The New York 16th District House Democratic Primary is on Tuesday, August 23, 2022. We strongly recommend signing up for an emailed ballot so you can print and return as quickly as possible to meet the strict deadlines. To find out more about voting in the August 23th Democratic primary, go to VoteFromAbroad.org
About the New York 16th Congressional District
The new New York 16th district boundaries were approved on May 23rd which spans part of the northern Bronx and the southern half of Westchester County. Click here to see a detailed map to see if you're a New York 16th district voter. This area of the country strongly votes Democrat, which means that the chances of a Democrat being elected in this seat is extremely high, so the real contest is the primary on August 23rd. This is why it's so important for you to not only vote in the general election, but also in the primary. To read more about this race click here.
Vedat Gashi
Once elected, will you:
Join the Congressional Americans Abroad Caucus?
Yes as a first generation American who has also lived and worked abroad, I know firsthand the importance of the work Americans do across multiple fields abroad. In many ways its America's greatest soft power to showcase such talented people working hard in the world and they deserve the support of our members of Congress.
Co-sign these bills that will help Americans abroad?
Yes, Americans working abroad are subjected to too many loopholes and red tape when it comes to finances, banking etc from both the United States and the host country and members of Congress should act to simplify and make things easier for them, when it comes to small businesses, student loans and of course the rights of our armed forces.
Yes
Yes, many of those working abroad face similar if not more complex tax situations so I would support anything to simplify that. Americans abroad also face issues such as inflation, high cost of living and economic insecurity that are core issues I plan to address as a member of Congress, which is why I am a strong supporter of the recent inflation reduction act, but we need to make sure we are doing everything we can to simplify the processes Americans abroad are facing when it comes to paying taxes.
Yes, without a doubt I am major supporter of Social Security, we need to do more to preserve the program and that Americans living abroad recieve their benefits.
Medicare portability: Would you support a pilot program allowing Americans currently receiving all or the majority of their Medicare benefits in the US to have the option of receiving these benefits overseas?
Yes, we need to make sure Americans living abroad that are entitled are getting their Medicare benefits. Expanding access to Medicare and lowering prescription drug prices are a central part of my platform. I was happy to see this as part of the recent Inflation Reduction Act, where Medicare is allowed to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies to lower the cost of prescription drugs, we need to make sure Americans living and working abroad get those benefits.
Residency-based taxation (RBT): A majority of Americans abroad are working and middle class but are subject to excessively complex filing requirements and tax treatment more punitive than if we lived in the US. We suffer from unfair and outdated stereotypes that we are moving abroad to evade paying US taxes, when research confirms that most Americans move abroad to marry a non-US spouse or for work. Would you support adjustments to the tax code that align tax residency with physical residency, provided that they are resilient against abuse and are beneficial to the Internal Revenue Service? Such a change is commonly known and used in the rest of the world as “residency-based taxation.”
Yes, I think this is long overdue to accommodate Americans working in all different fields and have all different types of personal arrangements that would come with living abroad are fairly paying taxes in the United States without discrimination and extra red tape.
Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR): The reporting threshold of $10,000 has not been adjusted for inflation since its introduction in the 1970s. Would you support creating a higher reporting threshold for Americans living abroad and indexing the reporting threshold for inflation?
Yes, another much needed change, inflation and high cost of living are major issues for Americans living abroad as well and we need to make sure they are incorporated in recent efforts to tackle inflation and receive the economic benefits they deserve having it even harder to run a business abroad trying to make a reasonable living. It shouldn't be seen as abandoning America but strengthening America when it comes to its role in the world, whether a student or a member of our Armed Forces, these are patriots.
Global Intangible Low-taxed Income (GILTI) & Repatriation: Will you support an exemption for small American business owners from the erroneous filing and double taxation from the GILTI tax and retrospective relief from the repatriation tax?
Yes
Overall: Will you keep Americans abroad in mind when passing all legislation to ensure no further unintended consequences negatively impact Americans living outside the United States?
Yes, without a doubt. As a first generation American who has lived the American Dream, I went back to my home country of Kosovo to work for the United Nations and was Chief Legal Advisor to the Prime Minister to help write laws and build institutions. Thus, I am in a unique situation to help Americans living abroad and will support legislation to support them but also make sure my office is available to help them working with our Embassies abroad to make sure they're getting the services from our federal government, I would be honored to have your endorsement.
*Democrats Abroad has not endorsed any candidate(s) and is committed to remaining neutral for the duration of the primary. ALL candidates for this race were invited to answer the list of questions. Candidate answers are published in the order received.