unlike a conventional withholding tax which actually intends to collect tax, FATCA imposes penalties based upon non-compliance with tax.

The tax revenue projections, which were used to validate the passage of FATCA did not show FATCA raising any significant tax revenue annually. In fact, except for the extraordinary penalties assessed, little additional tax has been collected. In comparison to the annual on budget spending by the U.S. government, the actual amount of tax collected by FATCA is statistically insignificant.

Written by William Byrnes | Posted in FATCA

30 Aug 2017

Higher Court Decision Confirms – FATCA Is Here To Stay

The linchpin legislation of the U.S. government in its effort to combat tax evasion abroad over recent years has been the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Last week, the latest legal challenge to FATCA was thwarted when the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed a lower court’s decision to dismiss the case against FATCA.

Quick FATCA Background Read More

Written by Ephraim Moss | Posted in FATCA

11 May 2017

Establishing Same Country Exemption Through Legislation

The Maloney Approach

This is a continuation from a previous article, FATCA’s Same Country Exemption Won’t Work.

On April 25, 2017 Congresswoman Maloney introduced H.R. 2136: “To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide an exception from certain reporting requirements with respect to the foreign accounts of individuals who live abroad.”

Written by John Richardson | Posted in FATCA

10 May 2017

FATCA’s Same Country Exemption Won’t Work

Introduction: If you were to REPEAL FATCA

A previous post discussing the what exactly is meant by FATCA and the Mark Meadows “Repeal FATCA” bill, described:

FATCA is the collective effect of a number of specific amendments to the Internal Revenue Code which are designed to target both (1) Foreign Financial Institutions and (2) those “U.S. Persons” who are their customers.

Written by John Richardson | Posted in FATCA

05 May 2017

Tax Justice Network Finds The Necessary $70 Billion

Forgive the alarmist headline. But I just read Tax Justice Network (TJN)/ITEP defending FATCA again because it can raise $40 billion to $70 billion tax revenue a year for the U.S. Enough already. I hope that Tax Justice/ITEP are correct and that $70 billion a year remains to be recovered by the IRS from non-reported foreign income.

Written by William Byrnes | Posted in FATCA

02 May 2017

How Exactly Does The Meadow Bill Repeal FATCA?

(This blog is continued from a longer set of posts which you can find here: Part 1: Introducing FATCA – What Does It Mean In Your Life? and Part 2: FATCA: How Does The Meadows Bill Interact?)

I was asked to answer the question:

“What exactly would it mean to repeal FATCA?”

The short answer to the question is:

“We make FATCA go away by reversing all the changes to the Internal Revenue Code that collectively comprise FATCA.”

Written by John Richardson | Posted in FATCA

27 Apr 2017

FATCA: How Does The Meadows Bill Interact?

(This is a continuation of a previous post by John Richardson titled, “Introducing FATCA – What Does It Mean In Your Life?” It gives a great summary of FATCA and leads directly into this article.)

First, About the FATCA legislation …

2012 – The world according to FATCA – For the compliance industry: “The Gift That Just Keeps on Giving.”

Written by John Richardson | Posted in FATCA

25 Apr 2017

Introducing FATCA – What Does It Mean In Your Life?

Be patient. Settle in for the ride. Historians will write much about the role FATCA played in eroding America’s role as a world power.

There is no legislative record which explains the purpose of FATCA. FATCA appeared as an “offset provision” in the HIRE Act which was signed into law by President Obama in March of 2010. Some claim that FATCA was for the purpose of preventing Homeland Americans from “stashing their wealth” in unreported “foreign bank accounts” outside the United States.

Written by John Richardson | Posted in FATCA

10 Apr 2017

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 William Byrnes | Posted in Common Reporting Standard • Common Reporting Standards • Exchange of Information • FATCA

21 Mar 2017

FATCA Inquisition For Canadians Applying For Life Insurance

Sad but true. It’s quite understandable that from a “U.S. Worldview” that a life insurance policy is nothing but a “sacred instrument of tax deferral” (and therefore of tax evasion). U.S. citizens are the most highly regulated people in the world. As such it is no surprise that the possible purchase of life insurance could trigger FATCA scrutiny. (In that “Shining city on the hill” those who purchase life insurance are clearly “up to no good” – “no good at all!”)

Written by John Richardson | Posted in FATCA

14 Dec 2016

“Accidental Americans” Caught In A Kafkaean Trap

This article was passed along to us and was originally printed in French for the French magazine L’obs. Due to its dealings with FATCA, we decided to post it for you.

A recent US tax law requires all nationals to report their income. Those who were born by chance in the United States like Fabien live a nightmare.

Written by Kat Jennings | Posted in FATCA • International

30 Nov 2016

Ending FATCA: Keith Redmond On The Harm Of FATCA And Universal Tax Jurisdiction

For this blog post, we bring an interview with Keith Redmond, a Multi-Cultural Global Management Executive working with cross cultural issues for over 20 years, who is currently the International Senior Consultant at Leaders Across Borders.

Keith is an American overseas, based in France. He has strong views about the harm of FATCA unfairly punishing a large group of Americans who are living overseas. He is fighting for these views by testifying in Congress in January.

Written by Keith Redmond | Posted in Expatriate • FATCA • International