Democrats Abroad Taxation Task Force 2017 Year in Review
The DA Taxation Task Force ("Task Force") has had a frantic but productive year.
For the first time in over three decades Congress would be working on a complete overhaul of the tax system. We saw this is our best chance for really pushing our case for Residency Based Taxation as well as continuing our work on a Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act ( FATCA) fix.
- April 25 - Rep Carolyn Maloney, co-chair of the House Americans Abroad Caucus, introduces HR2136 “The Overseas Financial Access Act” which calls for the exemption of FATCA reporting by Overseas Americans.
- May 15 – The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee holds a hearing on FATCA. While Democrats Abroad's request to provide testimony at the hearing was rejected, we did make this submission to the Committee, and and a further submission in response to a request by the chair to provide three recommendations for remedying FATCA’s adverse consequence.
- May 18-19 - Congressional Door Knock that occurred just after then 2017 Global meeting in Washington DC (this is our presentation on Tax Advocacy to the Global Meeting) included discussions about FATCA. This statement was included in the Door Knock Leave Behind Pack.
- May 27 – Rep Carolyn Maloney re-introduces HR 2710 to establish a Commission to study the impact of Federal laws and regulations on Americans living abroad.
- June - DA’s 2017 Residency Based Taxation campaign is launched with a Congressional CallStorm asking members of Congress for support for Residency Based Taxation
- July 17- The DA submits to the Senate Finance Committee our recommendations for reforms to tax laws that have grave financial and personal impacts for Americans abroad, including a switch from Citizenship Based Taxation to Residency Based Taxation. You can find the submission here.
- September – Task force launches the Non-Resident Taxpayer Research Project, a survey of the tax filing and reporting experience of Americas living abroad.
- September 29 –Task Force holds global Tax Advocacy Webinar to update members on the tax reform process and DA’s plans to advocate for Residency Based Taxation. These are the presentation slides.
- October 3 – DA makes a further submission to the Senate Finance Committee calling for Residency Based Taxation. You can find the submission here.
- October 10 – DA publishes the results of the Non-Resident Taxpayer Research Project: Can We Please Stop Paying Twice?
- October – Task Force organizes another Congressional outreach campaign and CallStorm calling for Residency Based Taxation, ahead of a Capitol Hill Door Knock by the Task Force.
- October 17-18 - Task Force goes to Washington as work on tax legislation is heating up, to meet with both Democrats and Republicans and advocate for Residency Based Taxation. We distributed our “Can We Please Stop Paying Twice?” research report, a one page Report Summary, and a document Making the Case for Residency Based Taxation.
- November 7-9 - Task Force returns to Capitol Hill to lobby for Residency Based taxation, meeting with both Senators and House members in about 40 offices and distributing further documentation on how Residency Based Taxation might be implemented.
- November - Task Force organizes a November Congressional outreach campaign for activists to push for Residency Based Taxation to be included in the package of tax reforms.
- December – Task Force organizes a last ditch Congressional outreach campaign for activists to call their members of Congress asking them to reject the disastrous, all-for-the-rich tax bill drafted by Congressional Republicans with no input invited from Congressional Democrats.
- December 19th Congresswoman Dina Titus, (D-NV1), submitted an extension of Remarks into the Congressional Record slamming the GOP Tax Scam and calling out congress for not addressing the issues of double taxation and filing difficulties for Americans abroad.
- December 21: Rep Jamie Raskin, (D-MD8), submits an extension of remarks into the Congressional Record condemning the GOP Tax Scam and admonishing Congress for not addressing the issue of Citizenship Based Taxation which has inflicted so much damage to Americans living abroad.
By December 21stThe Republican Tax Scam was passed by both houses and was ready to be signed by Donald Trump.
On December 22nd Donald Trump signs the GOP tax bill, HR1 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, in to law.
At the start of 2018 the Taxation Task Force will be building a new tax advocacy strategy, incorporating both grassroots activism and Capitol Hill advocacy.
We would like to thank all of you who supported our efforts by making endless calls to your Members of Congress. Your calls have definitely made a difference! The offices we visited confirmed they have seen an uptick in the number of emails and calls they have received about the tax problems faced by Americans abroad.
We have another opportunity to persuade Congress to address the urgent need for a switch from Citizenship Based Taxation to Residency Based Taxation - in the “fix up” bill it will need to pass to address problems with the Act passed in such haste. But we have a lot of work to do. We look forward to your on-going support.
DA Taxation Task Force
[email protected]
Julia Bryan – ex-officio (Czech Republic)
DeeDee Gierow (Sweden)
Rebecca Lammer (UK)
Carmelan Polce – Chair (New York and Australia)
Michael Ramos (Australia)
Joe Smallhoover (France)
Orlando Vidal (UAE)