Archive for April 2013
2013 Apr 24 – Collins
Margaret Collins / Richard Rubin
Americans paying up wherever they reside beseech Congress
Bloomberg (24 Apr 2013)
Three examples of extraterritorial US persons subject to the agonies of IRS compliance. Charles Allard in Hong Kong has “regularly had to amend tax filings on top of paying levies to the countries where he lives and works.” Winship Herr in Switzerland has paid $3000 to file paperwork requiring payment of $30,000 in US taxes on top of Swiss taxes, partly because of exchange rate disparities. John Kent in England spends about 100 hours to file despite having almost no U.S. source income. “The potential for change to taxation of U.S. citizens abroad is slim.”
2013 Apr 22 – Reed
Max Reed
The ticking time bomb of tax liability for Americans in Canada
Canadian Lawyer (22 Apr 2013)
Eventually FATCA will affect most of the one million or so noncompliant US persons resident in Canada, who remain ” blissfully unaware of the ticking time bomb of U.S. tax liability.” Reed is co-author with Dick Pound of Tax Guide for American Citizens in Canada.
2013 Apr 19 – Jolly
David Jolly
G-20 pushes for measures to end tax evasion
New York Times (19 Apr 2013)
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/20/business/global/g-20-pushes-for-measures-to-end-tax-evasion.html
Print: (20 Apr 2013) B6
“Finance ministers and central bankers of the G-20, meeting in Washington, said in a communiqué that automatic exchange of tax-relevant bank information should be adopted as the global standard.”
2013 Apr 18 – Broom
Giles Broom
Zurich mayor renounces U.S. citizenship amid tighter tax rules
Bloomberg (18 Apr 2013)
“Corine Mauch, 52, a member of the Socialist Party born in Iowa City, Iowa, returned her passport to the U.S. Embassy as she regards Switzerland as her home and doesn’t want to deal with Internal Revenue Service paperwork.”
2013 Apr 18 – Reuters
Reuters
Banker associations sue U.S. over account reporting rule
New York Times (18 Apr 2013)
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2013/04/18/business/18reuters-usa-tax-lawsuit.html
State bankers associations of Florida and Texas are suing the federal government “over new rules requiring banks to report account information for non-resident aliens to their home governments as part of an effort to combat tax evasion.”
2013 Apr 18 – Temperli
Silvio Temperli
Corine Mauch hat den US-Pass zurückgegeben
Tages Anzeiger (18 Apr 2013)
http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/zuerich/Corine-Mauch-hat-den-USPass-zurueckgegeben/story/27073559
“Mauch ist der Ansicht, dass die Menschen vor allem dort gesellschaftlich und politisch mitwirken sollten, ‘wo sie tatsächlich leben’.” … “Auf die Frage, wie viel Geld sie jährlich den Vereinigten Staaten abliefern musste, antwortet Corine Mauch: ‘Der Betrag war nicht astronomisch, aber auch nicht nichts, circa nochmals halb so viel wie die Schweizer Steuern’.”
2013 Apr 11 – Bogardus
Kevin Bogardus / Bernie Becker
US expatriates plead for relief from IRS
The Hill (11 Apr 2013)
http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/293187-americans-living-abroad-plead-for-relief-from-irs
The House Ways and Means Committee of the U.S. Congress is receiving considerable feedback from expatriates in its call for comment on potential tax reform.
2013 Apr 5 – Sullivan
Paul Sullivan
Overseas finances can trip up Americans abroad
New York Times (5 Apr 2013)
Print version: (6 Apr 2013) B5
The article includes treatment of foreign earned income exclusion, FATCA, currency exchange fluctuation, and recent “compliance” programs.
2013 Apr 4 – Eric
Eric
FBI reports renunciations for Q1 2013 nearly doubled against Q1 2012
Isaac Brock Society (4 Apr 2013)
Monthly data from the National Instant Criminal Background Check System of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation includes a category for “Renounced U.S. Citizenship.” The number of records added for first quarter 2013 is 850, compared with 452 for first quarter 2012.
2013 Apr 4 – Higgins
Andrew Higgins
Data Leak Shakes Notion of Secret Offshore Havens and, Possibly, Nerves
New York Times (4 Apr 2013)
Print: (5 Apr 2013) A4
“Leak of 2.5 million files detailing the offshore bank accounts and shell companies of wealthy individuals and tax-averse companies” includes “names of 4000 Americans” and “more than 120,000 offshore companies and trusts and nearly 130,000 individuals and agents, including the wealthiest people in more than 170 countries.”
2013 Apr 4 – New
New US tax law may negatively affect Canadian retirement plans
Moodys Tax Advisors (4 Apr 2013)
http://www.moodystax.com/new-us-tax-law-may-negatively-affect-canadian-retirement-plans/
Unless proposed regulations are changed a new 3.8% US taxation will likely apply to RRSPs, CPP, and other pension income — with no opportunity for tax credit offset.
