Dems Abroad to mark int’l tax filing day with Congress ‘CallStorm’

International Tax Filing Day (June 15th) this year falls on a Saturday, so the CallStorm is scheduled for Thursday the 13th, to ensure the phone calls don’t go unanswered.

Earlier this week, the Democrats Abroad Tax Committee sent an email to its members asking them to “call your members of Congress and ask for their support for relief for Americans abroad from double taxation.”

Those interested in knowing more, the email said, could find all the details and information they’d need on the Democrats Abroad's website. 

“[Although] we’ve reached an important tax advocacy milestone in securing the support of Rep. Don Beyer [of Virginia] as a partner to Rep. George Holding [Republican from North Carolina] on the development of a Residency Based Taxation (RBT) bill... we need Americans abroad who feel strongly about the need for a switch to RBT [residence-based taxation] to reach out” to their elected representatives “in every state and district, about the need for change,” the email explains.

As reported, Rep. George Holding has been seeking a co-sponsor in the House Ways and Means Committee – which Beyer is – for his Tax Fairness for Americans Abroad bill. 

The Democrats Abroad has recently been focusing its advocacy efforts almost entirely on its call for a switch to a residence-based tax regime from the U.S.’s current citizenship-based tax system. Many experts have said such a change would address a host of other issues typically faced by Americans living overseas, including many of the problems stemming from the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act.

Last month, as reported, a number of DA members visited members of Congress over a three-day period, as part of its ongoing efforts to advocate for a switch to a residence-based tax regime from the U.S.’s current citizenship-based tax system. The U.S. is the only country in the world, apart from Eritrea, which taxes on the basis of citizenship, and as has often been reported in recent years, this has led to major problems for many individuals who happen to have American citizenship but who otherwise are citizens and taxpayers of other countries.

Last month's Capitol Hill "door-knock"  and other recent DA campaigns appear to be having an effect, as in addition to Rep. Beyer, such Democrats as Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin and Rep. Dina Titus, of Nevada have recently indicated their support for measures aimed at improving the lot of Americans living abroad.

A spokesman for the Trieste, Italy-born Rep. Beyer told this publication that the Virginia congressman was “very interested in this topic” as he has a number of constituents with family abroad or who themselves have moved abroad, “and he is sympathetic to their concerns as a former Ambassador.”