I’ve only started discussing the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA, just recently. On April 16, I blogged:
Let’s go to the IRS Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act web page. Here’s what it states:
Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act
The provisions commonly known as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) became law in March 2010.
• FATCA targets tax non-compliance by U.S. taxpayers with foreign accounts
• FATCA focuses on reporting:
By U.S. taxpayers about certain foreign financial accounts and offshore assets
By foreign financial institutions about financial accounts held by U.S. taxpayers or foreign entities in which U.S. taxpayers hold a substantial ownership interest
• The objective of FATCA is the reporting of foreign financial assets; withholding is the cost of not reporting.
According to the U.S. Department of State, 7.6 million Americans live and work abroad. And from what I understand, an increasing number of overseas banks are refusing to do business with them. So I’m not surprised that on the eve of FATCA taking full effect- July 1, 2014- a serious legal challenge is being mounted against the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. Ralph Hallow reported on The Washington Times website on May 5:
Jim Bopp, the hard-charging lawyer who persuaded the Supreme Court to strike down crucial elements in the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law, has a new target in his legal sights: a bank and taxation statute that hits Americans overseas.
Mr. Bopp is assembling a legal attack on the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, which he and other critics say intrudes on financial privacy and scares banks from doing business with Americans living overseas.
“The U.S. Constitution protects every citizen’s liberty and freedom, while FATCA undermines both,” Mr. Bopp told The Washington Times. “This astonishingly bad law manages to thumb its nose at the Constitution.”
(Editor’s note: Bold added for emphasis)
“Attorney takes action for Americans with foreign accounts”
The Washington Times Video
I highly recommend reading the entire article, which you find on The Washington Times website here.
By Christopher E. Hill
Offshore Safe Deposit Boxes (www.offshoresafedepositboxes.com)