Tax Advocate recommends changes for taxpayers abroad

The National Tax Advocate has recommended that the FBAR rules and the FATCA rules for reporting bank accounts on Form 8938, should in effect be merged. Also, the FATCA rules for identifying and reporting accounts of Americans abroad, where the accounts are in the same country where the taxpayer resides, should be changed. Taxpayer Advocate statement here (April 13, 2015).

As noted in the National Tax Advocate’s recommendations, ACA has been a leading advocate, especially of the Same Country Exemption. Together with other groups, ACA recently met with the Treasury Department to push for this change. ACA recently published a detailed position paper (April 9, 2015) describing how the Same Country Exemption could be made to work.

'We are very happy to see progress made on these subjects,' said Marylouise Serrato, Executive Director, American Citizens Abroad, Inc. 'But we cannot rest in our efforts to get these changes actually made. For sure, the Same Country Exemption could be put in place almost immediately; it does not require Congressional action. It is a change that everyone, including Treasury Department and the IRS, should be enthusiastic about.'