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Summary of the House Subcommittee on Government Operations Hearing

Summary of the House Subcommittee on Government Operations Hearing “Reviewing The Unintended Consequences Of The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act [FATCA].”

 

The House Subcommittee on Government Operations held a hearing on FATCA 26 April 2017. The focus was on the unintended consequences of FATCA. A number of witnesses spoke about the privacy and constitutional issues flowing from FATCA, notably Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), who supports legislation to Repeal FATCA.  Some pointed to the problem of Americans feeling compelled to renounce US citizenship because of the effects of FATCA.

ACA attended the hearing and submitted testimony.  ACA’s testimony can be found here.

Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-12th District, New York) expressed concern about the problems facing Americans abroad and especially the problem of them being turned away from foreign banking institutions. She said that Congress should act to solve this problem. To do this, she announced that she had introduced the day before the Hearing the Overseas Americans Financial Access Act exempting Americans from FATCA reporting if they bank in the same country where they are a bona fide resident. This is the legislative version of the Same Country Exemption, which ACA has been pushing for over two years.

In the course of the Hearing, Chairman Meadows (R-11th District, North Carolina), while stating that he supports the repeal of FATCA, encouraged all the witnesses to come forward with three ways to modify FATCA to make it better and less harmful for taxpayers. Colloquies between him and Representatives Maloney and Norton (D-Non-Voting Delegate for District of Columbia) opened the door to some type of compromise.

ACA continues to advocate for the adoption of Residency-based taxation (RBT) as the ultimate solution to the problems that legislation such as FATCA is having on Americans living and working overseas.  The Administration has signaled in its recent “2017 Tax Reform for Economic Growth and American Jobs,” a recommendation to adopt territorial taxation.  ACA is close to its funding goal to begin the revenue estimations for RBT and encourages all Americans to contribute to the fundraising: http://acaglobalfoundation.org/donate