After a Washington DC judge on Wednesday dismissed a crowd-funded legal challenge brought last year by a Paris-based organization of accidental Americans and around nine co-plaintiffs over the way their ability to "voluntarily expatriate" had become all-but-impossible – which they said was a violation of the U.S. Constitution – the plaintiffs gave notice yesterday of their plans to appeal.
An appeals court in Ottawa has affirmed the constitutionality of the way the Canadian government allows Canadian financial institutions to share the information of their U.S. account-holders with the authorities in the U.S., ending the latest round of a years-long battle by two U.S. born Canadian women who are known informally to their supporters as "Gwen and Kazia."
(..as FATCA critics respond with calls for immediate EU action)
A new report by a European Parliamentary think tank that had been commissioned by the Parliament's Committee on Petitions (PETI) to "update" a previous report on the subject of "FATCA Legislation and its Application at the International and EU Level" is being welcomed by FATCA critics in Europe for its acknowledgement of certain concerns about the way the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act is implemented that the original report didn't fully identify.
Citigroup, the New York-based, NYSE-listed, multinational banking company that many U.S. expats still have accounts with, has announced that it is planning to close its UK retail banking operations, in its latest move away from retail banking, and towards increasing its focus on its wealthiest customers.
In her midyear report to Congress back in June, the National Taxpayer Advocate noted that of some 73 million calls the IRS received, only about one in 10 actually reached an IRS employee, around the same percentage as had been reported during the previous tax season. But the time the average taxpayer spent waiting on hold this year "rose from 20 minutes to 29 minutes," NTA Erin Collins said.
Many U.S. expats are still enjoying the sense that the annual nightmare of getting their American taxes done has come and gone, and they have a few months of peace before they need to begin worrying again. Others still have a few loose ends to tie up, and are keeping an eye on the final deadline for these left-to-complete bits that is moving ever closer by the day. (Monday, Oct. 17, in case you're wondering...)
Recently, a reader of the American Expat Financial News Journal got in touch to say that they were in the process of beginning to plan for Tax Year 2022 – and as part of this, wanted to know what help, if any, they might be able to get from a component of the IRS known as the "Taxpayer Advocate Service".
The Blacktower Financial Management Group, a formerly mostly British-expat focused, pan-European financial advisory business based in Gibraltar and the UK, today unveiled plans to assist U.S. nationals relocating to Portugal, as part of its growing U.S.-expat-focused business.
Many U.S. expats are still enjoying the sense that the annual nightmare of getting their American taxes done has come and gone, and they have a few months of peace...
Sep-13-2022
