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New media and lobbying campaign attempts to force FATCA repeal
| Published: | 23 Feb at 6 PM |
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Tagged: USA, Citizenship
A Washington-based campaign headed up by Nigel Green, CEO of the controversial De Vere financial advisory and insurance group, is attempting to force repeal of Obama’s unpopular US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act.
Virtually unknown to the majority of the American public, FATCA has been the cause of havoc in the global financial system due to its stringent and inflexible demands on international banks and US expats living overseas. The objectives of the media and lobbying group started by Green are shared by Washington-based Senator and former US diplomat Jim Jatras, who will be on the ground in the capital as co-leader of the Campaign to Repeal FATCA.
Jatras heads up an online anti-FATCA blog, RepealFATCA,com, dedicated to the law’s repeal and refers to FATCA as ‘ the worst law most Americans have never heard of’. According to Green, the law is an ‘indescriminate information dragnet’ forcing all foreign financial institutions to report every American-held account to the IRS. As an immediate result of FATCA’s introduction, worldwide banks began rejecting new applications from Americans as well as closing US citizen client accounts and forcing customers to take their business elsewhere.
Put bluntly, the act makes financial pariahs of US expats. Jatra’s’ team is working with Congressional committees and offices, other insiders, activists, think-tanks, the media and even the Trump administration in its attempt to get rid of the act as soon as is practicable. According to a report by International Investment, Jatra calculates billions of dollars are being spent on compliance with the law, along with billions of words attacking its format.
The campaign is hoping to have FATCA repeal included in Trump’s new tax bill expected to be signed within a few weeks. Green’s campaign isn’t alone in its determination to get rid of FATCA, with Republican elements opposing the law having already introduced a bill calling for its removal. One unexpected result of FATCA has been the unprecedented numbers of US citizens preferring to renounce their citizenship rather than comply with its draconian requirements. Shortly after the exodus began, the US government increased the cost of rejection of citizenship from $450 to $2,350 in the hope of stemming the rush, but applications have continued to rise.
Virtually unknown to the majority of the American public, FATCA has been the cause of havoc in the global financial system due to its stringent and inflexible demands on international banks and US expats living overseas. The objectives of the media and lobbying group started by Green are shared by Washington-based Senator and former US diplomat Jim Jatras, who will be on the ground in the capital as co-leader of the Campaign to Repeal FATCA.
Jatras heads up an online anti-FATCA blog, RepealFATCA,com, dedicated to the law’s repeal and refers to FATCA as ‘ the worst law most Americans have never heard of’. According to Green, the law is an ‘indescriminate information dragnet’ forcing all foreign financial institutions to report every American-held account to the IRS. As an immediate result of FATCA’s introduction, worldwide banks began rejecting new applications from Americans as well as closing US citizen client accounts and forcing customers to take their business elsewhere.
Put bluntly, the act makes financial pariahs of US expats. Jatra’s’ team is working with Congressional committees and offices, other insiders, activists, think-tanks, the media and even the Trump administration in its attempt to get rid of the act as soon as is practicable. According to a report by International Investment, Jatra calculates billions of dollars are being spent on compliance with the law, along with billions of words attacking its format.
The campaign is hoping to have FATCA repeal included in Trump’s new tax bill expected to be signed within a few weeks. Green’s campaign isn’t alone in its determination to get rid of FATCA, with Republican elements opposing the law having already introduced a bill calling for its removal. One unexpected result of FATCA has been the unprecedented numbers of US citizens preferring to renounce their citizenship rather than comply with its draconian requirements. Shortly after the exodus began, the US government increased the cost of rejection of citizenship from $450 to $2,350 in the hope of stemming the rush, but applications have continued to rise.
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