ACA and FATCA in the Press
Current major media articles about FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) with ACA quoted in many of the leading media publications.
The Economist, citing ACA, explains the twists and turns of the new FATCA law (October 2013): Overtaxed and over there
Robert Woods, a tax lawyer and frequent commentator on tax issues related to Americans abroad, has posted an article on the Forbes website 4-O-Forbes reviewing the considerations related to “opting-out” for taxpayers who have entered the Overseas Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) and come to realize that this is not the appropriate solution for them. Comments on the article provide insight from those who have been through the experience /Nov. 2013). Should You Opt Out of IRS Offshore Amnesty?
BBC News cites ACA's RBT tax proposal (Sept. 2013): Why are Americans giving up their citizenship?
Laura Saunders in the Wall Street Journal (Sept. 2013): Offshore Accounts: No Place to Hide? (Complete article visible to WSJ subscribers)
Another important article on the CNN website (Sept. 2013) about the negative consequences of FATCA. Banks lock out Americans over new tax law
ACA cited in this article on the ExpatForum.com website: American tax officials accused of targeting expats
Victoria Férauge and Lynne Swanson point out the many difficulties with FATCA implementation (Accounting Today Sept. 2013) FATCA Losing Its Way
A letter to the editor of the Wall Street Journal (Aug 27, 2013, and many subsequent comments): The Overtaxed Overseas Americans
Laura Saunders and Liam Pleven in The Wall Street Journal (August 17, 2013): Overseas Americans: Time to Say 'Bye' to Uncle Sam? The Wall Street Journal is eager to hear about personal case histories of US citizens experiencing problems caused by US legislation. Contact Liam Pleven, The Wall Street Journal, office +1 212-416-2766; cell +1 646-468-4489; liam.pleven@wsj.com or ACA
Ken Moelis in The Wall Street Journal (Agusur 19, 2013): Why Fewer Americans Live Abroad
Lynne Swanson and Victoria Férauge in the 28 July 2013 issue of The Hill: FATCA: 'Simple premise' gone terribly wrong
The Swiss magazine Bilan has an article quoting ACA's Jackie Bugnion in the 25 July 2013 issue (in French): Les expatriés américains en plein cauchemar bureaucratique
Major media outlet WSJ comes out asking for a better way to crack the FATCA nut. See article: “FATCA: How to Lose Friends, Citizens and Influence” at http://on.wsj.com/13N5V0D.
Four case histories of Americans residing abroad trying to get compliant with the IRS (Marie Sapirie in TaxAnalysts, July 16, 2013): The Personal Impact of Offshore Enforcement
The specter of "reciprocity" may be the death-knell for FATCA (from Emerging Money July 2013): U.S. offshore banking industry strikes back at FATCA IGAs
Implementation of FATCA has been delayed another six months until July 1, 2014, according to this notice from the IRS: Notice 2013-43 (dated July 12, 2013)
Peter Dahlen's slide presentation at the Nordic FATCA conference (June 2013): FATCA and Citizen-based Taxation: the way forward
ACA is quoted in International Adviser (June 25th 2013) concerning state-side bank and IRA accounts being closed for Americans who live and work overseas: Take your retirement account elsewhere – now
Lisa Smith cites ACA in iExpats (Investing Expatriates, June 14, 2013): FATCA Makes US Expats Banking Outcasts
Michael Scaturro in The Atlantic (June 2013): The Unintended Consequences of Cracking Down on Tax Dodgers Abroad
The New York Times "Dealbook" coomments on the latest Swiss-US agreement (May 2013): Switzerland to Allow Its Banks to Disclose Hidden Client Accounts
More FATCA fallout for Americans living in Germany (Charles McPhedran writes in USA TODAY May 2013): Germany to share data on American accounts with U.S.
Michael Young, opinion editor of The Daily Star newspaper in Lebanon writes (May 2013): FATCA finally comes home Will Rand Paul's attempt to rein in FATCA be successful?
FATCA has caused upheaval among the American expat community (Simon Bradley, swissinfo.ch May 2013): US expats feel the burden of FATCA
To continue operations in the US Swiss banks will have to submit to the IRS (Armando Mombelli, swissinfo.ch, May 2013): FATCA sounds death knell of banking secrecy
Banking industry associations of two US states are suing the US government (STEP Journal 9 May 2013): American business rebels over FATCA disclosure provisions
Christopher Bergin in Tax Notes (May 2013) speaks of problems with IRS: The IRS Is in Big Trouble
Libertarian lawmaker (Sen. Rand Paul) blocks international tax treaties, making strange bedfellows: The Hill (5 May 2013)
US News and World Report May 2013 article on the new technologies applied by the IRS to catch tax evaders: IRS Data Web Snares Mostly Low- and Middle-Income Taxpayers
American Citizens Abroad applauds Bloomberg's recent article (April 2013) highlighting the plight of Americans dealing with US citizenship-based taxation: Americans Paying Up Wherever They Reside Beseech Congress
Bloomberg BNA "Tax and Accounting Center" has an article about ACA's letter-writing campaign to the House Ways & Means Committee.
Andrew Quinlan (The Centre for Freedom and Prosperity) was interviewed on FATCA by George Prior in iExpats.com (April 2013) : Andrew F. Quinlan – American Expats Are Now Toxic Assets
The Hill (Washington DC, 11 April 2013) has an article referring to ACA's efforts to get the tax law changed: US expatriates plead for relief from IRS
A thoroughly researched paper by law student Frederic Behrens highlights the multiple ramifications of FATCA not only on foreign financial institutions and Americans abroad, but also on domestic US non-financial companies and financial institutions. Using a Sledgehammer to Crack a Nut: Why FATCA Will Not Stand (April 9, 2013). Wisconsin Law Review, Vol. 2013, No. 1, pp. 205-236. Available at SSRN: ssrn.com/abstract=2247615
From the New York Times (April 2013): Overseas Finances Can Trip Up Americans Abroad
Criticism of FATCA by Jon Mantonis in the April 2013 American Banker: FATCA is Far from a Done Deal
FATCA continues to wreck havoc abroad (The Local Swiss edition April 2013): Americans fall out of favour with Swiss Banks
Michael S. Edwards, Vice President and Chief Counsel, World Council of Credit Unions asks: Will Congress Repeal FATCA before it takes effect? (March 2013)
Andrew F. Quinlan (Center for Freedom and Prosperity) in The Daily Caller: FATCA and US fiscal imperialism threaten to sink global economy (March 2013)
Janet Novack of Forbes writes about IRS backtracking on voluntary disclosures: IRS Yanks Criminal Amnesty Deal From Taxpayers With Secret Bank Leumi Accounts (March 2013)
Now Russia is objecting to FATCA (iExpats.com March 2013): FATCA Hits the Buffers in Russia
Canada’s leading constitutional legal expert says in the 12 March 2013 Vancouver Sun that FATCA may violate Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms: Compliance with U.S. tax law may violate Charter of Rights
Nigel Green says in Investment Europe (March 2013) that the "US Fatca project 'beginning to unravel'"
GlobalPost.com has an article on the negative effects of FATCA: US tax rules sour life for Americans abroad (Feb. 2013)
Accounting Today’s February 2013 Newsletter highlighted future reporting burdens and increased costs for US banks in disclosure reciprocity: Obama Administration to Ask for Added Authority to Force FATCA Disclosures
Victoria Ferauge's blog, The Franco-American "Flophouse" has comments on the OECD briefing held in Paris in February 2013: Public Briefing on FATCA
Accounting Today also comments on the US-Swiss agreement (Feb. 2013): U.S. Signs Tax Compliance Agreement with Switzerland
Geneva Lunch mentions Swiss FATCA agreement and ACA (14 Feb. 2013) US-Switzerland Sign Controversial FATCA Agreement
Swiss about to sign a FATCA agreement according to Le Temps (Geneva, 14 Feb 2013): Coopération renforcée avec le fisc américain (in French)
Tax Analysts has a tongue-in-cheek version of the new FATCA rules: Tax Analysts (Feb. 2013)
ACA was quoted in this article in Time (Jan. 31, 2013): Mister Taxman: Why Some Americans Working Abroad Are Ditching Their Citizenships
Tax Analysts refers to ACA's new RBT tax proposal on its website taxanalysts.com (available to subscribers): Expatriate Groups Urge Residence-Based Taxation (Jan. 30, 2013)
This article by Andrew Quinlan (President, Center for Freedom and Prosperity) is one of the strongest, most concise comments on the realities of FATCA: With Final FATCA Rules Released, It's Now Or Never (Jan. 2013)
An article in "La Libre Belgique" (18 Jan. 2013) has an ACA quote (in French): Le blues des Américains expatriés
TaxAnalysts© document service has picked up ACA's letter to Treasury Department Assistant Secretary Mark J. Mazur requesting that anti-discrimination clauses be included in all FATCA Intergovernmental Agreements: ACA letter to Mark Mazur (December 2012)
Another article in the Globe and Mail (7 Jan 2013) about possible Canadian resistance to FATCA: IRS wants Canada to nab U.S. tax cheats: Why we should care
Herman B. Bouma of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC writes in Tax Management International Journal™ (Dec. 2012): 11 Reasons Why FATCA Must Be Repealed
James Jatras interview on the subject of FATCA in iExpats.com (Dec. 2012)
ACA was mentioned in a December 2012 New York Times article on FATCA: A Long-Distance Relationship With the I.R.S.
Another article by Andrew Quinlan (Center for Freedom and Prosperity) in Forbes: Coerced Foreign Tax Compliance Is Killing American Jobs (Nov. 2012)
Andrew Ballard (Bloomberg) writes: Full Reciprocity under FATCA is a Work in Progress, IRS official says (Nov.2012)
A November 2012 report from Reuters says that: China central bank official slams FATCA
ACA's Anne Hornung Soukup talks about US tax obligations of American citizens lliving abroad on the Nov. 2012 Goldstein on Gelt radio show: YouTube video
ACA's Jackie Bugnion interviewed by Jennifer Cordingley on Dukascopy TV (Nov. 15, 2012): ACA and FATCA
Catherine New writes about FATCA in the Huffington Post (Nov. 9, 2012) : American Expat Taxpayers Would Rather Ditch Citizenship Than Face New IRS Rules
Submission in November 2012 to the Isaac Brock Society website made by a New Zealander explaining why the Australian government should not accept an InterGovernmental Agreement (IGA) with the US on FATCA: isaacbrocksociety.ca
Larry Lipsher, member of the ACA Professional Tax Advisory Council, wrote an article in the Nov. 2nd 2012 edition of Tax India International which highlights recent developments and the real dangers of FATCA. The final paragraph compares the Great US Tax Wall to the Great Wall of China: Breaking FATCA's Seawalls
Lisa Smith on the iExpats.com website (October 2012): FATCA Fiasco – A Look at the Reasons Behind the Delay
The IRS is backtracking on FATCA according to an Oct. 24, 2012 report from Reuters: IRS delays key start dates for global tax evasion law
Robert Woods has written an article on FATCA (Forbes.com Oct. 2012), highlighting the negative impact on US citizens residing overseas, including the onerous filing of Form 8938 and foreign banks refusing American clients. ACA highly recommends that you read the comment by “justme” someone who has clearly analyzed the negative impact of FATCA not only on foreign financial institutions but also on US financial institutions with the upcoming reciprocity agreements between the U.S. and foreign governments. It appears that backlash is building against FATCA: As Foreign Banks Brace For FATCA, You Should Too
ACA's Jackie Bugnion speaks out in the Swiss weekly Hebdo (Oct. 2012 in French) Les États-Unis ont perdu le sens de la réalité
Larry Lipsher criticizes the IRS in this "Tax India International" article (Oct. 2012): A review of the Williams court case - Does signing your tax form commit you to fully understanding everything in it? How will E-Trak find non-filers? How and when to make a "quiet disclosure." (Notwithstanding the advice given in this article, ACA recommends that individuals with tax, FBAR and FATCA filing problems contact a qualified professional before making a decision about how to file.)
USA Today (Sep. 2012) has an article about IRS rules that make life difficult for Americans who live outside the country
From the September 28, 2012 Bloomberg Daily Tax Report: Why Holders of Foreign Bank Accounts Need to Worry About IRS’s Voluntary Disclosure Data-Mining Program
International Adviser (Sep. 2012) states: US expats seek to make FATCA, FBARs election issues
For a quick introduction to FATCA and its US ramifications read this article by Mimi Whitefield in the Miami Herald. Also edifying is the comment by “Just_Me_Also” which provides a good glimpse into the worldwide fallout from FATCA that is creating an earthquake among banking institutions everywhere.
ACA Executive Director Marylouise Serrato talks about FATCA with Doug Goldstein on his Goldstein on Gelt show in July 2012.
Reciprocity for FATCA bogged down in the House (from Tax-News.com): US House Backs Cancellation Of IRS Reporting Rule
As reported in the July 30, 2012 New York Times: Presidential Commission Sought on U.S. Expatriates
Michael Cohn in Accounting Today (June 2012) reports: US Strikes FATCA Deals with Switzerland and Japan
Hale Sheppard, an American international tax lawyer and member of the ACA Professional Tax Advisory Council, has published an article about the new IRS Form 8938 (individual taxpayer FATCA declaration) in the May-June 2012 issue of the International Tax Journal.
Professor Allison Christians has published in the July 9, 2012 issue of International Tax Notes "Could a Same-Country Exception Help Focus FATCA and FBAR?"
Michael Froehls, a management consultant with many years of international experience highlights the direct damage that US double taxation of Americans and green card holders residing abroad inflicts on the U.S. economy: The Costly Folly of the US to Tax Americans Living Abroad (Texas Enterprise 27 June 2012)
William McGurn in the Wall Street Journal: Obama's IRS Snoops Abroad (You will need a WSJ subscription to read)
Charles Bruce, tax counsel for ACA, is quoted in the Bloomberg article: IRS Says Offshore Tax Disclosures Have Yielded $5 Billion
CBC radio interview with two US-Canadian dual citizens
Dr. Saud Al-Ammar of the Saudi-US Trade Group has published a message to Pres. Obama: Free Advice to My Schoolmate Barack Obama: Want to Grow Exports and Create More Jobs? Don’t Tax Americans Abroad
Jennifer Cummings (National Foreign Trade Council) concerning a letter to FinCEN Director James H. Freis, Jr., November 2011: U.S. Business Leaders Request FBAR Relief for Employees of SEC-Reporting Worldwide American Companies
ACA's Anne Hornung-Soukup speaks out on the Swiss English language radio station WRS: FATCA will cause problems for world economy
UPI news has an article about the devasting effects of FATCA: Why FATCA Should be Repealed
Another news article attacking FATCA in the Investor Daily: FATCA can still be repealed: US expert FATCA debate in US has only just started
The Wall Street Journal has published a PRNewswire release: FATCA's "Vulnerabilities Evident," Washington Expert Claims, Calls for Repeal
Tax Notes International has an article written by ACA's Jackie Bugnion: American Citizens Abroad’s Recommendation for U.S. Tax Law Reform
Brian Knowlton in the New York Times explains: Many Americans Abroad Surprised by Tax Code's Nasty Bite
Giles Broom in Business Week reports: Wealthy Americans Queue to Give Up Their Passports
Sanat Vallikappen in Bloomberg: U.S. Millionaires Told Go Away as Tax Evasion Rule Looms
From the Isaac Brock Society blog: New Zealand Government position on FATCA
Martha Myron in the Royal Gazette of Bermuda : Pondstraddling has become too ponderous for some US citizens living abroad
A Reuters article highlights the renunciations caused by US tax laws:Tax time pushes some Americans to take a hike
Reason Magazine has an article talking about FATCA and the FBAR problems: Five New Ways the IRS Is Screwing America
ACA friend Larry Lipsher reports on US taxes from Hong Kong with this Reuters Insider video: reut.rs/Htv7s9
People in the US too are also turning to the Taxpayer Advocate Service as described in BloombergBusinessweek: The People vs. the IRS
Michael Cohn in Accounting Today: Expats Protest IRS Treatment of Citizens Overseas
Another Forbes article by Robert W. Wood: Despite FATCA, FBAR Penalties Still Under Fire
From Sweden, English language "The Local" reports: Americans in Sweden suffer US tax crackdown
The New York Times reports on several countries' agreement to implement FATCA: 5 European Nations Agree to Help U.S. Crack Down on Tax Evasion
Charles M. Bruce has a Daily Tax Report in the Bureau of National Affairs: FBAR and FATCA Foreign Financial Assets Reporting: Seeing Double? Not Really
A Bloomberg editorial severly crticizes FATCA : New Tax Rules Harass Foreign Bankers for Little in Return
Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel has an article on reporting requirements: Tax pros wary of IRS notice to Americans living abroad
The Washington Times has an editorial condeming FATCA: Tax-haven wars--Congress is scheming to export IRS meddling overseas
Columnist William McGurn in The Wall Street Journal starts off the new year with an article on FATCA: Washington's Assault on American Expats . Especially interesting is the accompanying ongoing commentary.
James Fallows in The Atlantic has tales of woe from several countries: The Fatca Chronicles: Tales From China, Canada, and Estonia and also The Fatca Menace as well as Fatca: The Menance You'll Hear About in 2012.
The Spiegel online explains how German banks are refusing Americans: European Banks Stop Serving American Customers
The Wall Street Journal has an article about foreign banks: Banks Sweat as Tax Net Tightens
Brian Knowlton and David Jolly in the New York Times clearly point out the difficulties with FATCA:Law to Find Tax Evaders Denounced
Canadian banks are giving clear instructions to their customers as shown by this information from the Canadian Bankers Association: U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Information for Clients
As FATCA starts to deploy its effects, Canadian banks are getting worried, according to the Globe and Mail: Why the IRS crackdown puts Canadian banks in a tight spot
ACA was cited in an Operational Risk & Regulation article: Chinese banks will avoid Fatca, observers warn (you must register to read the entire article)
Richard Hartung reporting from Singapore in TodayOnline: An American law that will hit investors here
Amy Feldman of Reuters reports on US filing requirements and penalties: Taxpayers with overseas accounts seethe at penalties
The US Ambassador to Canada announced new IRS amnesty measures for citizens abroad according to the Toronto Globe and Mail
What to do if you receive an "Information Document Request (IDR)" from the IRS? Some answers are here in an article by Charles P. Rettig in Tax Notes: Evaluation of an IRS Undisclosed Offshore Account IDR
American Expats in Canada are getting more and more upset about FATCA An overview of the FATCA/FBAR situation
An ACA interview about FATCA (with Mark Butcher Nov. 2011) Radio Frontier interviews
AnotherACA radio interview (with Bob Zanotti Oct. 2011): Switzerland in Sound interview on FATCA
Two articles in Accounting Today: IRS Advisory Committee warnings and a reference to ACA's position.
An article about ACA's efforts to get FATCA eliminated in the STEP journal: US expats' lobbying group demands repeal of FATCA (Copyright Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, article first published on www.stepjournal.org, 24 October 2011)
Another article in Forbes concerning FATCA and Canadians Oh Canada! Hating FBARs And FATCA
More news and comments on the US Ambassador's comments in Canada (from CBCnews): Americans in Canada told not to fear IRS
The US ambassador to Canada has come forward with an anouncement on US tax laws as applied to dual nationals. Here is the article in the Globe and Mail
The Singapore Business Times blogger Leon Hadar writes: What's wrong with the US Fatca tax law .
An article in the Wall Street Journal Hong Kong edition (March 2011) about the tax implications of renunciation.
ACA's Jackie Bugnion presented a paper at the recent "International Withholding Tax Summit" in London: Why FATCA is bad for the United States and should be repealed.
Phil Hodgen (Law Group PC) has a blog where FATCA is frequently discussed: hodgen.com/phils-blog/
Jessica Meek in Operational Risk & Regulation dated 26 Sep 2011: Banks fear Fatca raises operational and systemic risks
Canadians are also very upset about FATCA. A Canadian Member of Parliament writes an open letter to the Hon. Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance.
A Canadian blogger, Wendy McElroy, on the Ludwig von Mises Institute website: The Attack on Accidental Americans
An article that looks at the rational and the legal side for FATCA, especially for green card holders residing abroad, by Patrick W. Martin, partner at Procopia, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP.
Dan Mitchell and Brian Garst have an Article in Schweizer Monat: The Janus Face of US Tax Policy
Tax Notes International published ACA's letter to Treasury and IRS officials (September 12, 2011, p. 797)
In Forbes, a direct citation from ACA: Expats Call For FATCA Repeal
From Reuters: Critics say new law makes them tax agents
A clear and definitive article by Scott D. Michel and H. David Rosenbloom in Tax Analysis: FATCA and Foreign Bank Accounts: Has the U.S. Overreached?
From ABBL in Luxembourg: Is FATCA anti-American ?
From the STEP Journal, April 2011: European Commission complains to US over FATCA requirements
An Interesting article from the Barbados International Business Association: US Treasury Backs Down on FATCA
A new survey by KPMG on FATCA compliance costs: FATCA compliance Costs high
ACA is the key first quote in a Forbes article: Stripping FATCA From Our Diet. This starts to make the issue go mainstream.
From Wealth Strategies: "A July 2011 report from the American Citizen's Abroad said the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act 'FATCA' will have a devastating impact on the U.S. economy and called on Congress to repeal the law."
Read more: American Citizens Abroad lists dangers of FATCA
From Gary Hufbauer of the Peterson Institute for International Economics. He qualifies the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) as Imperial Overreach.
From Bloomberg: IRS Delays Overseas Bank Reporting Rule Criticized by Aegon
From Vince Heaney, the journalist with the Financial Times: Few managers ready to comply with Fatca. This is one of the strongest articles yet. It is all about negative FATCA -- not one positive included. Most of the other articles talk about the negative but highlight the inevitable or that at the end of the day it will be worth the payback. This article specifically highlights that discord in the Levin figures and Treasury's own figures.
Here's a link to the story in the International Adviser: FATCA could cause investors to shun US market, KPMG expert warns .
ACA Country Contact Larry Lipsher in a Reuter's Video (April 2011)
And finally, ACA's own PRWeb press release.