# Interesting article on FATCA in The Economist



## Bevdeforges

Not sure how available the articles in The Economist are to non-subscribers, but there is an interesting article this week on FATCA.
Tax evasion: Dropping the bomb | The Economist

A couple quotes to give you an idea:



> FATCA has already sent a chill through the 7m Americans who live abroad. Thousands have been told by their local banks and investment advisers that they no longer want their custom because it is too much hassle. Many others will now have to spend thousands of dollars to straighten out their paperwork with the IRS, even if they owe no tax (and most do not, since they will have paid a greater amount abroad, which counts as a credit against tax owed in America).
> 
> A record 2,999 of these exasperated expats renounced their citizenship or green cards in 2013. More than 1,000 did so in the first quarter of 2014. (Before FATCA the number was a few hundred a year.)





> As more countries are pushed to share tax information systematically, the focus will turn to America’s willingness (or lack of it) to reciprocate. Latin Americans, for instance, are big users of banks in Florida, but America remains choosy about which governments it will share data with, and how much. It also has only limited information to give on the owners of shell companies because it does not collect their names itself. In some respects, America is less upright than the tax havens it deplores.


There is also some information about the OECD proposal for sharing of tax information among governments - significantly enough "residence based" rather than citizenship based.

Anyhow - for your edification and amusement.
Cheers,
Bev


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## Nononymous

Today is July 1st. Happy Canada Day! Happy FATCA Day! Happy oh-the-irony day!

At some point very soon I'm going to try to open a free bank account somewhere, to see if there's a citizenship question, and more importantly, to see if the bank wants to validate the answer. (In other words, do they care if you lie, or does merely asking count as compliance?)


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## Bevdeforges

Just to add to your celebration of FATCA day, there is an article in today's NY Times about the amazingly p. poor state of the IRS (and other US government) computers, particularly with regard to backup systems and procedures. 

Should be interesting to see what happens with the latest "onslaught" of information on overseas account holders. (That is, if you aren't already banking with a strictly local bank that is exempt from the requirements.)
Cheers,
Bev


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