As reported at the Isaac Brock Society, the “International Taxation Committee” has released it’s report on tax reform. In spite of the fact that more than 3/4 of the submissions were from Overseas Americans, the committee, acknowledged, but failed to address the intolerable treatment of Americans abroad.
As barely, a footnote, the Committee ended with:
F. Overseas Americans
According to working group submissions, there are currently 7.6 million American citizens living outside of the United States. Of the 347 submissions made to the international working group, nearly three-quarters dealt with the international taxation of individuals, mainly focusing on citizenship-based taxation, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), and the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR).
While the co-chairs were not able to produce a comprehensive plan to overhaul the taxation of individual Americans living overseas within the time-constraints placed on the working group, the co-chairs urge the Chairman and Ranking Member to carefully consider the concerns articulated in the submissions moving forward.
What does this mean?
At a bare minimum it means that:
1. The “International Committee” views its purpose as dealing with “corporate interests” and not “individual interests”.
2. The “International Committee” views DNA Americans as less important than “Corporate Americans”.
3. The “International Committee” has acknowledged the urgency of the situation “for the international taxation of individuals, mainly focusing on citizenship-based taxation, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), and the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR).”
Remember that many of the same submissions that were sent to the “International Committee” were also sent to the committee focusing on “Taxation of Individuals“. It’s difficult to see how the issues of individual Americans abroad could not have been addressed further by that Committee. Yet, it appears that the issues of Americans were not even mentioned.
In other words, the only mention of the taxation of Americans abroad appears in the above excerpt from the “International Group”.
In terms of where to go from here …
1. There will (in the very near future) be a lawsuit launched in the United States against the most egregious aspects of U.S. TAX policy, as they relate to ALL PEOPLE deemed to be “U.S. persons” who reside outside the United States.
2. The lawsuit is likely to, in addition to issues of taxation, include issues related to the “forced imposition of U.S. citizenship” on people who do NOT regard themselves as U.S. citizens or “U.S. persons”. Can the United States deem people to be “U.S. persons” when they believe that they are not?
3. The lawsuit will NOT be run by or through the “Alliance For The Defence of Canadian Sovereignty” (which will “stay at home” dealing with our FATCA lawsuit). It will be run by and funded by a different organization.
4. We hope for the support of all the various groups deemed by the U.S. Government to be “Americans abroad”. “If Americans abroad do NOT hang together, they will hang separately“.
Evaluating your personal situations …
It’s obvious that “U.S. citizenship abroad” lies somewhere between “difficult and impossible” (depending on your personal circumstances). The report from the “International Committee” suggests that the “plight of Americans abroad” is NOT likely to get better soon. This reality raises the obvious question of whether it’s safe to retain U.S. citizenship in a FATCA and FBAR world.
Stay tuned.
John Richardson
P.S. Here are the report from the International Committee and all the other committees.
The International Tax Bipartisan Tax Working Group Report
The reports from all the Committees are here.
Specifically:
The Individual Tax Bipartisan Tax Working Group Report
The Business Income Bipartisan Tax Working Group Report
The Community Development & Infrastructure Bipartisan Tax Working Group Report
The Savings & Investment Bipartisan Tax Working Group Report
The International Tax Bipartisan Tax Working Group Report
It is very clear that the collectively the Committee does not understand the urgency of tax reform in general. As goes taxation, so go civilizations. The greatest threat to the survival of America is NOT external. It’s the Internal Revenue Code of the United States.
adcsovereignty
GwEvil
Patricia Moon
stephenkishadcs
trishmoon
Alliance for the Defence of Canadian Sovereignty 
I am so ready to file this suit, YESTERDAY. I will do ANYTHING to help you get it funded. (Too bad I am not still young and pretty). It would be fabulous to get it publicized and in the works while the next presidential debates are in full swing. This must be a platform issue.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“2. The lawsuit is likely to include issues related to the “forced imposition of U.S. citizenship” on people who do NOT regard themselves as U.S. citizens or “U.S. persons”.”
Does this mean the lawsuit will be focused on, and limited to, only so-called “accidental Americans?”
Or will the lawsuit include ordinary Joe Six-Pack expats who left the US as adults, albeit decades ago?
LikeLike
To put it another way, is this CBT lawsuit for all Americans permanently living outside the United States?
Or is this a carve-out for so-called accidentals?
LikeLike
See updates to 1 and 2 above:
1. There will (in the very near future) be a lawsuit launched in the United States against the most egregious aspects of U.S. TAX policy, as they relate to ALL PEOPLE deemed to be “U.S. persons” who reside outside the United States.
2. The lawsuit is likely to, in addition to issues of taxation, include issues related to the “forced imposition of U.S. citizenship” on people who do NOT regard themselves as U.S. citizens or “U.S. persons”. Can the United States deem people to be “U.S. persons” when they believe that they are not?
LikeLike
So the CBT lawsuit includes Joe Six-Pack expats who emigrated from the US as adults. Yes or No?
Please forgive me for asking so many times, but I am not so clever to understand the gymnastics-like language of lawyers.
LikeLike
Walt, I am not a lawyer. “ALL PEOPLE deemed to be……….”
LikeLike
Good luck. The irony is the universal tax jurisdiction was an invention to assist in ending slavery — it was meant to punish union draft dodgers who left the US, often for Canada during the civil war. No, with the civil war over, one would think the rationale for universal tax jurisdiction would evaporate as well.
LikeLike
I hope the old adage applies – The best way to get rid of a bad law is to enforce it.
LikeLike