Israel Matzav

Good news for Americans abroad: Republican National Committee calls for repealing FATCA

At its annual meeting in Washington on Friday, the Republican National Committee backed a resolution that called for the repeal of the Federal Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), an act whose effective date has been delayed several times, and which has caused nightmares for American citizens residing abroad.

The 2010 law which goes into effect in July requires foreign international financial institutions to provide the Internal Revenue Service with information on U.S. citizens living abroad who hold more than $50,000 in their accounts at the end of the year.

Congress passed the law in an effort to crack down on Americans who evade paying taxes by hiding financial assets overseas. But the law has been sharply criticized by banks, libertarian groups, and Americans living in Canada and overseas who say it's made it very difficult for them to open bank accounts, obtain loans or conduct other financial transactions because several foreign financial institutions won't take them on as clients because they don't want to have to deal with the IRS.

Some U.S. ex-patriot groups say the law is partially responsible for the increase in the number of Americans renouncing their citizenship. That number has grown from 742 in 2009 to more than 1,854 last year, according to State Department figures.

By the way, I went to renew my US passport last week, and renouncing your American citizenship will set you back $450 (compared with $110 for renewing your passport). Just being informative.... 

Labels: dual citizenship, Internal Revenue Service, taxation

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:15 AM