FATCA Information

Like me, scores of expats in Mexico got blindsided by the Banamex closing of accounts and did not know where to go for information. Our formerly convenient banking has been disrupted by FATCA, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act of 2010. This federal law was passed to crack down on the use of offshore banks, particularly in Zurich and Geneva, to hide taxable assets. While it is “the most important and controversial development in decades in the international fight against tax evasion,” its global reach and high cost of compliance has caused disruption and “fear and loathing” by moneymen as well as ordinary, law abiding U.S. citizens. I hope you will find these links helpful:

American Citizens Abroad. http://americansabroad.org/issues/fatca/

Berwick, Jeff. The dollar vigilante blog. "Breaking News: US Expats in Mexico Left Stranded In Latest FATCA Escalation." http://dollarvigilante.com/blog/2014/6/4/breaking-news-us-expats-in-mexico-left-stranded-in-latest-fa.html

Re Banamex: Corkery, Michael and Jessica Silver Greenberg. Citigroup Affiliate’s Troubles Multiply as Money-Laundering Subpoenas Follow Fraud. New York Times, 2014-03-03. http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/03/03/citigroup-discloses-money-laundering-subpoenas/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

Democrats Abroad.
https://www.democratsabroad.org/
https://www.democratsabroad.org/group/fbarfatca/july-2014-reforming-fatca-same-country-exception
_______"2014 Report to Members by the FBAR/FATCA Taskforce." Google for pdf.

Economist. Tax evasion: “Dropping the bomb. America’s fierce campaign against tax cheats is doing more harm than good.” The Economist, 2014-06-28. http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21605911-americas-fierce-campaign-against-tax-cheats-doing-more-harm-good-dropping
_______ "FATCA's flaws." America’s new law on tax compliance is heavy-handed, inequitable and hypocritical. The Economist, 2014-06-28. http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21605907-americas-new-law-tax-compliance-heavy-handed-inequitable-and-hypocritical-fatcas-flaws

Internal Revenue Service. http://www.irs.gov/
_______ "Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act." http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Corporations/Foreign-Account-Tax-Compliance-Act-FAT
_______ Statement of IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. 2014-06-18. http://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/Statement-of-IRS-Commissioner-John-Koskinen

King, Brett. "When HSBC Closes Your Bank Account Without Telling You." HuffingtonPost, 2013-11-29. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brett-king/when-hsbc-closes-your-ban_b_4362504.html
_______Banking4Tomorrow. http://www.banking4tomorrow.com

U.S. Department of the Treasury. “Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act” (FATCA). http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/tax-policy/treaties/Pages/FATCA.aspx

Wikipedia. “Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Account_Tax_Compliance_Act

Wood, Robert W. “FATCA Carries Fat Price Tag.” Forbes, 2011-11-30. http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2011/11/30/fatca-carries-fat-price-tag/2/