FATCA | TaxConnections

25 Oct 2017

Testimony: Letter From Father To Senate On FATCA Regarding Disabled Son

Attention House Ways and Means Committee Members:

I am sending you this submission not as a person who is still a U.S. citizen nor as a person who is attempting to in any way regain his U.S. citizenship. Rather I am sending this to represent the interest of my disabled son who is a U.S. citizen and who is denied the right to renounce his U.S. citizenship because of his disability.

Not only is he not permitted to renounce his citizenship, but I am not permitted to renounce for him because U.S. law requires that the person renouncing be able to understand the gravity of the act. All of which I find rather ironic because while U.S. law requires such understanding when it comes to renouncing, it does not require the same level of understanding when it comes to tax liabilities. This clearly shows how self serving the law is for the U.S. government.

Written by John Richardson | Posted in FATCA

24 Oct 2017

Dear Son: A Letter On FATCA From A Concerned Father

Dear Son,

Words cannot express how proud I am to watch you receive your diploma. Today marks the end of one chapter in your life and the beginning of another. Seize the day, or as Spock from Star Trek would say, ‘go forth and prosper.’

Last night was a celebration, with everybody talking about careers. Yet it will be your family, friends, and personal relationships that will be most important to you. Never confuse having a career with having a life.

On that note, I would like you to consider your citizenship.

Written by John Richardson | Posted in FATCA

20 Oct 2017

Testimony: Businessman Abroad Affected By FATCA

To Whom It May Concern:

Thank you for the opportunity to comment to the Committee. Under normal circumstances I would introduce myself however, given present circumstances, I cannot as my status as a US Person, is being reviewed by the State Department at my request to validate my relinquishing acts in the early 1970’s.

I am a Canadian citizen, registered as a Canadian born abroad at birth, in the United States while my Canadian parents completed their post graduate education in the United States.

If you are unaware, with the exception of the United States, it is not a good thing to be considered a US Person (a newly coined status) for tax purposes, if you live outside the U.S. It is not a good thing to have any U.S. indicia at all. Who am I?

Written by John Richardson | Posted in FATCA

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

27 Sep 2017

FBAR Reporting For U.S. Expats With A Foreign Business

FBARs (Foreign Bank Account Reports) have been a filing requirement for Americans with financial accounts overseas that meet the criteria since the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970. It has only been enforced for the last few years however, since the 2010 Foreign Account tax Compliance Act (FATCA) obliged foreign financial institutions to pass details about their American account holders to the IRS. Currently around 300,000 foreign banks and other financial firms are doing this. Read More

Written by Hugo Lesser | Posted in Expatriate

29 Aug 2017

Understanding U.S. Federal Taxes For American Expats

The USA is almost unique in taxing U.S. citizens even when they live abroad. This means that expats who earn over $10,000 ($10,300 for 2016, to be precise, or just $400 of self-employment income) are required to file a U.S. federal tax return, regardless of where their income originates, or whether they are also paying taxes elsewhere.

While expats still have to pay any U.S. tax they may owe by April 15th, they have until June 15th to file, with a further extension available on request to October 15th. Read More

Written by Hugo Lesser | Posted in Expatriate

09 Aug 2017

13 Reasons Why I Committed Citizide

In a recent submission to Senator Hatch, I argued that what the United States thinks of as “citizenship-based taxation”, is actually a system where the United States imposes U.S. taxation on the residents and citizens of other countries. That submission included:

On August 2, 2017 posts at the Isaac Brock Society and numerous other sources, reported that that there were 1759 expatriates reported in the second quarter report in the Federal Register. The number of people renouncing U.S. citizenship continues to grow. Read More

Written by John Richardson | Posted in Citizenship

25 Jul 2017

The Dual Citizen Exception To The Exit Tax

According to Treasury Department numbers, 2016 broke the record for annual U.S. citizenship renunciations with a grand total of 5,411 renunciations. As we’ve noted previously, possible reasons for the increase in renunciations include the global strengthening and influence of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”) and President Trump’s election victory (the “Trump bump”). Read More

Written by Ephraim Moss | Posted in Exit Tax

29 Jun 2017

Will The IRS Streamlined Procedure For Expats Be Revoked?

For decades, U.S. expats lived in peace, beyond the reach of the American tax system, despite being theoretically obligated to file U.S. taxes on their worldwide income from abroad by American’s citizenship based taxation regime.

Then came FATCA, the 2010 Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. Designed to address tax evasion in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, FATCA requires all foreign banks and investment firms to provide details of their American account holders to the IRS. Read More

Written by Hugo Lesser | Posted in Expatriate

22 Jun 2017

IRS Crackdown And The Future Of Tax Amnesty Programs

With the recent heavy focus on Congress and the Trump’s administration’s tax reform proposals, it can be easy to forget that the IRS continues to proactively crackdown on offshore tax evasion. Read More

Written by Ephraim Moss | Posted in IRS

22 Jun 2017

U.S. Expatriates Guide To Living In Greece

Living in Greece is an incredible experience for a number of reasons, including the friendly locals, the culture, history, architecture, climate, beaches and islands, not to mention easy access to the rest of Europe. As an American expatriate living in Greece though, what exactly do you need to know regarding filing U.S. expat (and Greek) taxes? Read More

Written by Hugo Lesser | Posted in International

21 Jun 2017

U.S. Expat Mistakes: Part I

United States is one of the few countries in the world in its Citizen-Based-Taxation format. This means that no matter where you live, you need to be current on your U.S. tax filing if you are a U.S. Citizen or Green Card Holder. You are known as an Expatriate or Expat (for short) if you are a U.S. citizen or green card holder living outside the United States. Read More

Written by Manasa Nadig | Posted in Expatriate