Breaking News! Reuters is reporting IRS Is Delaying Key FATCA Dates.
According to this, FIs now have until January 1, 2014 to have procedures in place for reporting.
I’m a bit confused. I thought it was already that FIs did not have to report until January 2014, but they must advice IRS by January 1, 2013 if they will comply. Can anyone clarify that for me? Tim?
Also, FIs now are not required to withhold until 2017. The longer this is pushed back the greater chance we have of fighting this. As Flaherty said recently, delay is not enough.
Monthly Archives: October 2012
US Treasury Response on Reciprocity/FATCA May Harm Expats and Exports
Just Me is a phenomenal source of information on Twitter (where he is known at @FATCA_Fallout). In fact, in Best Links For Citizenship-Based Taxation/Renunciation/FUBAR on Victoria’s blog, she says this about Just Me:
One person can make a difference, especially when that person has the persistence of a pit bull.
I’m glad the pit bull is growling on our side.
Today, on Twitter, Just Me posted a link to Treasury Response on Reciprocity (editor’s note: this link requires a lexis nexis account) from Tax Times. Just Me tweeted:
Treasury doesn’t understand why reciprocity of FATCA is not the same for foreign Residents vs US Expats.
I don’t usually disagree with Just Me, but I do on this–a bit. I think Treasury understands quite well the difference. They just think United States of Arrogance has right to more invasive information than other countries.
Just Me also posted a link to an article from Global Connections on how FATCA May Harm Expats or US Exports.
This says:
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service’s determination to implement dizzying new rules to trace foreign bank accounts held but not declared by American citizens could have a profoundly chilling effect on American businesses looking to expand beyond the borders, experts say.
Is anyone listening? The fact FATCA is not even mentioned on the campaign trail or in debates gives us the answer to that question.
FATCA: The Death of the American Economy
I’ve never heard of Adam Bilzerian or The Bilzerian Report, but this guy understands FATCA: The Death of the American Economy.
Mr. Bilzerian predicts
On January 1, 2013, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) will go into effect, thereby causing the greatest exodus of capital from the American economy in history.
He gives numbers from Washington Post to support his position:
Richard Rahn of the Washington Post writes that FATCA will risk causing the exodus of up to $14 trillion dollars of capital from the American market and could cost well over 10,000,000 jobs.
Mr. Bilzerian also understands problems faced by countries such as Canada where #FATCA violates laws:
This puts the banks in these jurisdictions in the precarious position of deciding whether to abandon the US jurisdiction altogether or break the law in their home country.
So, Mr. Bilzerian asks what is the benefit:
Surely the benefits of this legislation must be significant to warrant such tremendous risk, right? The answer of course is no, because as with most things coming out of Washington these days, logic and rationality have no bearing on the decision-making process. So while the government officials responsible for FATCA estimate that the legislation will bring in about $800 million in additional revenue per year, almost all relevant experts estimate that FATCA stands to cost American taxpayers billions. The implementation alone will require hundreds, if not thousands, of new IRS agents, with the administrative capacity to match. Then there is the private sector, which will have to spend hundreds of millions of dollars re-organizing their entire operations just to comply with the legislation.
Finally, Mr. Bilzerian concludes:
With lunacy like this becoming commonplace in Washington, is it any wonder why wealthy Americans are renouncing their citizenships in record-breaking numbers?
He doesn’t mention it is not only wealthy Americans. It is middle class Americans just trying to live a normal life outside of US.
Unfortunately, Mr. Bilzerian does not seem to write for the mainstream media and no one in Washington is interested in listening.
Congratulations Sir Isaac Brock. Coin Issued
I just posted congratulations from Maple Sandbox at Isaac Brock Society on the occasion of the “Hero of Upper Canada” having a commemorative coin issued in his name.
By working together with modern-day Brockers, I hope we can be as successful as resisting the 2012 American invasion into Canada as Sir Isaac was in 1812.
Roseanne Barr for President
If you are able to vote in US elections, you may want to Vote for Roseanne.
I don’t think Roseanne would be any worse than Romney or Obama. She sounds like she understands our issues: “They have stolen our money, our future and the American Dream and continue to enslave us with a broken monetary system,”
Roseanne was actually talking about banks and US Federal Reserve, but her comments apply to IRS, FBAR and FATCA too. It’s more than we’ve heard from other candidates.
I bet she won’t fire Big Bird either. Maybe she’ll make him her Chief of Staff.
US Biggest Tax Haven In World
Finally, someone besides us is saying what we have been saying for months. “U.S. is the biggest tax haven in the world.”
I think the author, Daniel Mitchell, is American. At least, he works for the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C. His article was published in Switzerland, I believe.
In Janus Face of US Tax Policy, Mr. Mitchell asks the same question we have been asking:
How can a nation be a tax haven while simultaneously browbeating other jurisdictions that have similar policies?
Mr. Mitchell comes to the same conclusion we do:
Politicians are not exactly known for their intellectual honesty and rigor, so this disjointed approach should not be too surprising.
Unfortunately, the world’s biggest tax haven is not just bullying smaller tax havens. It is also threatening non-tax haven nations, including those like Canada which has a 70 year effective tax treaty with US to combat tax evasion.
I suspect US politicians will not listen to Mr. Mitchell any more than they listen to anyone else. As Hazy2’s thread says, Who’s listening. I think the answer is nobody. Listening is another trait politicians are not known for.
The Long Arm of Uncle Sam
Thanks Schubert for posting Arrow’s article from BC Business on FATCA and credit unions. I think it deserves a thread of it’s own, so I’m posting it here.
The Long Arm of Uncle Sam is already much longer than Pinocchio’s nose–and constantly growing even longer and fatter.