What FATCA Architect Elise Bean doesn't understand about FATCA

[@sveletemelody]

Elise Bean, a cold heartless monster.

[@agochoa]

No taxation without representation!!!!!!!! Don't these people in politics know their history????? Why is this even allowed??

[@jegl1012]

EB is clueless...no thought whatsoever was given to the impact on middle class americans abroad

[@mikebreen2890]

Two things stand out for me..... "People with the wherewithal to move overseas". The implication being these are smart people with money, ALL of them. That they left with their money and of course are evading US taxes. They deserve special treatment by the IRS. Her failure to understand that the vast majority of the 9 million don't need money or wherewithal to live overseas like the locals, and most do live modestly as locals. To her, these are all smart people who left with their wealth, as if that was a crime even if it were true. In my local town in the UK to where I have now returned, there is a campaign being waged to prevent the local bank branch being closed, which will cause particular hardship to the elderly in this very small town. Local branches are closing down all over the country and bank charges are rising. Of course, had it not been for the UK banks spending $700 per household(!!!) in this town in order to comply with FATCA, they would probably have not needed to close the branch. FATCA is not only affecting Americans. This vast amount of money being spent by the worlds banks is effecting everybody. Two......Her playing down the terrorising of millions while making their family lives impossible by stating that millions want to become US tax payers is the kind of argument I expect to see from some idiotic online troll. No Ms Bean, beating your dog because there is another waiting in the pound is not acceptable. Ms Bean represents the unacceptable face of US exceptionalism, an ugly bean counter (see what I did there?) with not a shred of humanity or common decency in her body. I don't believe she did conflate issues by accident though perhaps partly, I believe she deliberately tried to deceive while under oath in order to protect her FATCA baby regardless of it's financial idiocy or the massive human cost. If that young man next to her had reached out to his left and attempted to strangle her, I for one would not have condoned it but would have fully understood why.

[@LisadB5]

This woman is a NUT! She does not take into account anything and why Americans live overseas. Each situation is different

[@johnnyutah4584]

Elise has done more to bring down multi-jurisdictional retail banking than any woman in history. If it was not for her I would have never made a fortune in cryptocurrency. Historically, and in the contemporary, she will be remembered as the woman who helped popularize decentralization and cryptocurrency. Without her efforts, decentralized finance (globally) never would have been. And bitcoin would have an intrinsic value of 0. My money is now so secure and so secret it might as well be in a Black Hole. Blockchain assets are more secure than any Swiss bank ever was. Elise Bean, if you are reading, you are my hero. Especially to the yachting community in Monaco. French: Bisou Bisou!

[@M3nac3r]

#6: when foreigners move to the USA, they play by the USA's rules. When Americans move to a foreign country, that American should play by that foreign country's rules. Is that so hard for a lawyer to understand? The crux of the problem is we cannot play be two sets of rules. What our foreign country allows, the IRS takes away. What the IRS allows, the foreign tax service taxes away. The more complex the situation -- and please admit all our situations grow more complex as we grow our wealth and save for retirement -- the more difficult it becomes to make simple tax minimization decisions.

[@M3nac3r]

#13: most of we expats hate separating FATCA from CBT and FBAR. It all sucks.

[@M3nac3r]

#11: how about if Ms. Bean posts here for all to see all of her account details: names, numbers, transactions, balances, etc. That's basically what we do with FBAR. We submit all this information to our glorious government system in a PDF file, online. That's the system that cannot keep our Russian or any other hackers. Keep private information private. God she's stupid.

[@andrewf3957]

How about if the IRS also could impose the 30% withholding penalty on FFIs that discriminate against US-person clients? Low threshold (one complaint?) with a rebuttable presumption of guilt.

[@mikebreen2890]

Andrew.....Here's a simpler suggestion........If the USA would like to end the discrimination against Americans overseas, it could end it by ending it's own discrimination against Americans overseas! FATCA is not the first time the USA has abused the trust placed it under Bretton woods in order to get it's own way, it's just the latest and greatest following how they realised they could basically demand anything they like if they threaten the world with an economic nuclear bomb in the form of shutting them out of US markets if they don't comply. If the USA thinks banks and governments around the country are not working out ways to protect themselves from further extortion by the USA, the USA needs to think again. Every government and all directors of financial institutions on the planet will be looking at ways to protect themselves. The best way is to limit reliance on US markets and it's happening NOW! Further incentive for the world to look for alternatives to the US markets would not be the smartest of ideas for the USA, but given the likes of Ms Bean here, I wouldn't rule out your suggestion.

[@sandis7278]

​@@mikebreen2890 So it is actually part of FATCA from my understanding yet the IRS never enforces the 30% withholding for payments to a FFI if they denied or closed a bank account because they are a US person

[@Luwab]

I get her point about loyality. I am a US Citizen living in Germany since 20 years ( I am 24 ) now going through all that Streamlined Offshore Procedures etc. and I do feel as both an US and German Citizen. I did happily report my tax, income etc. but it is just so overly complicated and marking me as a criminal and getting treated as such right from the start by the IRS doesnt make it better. It is just sad.

[@gusbgguy9840]

Did this "thing" ever respond to this?

[@mikebreen2890]

I know that one well known person on this issue has emailed Bean with the latest abuse of US citizens abroad, Bean never replies.

[@gusbgguy9840]

By the way, you two, thanks!

[@irsmedic]

We don't like the IRS< but we do like spreading the message of the real risks and outrages it presents.

[@20kevron]

What is withholding tax?

[@mikebreen2890]

In this case it's a confiscation of other people's money.

[@mikebreen2890]

2,909 were pushed out of US citizenship last quarter.