The Democrats Abroad Taxation Task Force will be meeting with Members of Congress in Washington DC face-to-face from September 9-13. We want to hand deliver your tax and financial access horror story to Congressional staff and Members of Congress.
We are particularly interested in stories relating to areas where we are currently actively engaging with Congressional and agency staff. These include FBAR reporting, Foreign trusts, PFICs and renunciation of US citizenship.
Share your story here and follow these 2 easy steps:
- Tell us your House Representative's name. (If you don't know, click here and search for your last US address or your US voting address, or your parent's last US address if you have never lived in the US.)
- Your tax and/or financial access story. Whatever pain points or problems you've experienced, we want to hear it.
Here are a few examples (you can make yours as long or as short as you want):
- Name and Location: Peggy Johnson in Germany
- House Rep's Name: Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL20)
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Story: I've lived abroad for 20 years and I've never been able to open a German bank account. Banks don't want to deal with Americans because of the burden of reporting to US authorities and fear of fines if they get it wrong. I've had to use a bank account under my German husband's name. What happens if my husband dies or we get a divorce? How do I manage my finances then?
- Name and Location: John Cann in Canada
- House Rep's Name: Mike Thompson (CA4)
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Story: I opened a Canadian tax-free savings account (TFSA), which is similar to a Roth IRA retirement account in the US. In Canada, contributions to the TFSA are taxed but capital gains and withdrawals are tax free. I then found out the IRS considers this to be a passive foreign investment company (PFIC), so I'm taxed at income tax rates on all gains in the account. I closed the TFSA, but not before I had to pay $3,000 to an expensive accountant to file complicated IRS forms I couldn't figure out how to do myself. Now my money just sits in my regular account. How am I supposed to save for my future?
- Name and Location: Carol Waters in Singapore
- House Rep's Name: Dan Goldman (NY10)
- Story: I've run a bakery for over a decade and set up my business as a local Singapore company. In 2018 I got hit with the Repatriation Tax and now I have to pay the GILTI tax so I can't afford it. This is incredibly unfair on a small business like mine. How am I to keep up with these complicated tax filings when I have a business to run?
Fill out this form to share your tax story with us so we can share it during our meetings in September. Only by sharing your stories can we best articulate the problems and seek legislative solutions for Americans abroad tax and financial access issues.
P.S. Feel free to share this page with a friend or family member that'd be interested in sharing their story.