FATCA obama era law wrecking havoc for accidental americans

[dilbert firestorm]

https://www.politico.eu/article/acci...-independence/

they should repeal that law.

its a stupid law all it did was stick some tax bills on people who aren't considered american.

other countries are raising this issue.

https://www.thelocal.fr/20190516/fra...ntal-americans

https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2019/0...th-washington/

[Tiny]

Foreign banks are turning away U.S. citizens because they don't want to comply with our regulatory bull shit because of FATCA.

As for people getting stuck with tax bills and heavy duty tax compliance obligations because they're accidental Americans, that's been going on a long time. Only the USA and Eritrea levy taxes on citizens who live abroad, making life very difficult for people who happen to be dual citizens. You've got somebody who's lived, say, in Britain all of his adult life except when he was an infant. He didn't file tax returns, or the infamous form FinCen 114 to report his non-U.S. bank accounts. He probably didn't know he was supposed to. The IRS if it catches him may take everything he's got, by charging multi-year penalties on his highest bank account balances for failure to pay U.S. taxes and submit the FinCen 114 annually.

[oeb11]

Tiny - Oh come On!!!

What "rational" DPST would ever protest increasing taxes - particularly on out of country non-involved individuals who are no threat to vote.!!!It is a total win for the DPST tax increase - All money belongs to the Gumint folks.

The only real problem the DPST's see is that the tax rate for these individuals is far too low.

There is money to0 be taxed!!!!!!!

[Tiny]

Originally Posted by oeb11

Tiny - Oh come On!!!

What "rational" DPST would ever protest increasing taxes - particularly on out of country non-involved individuals who are no threat to vote.!!!It is a total win for the DPST tax increase - All money belongs to the Gumint folks.

The only real problem the DPST's see is that the tax rate for these individuals is far too low.

There is money to0 be taxed!!!!!!!

I know someone who had a bank account when he lived in the U.K. for a couple of years. He didn't report his British bank account to the IRS, and had received about $50 in interest income from it he didn't report on his tax return. He came to the IRS later to correct the problem and they charged him penalties around $10,000 to $15,000. If he hadn't fessed up before they caught him, they would have charged him as much as $75,000. All that for not reporting $50 in income! They base the penalty for not reporting a foreign bank account at 50% of the maximum balance in the account, and will charge that for up to 3 years. They could actually charge a lot more than that under the law but don't.

[oeb11]

Tiny - thank You - interesting report - another example of our Taxation Loving DPST's

The Socialist Green Raw Deal will appropriate any and all wealth as Gummint property!

[rexdutchman]

Yeah, Money money money ,Tax's The socialists best friend

[Chung Tran]

Originally Posted by Tiny

I know someone who had a bank account when he lived in the U.K. for a couple of years. He didn't report his British bank account to the IRS, and had received about $50 in interest income from it he didn't report on his tax return. He came to the IRS later to correct the problem and they charged him penalties around $10,000 to $15,000. If he hadn't fessed up before they caught him, they would have charged him as much as $75,000. All that for not reporting $50 in income! They base the penalty for not reporting a foreign bank account at 50% of the maximum balance in the account, and will charge that for up to 3 years. They could actually charge a lot more than that under the law but don't.

are you certain? did you mean to say 50% of the amount of tax due, not the account balance?

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/importa...ying-penalties

your scenario doesn't make sense.. if anyone can link legal language to support the post, please do so.

[Tiny]

Originally Posted by Chung Tran

are you certain? did you mean to say 50% of the amount of tax due, not the account balance?

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/importa...ying-penalties

your scenario doesn't make sense.. if anyone can link legal language to support the post, please do so.

Chung Tran, This explains it in layman's terms:

FBAR Penalties. The penalties for failure to file an FBAR are worse than tax penalties. Failing to file an FBAR can carry a civil penalty of $10,000 for each non-willful violation. But if your violation is found to be willful, the penalty is the greater of $100,000 or 50 percent of the amount in the account for each violation—and each year you didn’t file is a separate violation.

I pulled it from https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertw.../#25a2cdec363c

Here's a link to the IRS web site, that shows the penalty is now the GREATER OF $129,210 or 50% of the maximum bank or brokerage account balance for willful violations:

https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small...-accounts-fbar

If you did some combination of the following, I imagine they'd find the violation to be willful,

Failed to report the income on your tax return
Failed to check the box on your Form 1040 saying you have a foreign bank or brokerage account
Failed to file the FBAR, or FinCen 114 Form, reporting the existence and maximum value in each of your foreign bank and brokerage accounts

If you've got a foreign account and not reported it, you should take a look at the IRS's voluntary disclosure program. If you bring the failure to file to their attention before they catch it, they'll charge about 25% of the maximum balance for just one year, which could represent substantial savings over what they'd charge if they catch you.