Thanks to all who participated in the Congressional CallStorm organized by Democrats Abroad to mark the 2019 International Tax Filing Day. With the help of all you expat tax activists we continue to build the profile of Americans abroad struggling to comply with double taxation and to bring our problems to the attention of members of Congress in both parties and across both chambers. We need the support of all those interested in expat tax reform in order to make it happen. Thanks again for your support.
Tax Treaties at last on the Congressional agenda
You may be aware that since Senator Rand Paul took office in 2006 he has blocked all tax treaties from coming to the floor of the U.S. Senate for a vote. During this time tax treaties between the U.S and Hungary, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Chile, Spain, Poland, Japan and Portugal (at least) have been stuck in limbo, not to mention reforms made to the Model U.S. tax treaty. We recommend that all Americans abroad who vote in Kentucky to contact Sen. Paul and urge him to lift his holds on these treaties.
This week the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is expected to begin consideration of the treaties with Hungary, Chile, Spain, Japan and Portugal. Double taxation treaties address a range of matters that impact U.S. citizens living abroad, most especially the treatment of savings and retirement plans that receive beneficial tax treatment in our countries of residence but no favorable treatment under the U.S. tax system. When U.S. tax treaties are silent on this matter they leave payments made from foreign pensions, including those to which we may be legally mandated to contribute, subjected to double taxation.
It’s perhaps too early to anticipate those eight treaties moving closer to a floor vote in the Senate, but reporting suggests Sen. Paul is meeting with Treasury Sec. Steven Mnuchin to discuss his privacy concerns. We are following this issue and look forward to reporting back.
Americans abroad on Capitol Hill
Democrats Abroad gives an enormous shout out to our colleagues at Association of Americans Resident Overseas (AARO) and Federation of American Women’s Clubs Overseas (FAWCO) for their amazing week of meetings on Capitol Hill about expat tax reform. DA’s Tax Task Force was pleased to brief some members of their delegation and share with them an extensive list of members of Congress for them to meet (including names of key aides to speak to). We have since de-briefed with them and, to put it very briefly, they learned that: a) our concerns and recommendations are getting through to Congressional tax writers, and b) there remain a few outliers who either CONTINUE to harbor major misunderstandings about the demographics of Americans abroad or have concerns that RBT will open the flood gates to mass exploitation by wealthy Americans using real or faux off-shore residency to move assessable income to low-tax or no-tax countries.
Yes, we’ve heard it all before but at least these prejudices are well outside the mainstream.
Big, big THANK YOU to AARO and FAWCO for hitting it hard and fighting the good fight for a switch from citizenship-based taxation to residency-based taxation, financial account reporting reform and more. Heroic work by excellent colleagues (who, like us, are volunteers and) who share our goal of persuading Congress to fix the Internal Revenue Code and other laws and regulations that cause serious personal and financial harm to Americans living abroad.
Treasury announces more changes to GILTI regs
It’s been almost 18 months since Americans who own companies registered abroad were shocked to learn of two new taxes in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) that could destroy not only their businesses but also their life savings. Regulations implementing the Repatriation Tax and GILTI Tax announced last year failed to provide material relief to Americans abroad. Last Friday June 14th Treasury issued “final regulations” on GILTI, Subpart F income and tax credits. You can read about them here (IRS and Treasury advice) or here (The Tax Adviser tax blog).
Disclaimer:
Democrats Abroad does not provide personal advice on tax matters.
Tax advice should be obtained from a qualified tax professional (accountant, lawyer, adviser or return preparer) who understands both the U.S. tax system and the tax system of the country where the taxpayer lives (including any applicable tax treaty).
If you need tax advice Democrats Abroad recommends the Tax Return Preparer Directory published by our colleagues in expat tax advocacy, American Citizens Abroad. Click here to reference their directory.
Please send comments or questions to [email protected].
DEMOCRATS ABROAD TAXATION TASK FORCE