Table of Contents
General Media Articles
The purpose of this page is to collect links to media articles and other sources that can be shared on Twitter and Facebook to help convince others that FATCA and CBT should be eliminated. When entering a link, please provide a short sentence describing the content (dates are helpful).
Articles specific to Australia can be found here.
FATCA
- FATCA Explained in 4 Minutes video (YouTube) - satire, gets the point across about US exceptionalism. Posted Nov 2013
- FATCA Hurts Law-Abiding Americans Living Abroad (The Heritage Foundation) - Report on the forced renunciations of Americans overseas due to the compliance burdens and banking lockout caused by FATCA and CBT. Dated 10 June 2014
- Taxing America’s diaspora: FATCA’s flaws (The Economist) - Article on the hypocrisy and destructiveness of FATCA. Dated 28 June 2014
- British public footing a £1bn bill - to aid the US taxman (The Telegraph) - Reports on the costs to the UK economy and British taxpayers of complying with FATCA and hunting for people with US indicia. Dated 4 July 2014
- American Expats' Tax Nightmare (Wall Street Journal) - Opinion piece on FATCA worsening the USA's already-unjust treatment of citizens abroad. Dated 9 July 2014
- 'I was terrified we'd lose all our money': banks tell US customers they won't work with Americans (the Guardian) - British newspaper article on banks locking out Americans living abroad. Dated 24 September 2014
- An American Tax Nightmare (New York Times) - Opinion piece on the 'unintended consequences' of FATCA and the need for repeal. Dated 13 May 2015
- US threatens to close expats' UK accounts (The Telegraph) - Article about UK banks closing the accounts of UK expats resident in the US due to FATCA. Dated 7 August 2015
- Is FATCA chasing a leprechaun and his pot of gold? (Cayman Financial Review) - article by William Byrnes of Texas A&M University about the costs/benefits of FATCA. Dated 19 August 2015
- The law that makes US expats Toxic (Wall Street Journal) dated 10 October 2015. (pdf)
- Accord between Unia and a bank to terminate a lawsuit claiming discrimination based on nationality. (not technically media - UNIA is a Belgian anti-discrimination authority). Article details Belgian settlement regarding discrimination against US Persons due to FATCA. Dated 28 Sept 2016
- My Big Fatca IRS (Wall Street Journal) - Opinion piece on FATCA damage, mentioning the IRS's own criticism of FATCA. Dated 1 March 2017
- Destructive 'fat cat' tax law a complete flop. It's time to repeal it. (The Hill) - Opinion from Jim Jatras on the need to repeal FATCA. Dated 26 April 2017
- FATCA: The Obama Tax Law Destroying Millions of Innocent Americans (The New American) - Seven-minute video by Alex Newman on the damage wrought by FATCA. Posted on 2 May 2017
FATCA Good intentions with bad execution. (US Funds)
Reciprocity and Responses from other Governments
- Some Canadian bank record information being sent directly to IRS (CBC) - Article about Canadians' banking records being sent straight to the IRS without the CRA's knowledge, due to FATCA. Dated 25 April 2017
- EU Politicians Step Up Pressure for U.S. FATCA Reciprocity (Bloomberg/BNA) - “European politicians are looking to force U.S. banks to exchange tax data with governments within the 28-nation bloc.” Dated 5 May 2017
Tax Haven USA
- Loophole USA: the vortex-shaped hole in global financial transparency Blog post by Tax Justice Network originally dated January 2015, but updated with links to various news articles calling the US the world's biggest tax haven. Latest update Jan 2017.
- The U.S. is one of the world's biggest tax havens (The Chicago Tribune) - Article on how the US has become a top tax haven by refusing to reciprocate under FATCA and failing to sign up to CRS. Dated 6 April 2016
- EU Politicians Step Up Pressure for US FATCA Reciprocity Dated 5 May 2017
FATCA Repeal
- Congress on Track to Repeal Unfair FATCA Taxation of Americans Abroad (RepealFatca.com) Arguments for repealing FATCA - illustrated with albatross in place of eagle on US passport. Posted 10 April 2017
- The Unintended Consequences of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (YouTube) Video of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform's hearing 'Reviewing the Unintended Consequences of FATCA', held at 2pm on Wednesday 26 April 2017 by the Subcommittee on Government Operations, chaired by Congressman Mark Meadows. Audio starts at 14:50. Streamed live and posted on 26 April 2017
- Is It Time to Repeal FATCA? (The New American) Opinion piece by Veronique de Rugy citing issues of privacy, imperialism, compliance costs, renunciations, and reciprocal agreements. Dated 27 April 2017
- Obama IRS shares private financial data with foreign tyrants. (The New American) Opinion piece by Alex Newman citing the unconstitutional IGA treaties requiring reciprocal agreements. Dated 21 January 2015
- Stop the FATCA Horror Show. (The New American) Opinion piece by Alex Newman : FATCA may be coming to an end. With President Donald Trump in the White House and Republicans in charge of both houses of Congress, critics and victims of the scheme, dubbed the “the worst law most Americans have never heard of,” are launching a fresh push for repeal. Dated 21 January 2015
- Americans abroad lobby for tax changes Discusses both FATCA repeal and problems of CBT. Dated 5 April 2017
- Tax Reform and a Future for FATCA Dated April 2017
- Is FATCA ‘Much Ado About Nothing’? Is FATCA’s Tax Revenue Going to Offset Its IRS and Industry Costs? Short piece by William Byrnes citing his paper on FATCA and pointing out the high cost and low/non-existent benefit of FATCA.
Citizenship Taxation (CBT)
- To Become British Because of Tax (New York Times) Complaints about double taxation from the early 20th Century. Dated 7 March 1914
- Tax Me Once, Shame on You . . . by Daniel J. Mitchell (Washington Post) Fairly early article arguing that citizenship taxation makes Americans uncompetitive abroad. Written mainly from the point of view of the short term expat as it does not consider unearned income or retirement savings. Focus is on foreign unearned income exclusion. 28 June 2006
- US expat tax law proves unfair intrusion (Global Times) - Article from a Chinese news site about FATCA worsening the already-unfair situation of CBT and double taxation affecting Americans abroad, and the resulting danger of the US destroying and alienating its diaspora. Dated 5 November 2014
- US expatriates’ taxing questions (Financial Times) - Article about CBT complexity, compliance and filing costs, enforcement through FATCA, accidental Americans, and increasing renunciations. Dated 8 April 2015
- Understanding the Accidental American: Tina's Story (YouTube) - Talk by Professor Alison Christians on 18 November 2015 at the International Conference on Taxpayer Rights in Washington, DC, in which she explains some of the unintended effects of CBT and implications for taxpayer rights. Posted 5 July 2016
- What Foreign Expats in U.S. Have That American Expats Don’t Compares the situation of US expats with that of foreigners living in the US. References a report by HSBC on the expat experience - article includes income distribution of US expats in 2015. Dated 23 October 2015
- Britain’s Boris Johnson renounces U.S. citizenship (The Japan Times) - Article about accidental American Boris Johnson's renunciation being due to citizenship-based taxation, which resulted in the US forcing him to pay US tax on the sale of his London home. Dated 9 February 2017
- Expat Taxes Citizenship. (CNN)
- Expat Taxes Citizenship. (CNN)
- Expat Taxes Citizenship. (CNN)
- Expat Taxes Citizenship. (CNN)
- Expat Taxes Citizenship. (CNN)
- Expat Taxes Citizenship. (CNN)
- Expat Taxes Citizenship. (CNN)
- Expat Taxes Citizenship. (CNN)
- Expat Taxes Citizenship. (CNN)
Justification for CBT
- End the American Expat Tax - Bloomberg editorial advocating the end of CBT. Dated 24 April 2015
- GOP Votes to End Tax Regime That Is Crushing Americans Abroad (The New American) - Article on the Republican National Committee's unanimous vote to support ending citizenship-based taxation because of damage to Americans overseas, the US economy and jobs, and the dollar’s reserve currency status. Dated 8 September 2014
Double Taxation
- Mister Taxman: Why Some Americans Working Abroad Are Ditching Their Citizenships (Time Magazine) - Article on Americans giving up citizenship in increasing numbers due to FATCA, double taxation and compliance/filing complexity. Dated 31 January 2013
- Overtaxed and over there (The Economist) - Article on double taxation and compliance causing US citizens abroad to renounce. Dated 12 October 2013
- The 40pc tax hit for Britain's 200,000 Americans (The Telegraph) - Article on American-born UK citizens being locked out of and punitively taxed on Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs, which are tax-deferred accounts encouraged by the UK government for retirement saving) due to FATCA and US citizenship-based taxation. Dated 16 October 2016
PFICs
- Will my Isa accounts be taxed when I go to live in the US? (Financial Times) - Article about UK ISAs (Individual Savings Accounts, which are tax-deferred and promoted by the UK government) being treated as Passive Foreign Investment Companies by the US government. Dated 27 November 2015
Compliance Issues
- How FATCA and FBAR made American taxes FUBAR (Crunch) - Accounting magazine article highlighting the extreme costs and complexity of compliance for Americans living overseas, due to FATCA, FBAR, and citizenship-based taxation. Dated 7 December 2015
Renunciation
- Why are Americans giving up their citizenship? (BBC News) - Feature article about more Americans renouncing due to extreme compliance costs and FBAR penalty fears. Dated 27 September 2013
- Why I gave up my US passport (BBC News) - Published comments from readers about the earlier feature article, 'Why are Americans giving up their citizenship?' (27 September 2013) which attracted many responses. Dated 2 October 2013
- Dear Son, Why You Should Leave America Now (Forbes article by Robert Wood) - Letter from father to son about why the son should renounce. Dated 12 Sept 2014
- The US government’s stupid tax war on expatriates (Market Watch) - Opinion piece on US citizenship renunciations, including that of Boris Johnson, increasing due to double taxation, compliance, FBAR penalties, banking/investment lockout, and being stripped of constitutional rights. Dated 23 February 2015
- Why expat Americans are giving up their passports (BBC News) - Article about the record-breaking 4,279 reported renunciations in 2015 and the on-going yearly increases, citing double taxation and banking lockout, and highlighting accidental Americans. Dated 9 February 2016
- Why Americans are giving up citizenship in record numbers (The Washington Post) - Article about citizenship renunciations due to FATCA, FBAR penalties, extraterritorial taxation and banking lockout. Dated 1 June 2016
- Why Americans Renounce Their Citizenship (VICE online) - Article on renunciations increasing due to FATCA and America's rare practice of citizenship-based taxation. Dated 18 July 2016
- 'I had to pay £8,200 to escape draconian US tax system' (The Telegraph) - British newspaper article about what one accidental American had to do to enter the US tax system in order to renounce. Dated 23 October 2016
- Brit Boris Johnson Renounces America; Why We Should Care (Forbes) - Opinion piece on Boris Johnson's renunciation, mentioning US taxation of the UK homes of UK-resident UK citizens, and the spike in renunciants due to FATCA and banking lockout. Dated 9 February 2017
- A potentially historic number of people are giving up their U.S. citizenship (The Washington Post) - Article on the 5,411 renunciations documented in 2016, citing citizenship-based taxation and FATCA as the main reasons for renunciation figures breaking new records every year. Dated 10 February 2017
- Record Number Of Americans Are Renouncing Their Citizenship, And It's Not Because Of Trump (GOOD Magazine) - Article that discusses the unprecedented renunciations in 2016 including that of Boris Johnson, and explains the process of renunciation. Dated 4 April 2017
- How America Holds Its Expats Hostage On Tax Day (DalyKos) - Article on the renunciation trap for American citizens overseas.
- Top 5 Famous People Renounce US Citizenship (Nomad Capitalist) - Famous people renouncing… Dated 8 December 2013
- More Americans Renouncing Their US Citizenship - Here's why... (USA Today) - Infamous Herb Jackson (Democratic reporter) article painted renunciants as tax avoiders and then tried to imply that the surge was due to Trump. Original article has a video that used headlines such as “Many people may be trying to avoid tax obligations” and then said that “More than half of which (renunciations) occurred in the 4th quarter, Most of which was after the election.” After our outcry, USA Today removed the video sidebar. Dated 9 February 2017
- Boris Johnson Renounces US Citizenship (Guardian) Date 8 February 2017
Tax Reform
- How to Make Tax Reform Bipartisan (WSJ) Article on what it will take to get bipartisan tax reform. Shows both sides' concerns. Dated 2 April 2017
- Can Trump Solve the Rubiks Cube of Tax Reform (NY Times) - Perspective of the complexities of Tax Reform. Dated 11 April 2017
- Democrats block Tax Reform as leverage to get Trump's tax returns. (Salon) - Democrats' obstructionism on Tax Reform - use Trump's tax returns as a stall.. Dated 4 April 2017
- The Tax Reform No One Talks About (American Thinker) - Explains CBT and why reform is needed in a clear and concise article. Dated 18 May 2017
- Options for Reforming America's Tax Code (Tax Foundation) Examination of the options for tax reform. Not a media article, but parked it here until we decide where it should go.