ACAGF WEBCASTS: TAX FAIRNESS FOR AMERICANS ABROAD ACT (HR 7358), RESIDENCY-BASED TAX LEGISLATION FOR AMERICANS LIVING OVERSEAS
Our webcast series is a forum where individuals share their thoughts on legislation and other matters pending before Congress and elsewhere. Views expressed do not necessarily represent those of ACA. The content, including documents and presentations, is made available solely for informational purposes. It is not intended and should not be treated as legal, tax or investment advice. For ACA’s analysis and a description of possible approaches—but not a proposal per se—to residency-based taxation.
June 18, 2019 Webcast
On June 18, ACAGF hosted a new Webcast in its series of Webcasts for the recently introduced legislation, The Tax Fairness for Americans Abroad Act (H.R.7358) (TFAA).
Taxation of Americans Abroad: Legislative Changes Brewing in Congress
With this event, American Citizen Abroad Global Foundation (ACAGF) continued its series of Webcasts on the recently introduced legislation, The Tax Fairness for Americans Abroad Act (H.R.7358) (TFAA).
TFAA was introduced in December 2018 by Representative George Holding (R-NC). The bill changes existing citizenship-based taxation rules (CBT), in US tax law, to residency-based taxation (RBT). RBT is sometimes referred to as territorial taxation.
The ACAGF Webcasts serve to provide more information on the bill to the community and other interested parties. In attendance was Matt Stross, Tax Counsel, Office of Representative George Holding. Matt Stross is highly familiar with this proposal. Others at House Ways and Means Committee, Joint Committee on Taxation and House Legislative Counsel's Office also have provided valuable assistance. Mr. Stross will describe --
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the provisions of TFAA,
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where it stands, and
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what’s next.
The presenters were: Max Reed, tax lawyer - SKL Tax, Benita Loughlin, Partner, KPMG, Vancouver, and Terry Ritchie, cross-border financial planner, Cardinal Point Wealth Management. They will discuss how this potential change in US law will affect individual filing requirements and investment strategies. Joining them were Marylouise Serrato - ACA Executive Director, and Charles Bruce - ACAGF Chairman and ACA Legal Counsel.
18 June 2019
March 13 and 14, 2019 Webcasts
On March 13th and 14th, American Citizens Abroad (ACA) and American Citizens Abroad Global Foundation (ACAGF) hosted two webcasts updating the community on the recently introduced legislation, Tax Fairness for Americans Abroad Act (TFAA).
Introduced on December 20, 2018 by Representative Holding (R-NC), TFAA (H.R. 7358) would change the approach to taxing US citizens living and working overseas to a residency-based taxation—some call it territorial-- approach. Americans overseas would no longer be taxed on income that is not earned in the United States. This would bring the US in line with the global norm for taxation and would alleviate problems of double taxation and compliancy costs for millions of Americans overseas.
Invited to speak at the webcasts were Matt Stross, Tax Counsel for Representative Holding, ACA Legal Counsel Charles Bruce and, several tax professionals (March 13 bios) (March 14 bios).
“ACA and ACAGF felt it important to have an update on the extensive work that Representative Holding’s office has been doing on this legislation and inform the community on next steps,” said Charles Bruce, ACA Legal Counsel and ACAGF Chairman.
The proposed legislation would work off the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE) and would create an exclusion for income earned outside of the United States by qualified non-resident US citizens. Stross highlighted that staff is working with the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) and the House Office of the Legislative Counsel to better define “some of the trickier issues” such as how to define personal property and how to tax gains related to foreign property before the taxpayer qualifies as a non resident citizen.
Mr. Stross noted that next steps included re-introducing of the bill in the new 116th Congress and assigning a new bill number and, requesting the Chairman of the Ways & Means Committee to hold hearings on the bill in order “to get [the bill] the attention it so rightly deserves”. Hearings by the House Ways & Means Committee will help to define issues, such as, whether failing to file a foreign bank and financial account report would disqualify someone from receiving the exclusion due to compliancy requirements, as was noted by Craig Thompson, independent tax advisor who participated in the webcast. Stephane Lagonico, lawyer and independent trust and estate practitioner who also participated in the webcast, added that more definition is needed to understand how the legislation will interact with the other parts of the tax code.
“Response to the webcasts has been very positive and the community has written ACA and ACAGF expressing how important it was for them to hear about this legislation from the Office of Representative Holding. ACA will be working to make the content from these webcasts more widely available in the coming days,” added ACA Executive Director Marylouise Serrato.
13 March 2019
14 March 2019
These programs are presented by American Citizens Abroad Global Foundation, which is a qualified 501(c)(3) tax exempt public charity. ACAGF does not provide tax or investment advice.
The content of these programs, including documents and presentations, is made available solely for general informational purposes. The content is not intended and should not be treated as legal or tax advice.
ACAGF does not warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any content or other information. ACAGF disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on any content or information by you or any other person.