http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/politics/item/19072-gop-votes-to-end-tax-regime-that-is-crushing-americans-abroad
Indeed, aside from Uncle Sam, virtually every national government in the
world uses a residence-based tax system. The only other exception is
the ruthless gangster regime ruling the tiny African nation of Eritrea,
which, though less successful at collecting, also demands tribute from
citizens everywhere on Earth. In 2011, the United Nations Security
Council, with support from the Obama administration, blasted the
Eritrean dictatorship, saying it “condemns the use of the ‘Diaspora tax’
on Eritrean diaspora by the Eritrean Government … and decides that
Eritrea shall cease these practices.” The African dictator, however,
demands only a tiny fraction of what Uncle Sam seeks to extract from
U.S. citizens abroad.
...
Ironically, joining the rest of the civilized world by ending taxation
of citizens abroad would almost certainly provide huge benefits to the
federal government, too. “History reveals that replacing
Citizenship-Based Taxation with Residence-Based Taxation will raise net
Federal tax revenue because of increased economic growth,” the RNC said,
echoing numerous studies and analyses spotlighting the drag imposed on
the U.S. economy by the arcane taxation policies. Residence-based taxes
would also “significantly reduce IRS administrative expenses,” the
resolution explained.
...
Another one of the myriad benefits of adopting residence-based
taxation, sometimes abbreviated as RBT, would be the elimination of
“complex requirements and tax forms, such as the Foreign Account Tax
Compliance Act (‘FATCA’) and the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial
Accounts (‘FBAR’),” the RNC resolution states. As The New American reported in April as part of an in-depth investigation, the FATCA regime
— hidden inside a Democrat “jobs bill” and signed by Obama — has made
life overseas nearly impossible for countless Americans, now widely
regarded as “pariahs” by foreign banks and companies.
Among other focal points of the growing outrage, FATCA seeks to turn
every financial institution in the world into an unpaid agent of the IRS
— all in a supposed bid to collect less than $1 billion in additional
tax revenue each year (enough to run the federal government for a few
hours). If the institutions refuse, gigantic “withholding taxes” or
outright exclusion from U.S. markets would be applied, crippling any
business. So far, the roll-out of the new taxation regime has been an
unmitigated disaster, as even compliance mongers admit. Numerous banks,
for example, responded to the scheme by simply refusing to serve anyone
who holds U.S. citizenship or has permanent residence.
“The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), implemented as a
result of CBT, has caused banks, both U.S. and foreign, to deny access
to banking and other financial services to the 7.6 million Americans
overseas, thus denying employment and investment opportunities and
forcing them to choose between U.S. citizenship and their livelihood,”
the RNC said. Separately, the resolution noted, “the implementation of
FATCA to enforce CBT promotes the abandonment of the U.S. Dollar as the
global reserve currency and hurts the U.S. economy.”
...
While the taxation and FATCA resolutions are primarily addressed to
congressional lawmakers with the power to undo the damage, Republicans
are pursuing other options as well. Among the tactics: Republicans and
Americans living overseas are working to challenge the constitutionality of FATCA through the courts.
Outraged U.S. citizens and others in Canada are also pursuing a
judicial challenge there. The Obama administration, however, continues
to bully foreign governments into signing unconstitutional pseudo-treaties to advance the scheme.
More than a few experts predict that FATCA will eventually be
relegated to the ash heap of history. In the meantime, though, foreign
governments and international institutions, seizing on FATCA, are
working to create a truly global version of the scheme, which critics say could be more nightmarish than the original.
Americans concerned about jobs, privacy, the economy, overseas U.S.
citizens, the trade deficit, national sovereignty, the Constitution, the
separation of powers, the U.S. dollar, and economic competitiveness
should get involved.
...
Read the whole thing at the website....see how awful this is for Americans. There is, increasingly, no advantage to being a US citizen financially. And here is another link from an earlier article...
http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/foreign-policy/item/17435-new-u-s-tax-regime-trampling-rights-in-new-zealand-and-beyond
