eBook | Foreign Asset Reporting: Navigating the Choppy Financial Seas.

Don’t Mistake “GIIN” For Gin Or You May Suffer More Than Just a Hangover!

In a recent blog entitled, “FATCA GIIN January 2015 FFI Registration Analysis … by the numbers,” Professor William Byrnes provides a brilliant commentary on the IRS’s publication of its first FATCA GIIN list of the new year (published on New Years Day!). The FATCA GIIN list is a list of “approved FFIs (Foreign Financial Institutions)” that have registered […]

US Automatic Exchange of Bank Information to 86 Foreign Countries in 2015

In a recent blog entitled, “US Automatic Exchange of Bank Information to 86 Foreign Countries in 2015,” Professor William Byrnes lists the countries with which the U.S. has an automatic exchange relationship. There are a total of 86. The article can be found on Professor Byrnes’ International Financial Law Prof Blog.

Is FATCA Doing More Harm Than Good?

Few American laws have been as controversial as FATCA. FATCA stands for Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, a law passed in 2010 to clamp down on the use of foreign bank accounts by U.S. taxpayers to hide money that is otherwise subject to taxation in the United States. FATCA is the U.S. government’s newest enforcement […]

THE NEW AMERICAN EXPAT: MORE COLLATERAL FATCA DAMAGE

As I reported in a previous article, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the IRS instantly began to drool in anticipation when The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act was passed in March of 2010.  This gives them enforcement tools to make foreign countries and banking institutions play by our rules whether they like it or […]

Hong Kong and the United States Sign FATCA Agreement

On November 13, 2014, Hong Kong and the United States signed an inter-governmental agreement (IGA), which will require financial institutions in Hong Kong to comply with the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). FATCA provides the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) with the tools it needs (not a scalpel but a chainsaw) to obtain information on financial […]

The Spread of FATCA Envy Into The Northern And Western Hemispheres

South American countries have many reasons to be jealous of the United States. Most days, we have stable federal government.  Our standard of living is mind-blowing for many people in impoverished countries.  They view us as the land of opportunity.  We argue about our health care system, but almost everyone gets the care they need.  […]