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ANOTHER WELL RECEIVED ACAGF TOWN HALL EVENING IN ZURICH, SWITZERLAND

On Tuesday evening, September 17, 2019, over fifty attendees along with five presenters gathered at the Eglise Francais in downtown Zurich for an American Citizens Abroad Global Foundation (ACAGF) Town Hall. Topics coved included,

  1. The latest news from ACA’s advocacy work in Washington D.C.
  2. ACA and ACAGF and how the organizations represent and help Americans overseas
  3. What’s new for individual US taxpayers in 2019; Impacts of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
  4. Estate Planning Challenges for Americans in Switzerland: What to do with that Rev Liv Trust from the US?
  5. Tax Planning & Financial planning for Americans living in Switzerland / Overseas
  6. Considerations for Starting a Company overseas for US Taxpayers

Speakers included:

Matthew Berlin - Matthew is a Trust and Estates attorney specialized in working with Overseas Americans. Mathew is a partner at Rubin and Rudman LLP https://www.rubinrudman.com/ and he regularly visits Switzerland for work. Presentation visuals

Francheska Pimental - CPA - Francheska is a manager in the Global Tax Services group at KLR in Providence, RI https://www.kahnlitwin.com/ . Previously, she was with Deloitte Tax LLP working in various offices around the world. Francheska has a Master’s in accounting, is fluent in Spanish and advanced in French and works with numerous U.S. expats many who are living in Switzerland. Presentation visuals

Dr. Natalie Peter - LLM, TEP - Natalie is a Swiss attorney heading the Private Client Team at Blum & Grob attorneys at law AG in Zurich https://blumgrob.ch/  .  She specializes in Tax Law, Inheritance and Estate Planning & Trusts. Natalie has her law degree from the University of Zurich and an LLM from Boston University. Presentation visuals

Jonathan Lachowitz – CFP® - Jonathan is a Board Member of ACA; Certified Financial Planner in the US and Switzerland and owner of White Lighthouse Investment Management in Lausanne and Lexington http://www.white-lighthouse.com/ , MA. Jonathan has written extensively on personal finance for the Wall Street Journal. Presentation visuals

Marylouise Serrato, American Citizens Abroad (ACA) Executive Director.  Marylouise joined ACA in 2002 working as Managing Director and in 2010 became Executive Director. In 2012, ACA moved its headquarters and the office of the Executive Director to Washington, DC where Marylouise has been directing the management and operations of the organization. Presentation visuals

 

The evening opened with a presentation by Marylouise Serrato giving and overview of ACA and ACAGF along with a detailed presentation on recent ACA advocacy efforts for Residency-based taxation. Following Ms. Serrato’s presentation, Francheska Pimental updated on the latest filing requirements for US Citizens living and working overseas.  Dr. Natalie Peter and Matthew Berlin discussed inheritance and estate planning for US citizens – including how to manage cross border estate and testament issues.  Mr. Lachowitz concluded the presentations with his overview of financial planning and investment challenges and solutions for US citizens living and working in Switzerland.  Attendees were invited to ask questions during a Q&A that followed the presentations and the evening ended with a meet and greet for attendees and presenters with light refreshments. We had lots of great feedback from both ACA members and non-members alike about the work ACA is doing in Washington and the quality of the speakers. Based on the continued demand and feedback we hope to be able to continue offering these forums in the future.

 

We would like to thank everyone who made a donation to ACA, including all of the speakers and sponsors:

Moore Stephens Emerson GmbH: https://www.msemerson.com/ 

Rubin and Rudman LLP https://www.rubinrudman.com/

KLR Global Tax Services  https://www.kahnlitwin.com/

Blum & Grob attorneys at law AG in Zurich https://blumgrob.ch/

White Lighthouse Investment Management in Lausanne and Lexington http://www.white-lighthouse.com/

 

ACA Global Foundation ("ACAGF") is the sister organization of American Citizens Abroad, Inc. ("ACA"), which supports education and research on issues affecting Americans abroad.

This event was organized under the auspices of The ACA Global Foundation ("ACAGF"), a sister organization of American Citizens Abroad, Inc. ("ACA, Inc.") which supports education and research on issues affecting Americans abroad.

Disclaimer:  Neither ACAGF nor ACA, Inc. can take responsibility for any advice that was given at this event.