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FATCA . . . the beginning of the end of American dollar hegemony?

 
 
 
ksen

ksen

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Apparently it's supposed to explode the world into little tiny bits on July 1.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/conspiracy/hr2847.asp

Basically it requires foreign financial institutions to disclose certain information about their holdings of American citizens in order to crack down on people hiding money overseas to avoid taxes.
 
It's an abomination but I don't see that it will destroy the dollar.

While the intent is to find money that people have hidden overseas it is proving quite problematic for those who actually need foreign bank accounts--say, expats or even those temporarily posted abroad. First of all, the reporting burden is considerable and in some places it's illegal. The banks have reacted by simply closing accounts for Americans. People in positions where they are on corporate bank accounts have been fired because of this.
 
Loren Pechtel said:
It's an abomination but I don't see that it will destroy the dollar.

While the intent is to find money that people have hidden overseas it is proving quite problematic for those who actually need foreign bank accounts--say, expats or even those temporarily posted abroad. First of all, the reporting burden is considerable and in some places it's illegal. The banks have reacted by simply closing accounts for Americans. People in positions where they are on corporate bank accounts have been fired because of this.
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I still have a bank account in Germany that has about €2,000 in it and a euro based credit card. I lived there and just never closed the account. I use them both when I go to Europe and then I buy euros to replenish the account. It is cheaper than charging with my US credit card and paying a dollar for each transaction.

I have heard of Americans who are not able to open new accounts but I haven't heard of anyone who has had to close an existing account.

I just went through the reporting that is required by the government for the account using turbo Tax. It only took me about five minutes to go through. But I suspect that if I had millions of euros in it they would be much more interested in it.

I also own an oil well, that causes hours of work every year to fill out the taxes for it. Much more complicated.
 
ksen said:
Apparently it's supposed to explode the world into little tiny bits on July 1.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/conspiracy/hr2847.asp

Basically it requires foreign financial institutions to disclose certain information about their holdings of American citizens in order to crack down on people hiding money overseas to avoid taxes.
Click to expand...
Between Facta, Putin and the revised CPI index, our economy will implode within the next 2 years. Or so I've been assured.
 
laughing dog said:
Between Facta, Putin and the revised CPI index, our economy will implode within the next 2 years. Or so I've been assured.
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FACTA certainly wouldn't bring down the US economy although the idea that it could be the straw that broke the camel's back is not out of the question. You have been assured correctly, that the economy is in danger of imploding although Barak Obama and Janet Yellen are more of a threat than Putin.
 
FATCAT. It just misses ONE letter. I have some investments in Canadian corporations. They always report my shit to the IRS.

I think this is directed at the Caymans and Canaries and other little island "banks".
 
SimpleDon said:
I still have a bank account in Germany that has about €2,000 in it and a euro based credit card. I lived there and just never closed the account. I use them both when I go to Europe and then I buy euros to replenish the account. It is cheaper than charging with my US credit card and paying a dollar for each transaction.

I have heard of Americans who are not able to open new accounts but I haven't heard of anyone who has had to close an existing account.
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It depends on the country. In places with bank secrecy laws that prohibit such disclosure, if their government signs on to FATCA the banks have no choice but to get rid of American accounts.
 
Loren Pechtel said:
It depends on the country. In places with bank secrecy laws that prohibit such disclosure, if their government signs on to FATCA the banks have no choice but to get rid of American accounts.
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Umm ... good? :huh:

Is there a benefit to hiding your money beyond than for criminal purposes? Why shouldn't they be reporting the income to the jurisdiction it was earned in?
 
Zeluvia said:
FATCAT. It just misses ONE letter. I have some investments in Canadian corporations. They always report my shit to the IRS.

I think this is directed at the Caymans and Canaries and other little island "banks".
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Remember how they found a whole bunch of hidden money in Switzerland? That's what lead to FATCA.
 
Loren Pechtel said:
It depends on the country. In places with bank secrecy laws that prohibit such disclosure, if their government signs on to FATCA the banks have no choice but to get rid of American accounts.
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No they don't. They also have the choice to comply with the agreement their government signed with the US government.

And I'm still waiting for evidence of even one person on a corporate bank account being fired because because of FATCA.
 
Loren Pechtel said:
It depends on the country. In places with bank secrecy laws that prohibit such disclosure, if their government signs on to FATCA the banks have no choice but to get rid of American accounts.
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And in your opinion this is a bad outcome?

Many of the wealthy in the US are transferring their income off shore to escape paying taxes. Mitt Romney, Apple, Google, etc. You think that this is acceptable?
 
Apparently no one noticed our economy collapsed right after the election in November 1992, Then it collapsed in December 1995, again November 2001, in March 2003, in November 2008, in 2009, October 2013 and it will collapse again in December this year.

My cockles are clanging.
 
ksen said:
No they don't. They also have the choice to comply with the agreement their government signed with the US government.

And I'm still waiting for evidence of even one person on a corporate bank account being fired because because of FATCA.
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They didn't repeal the bank secrecy laws. The only way the banks have to comply with all the laws is to boot the American clients.

And the bit of people being fired was from another discussion of this--where someone who had been fired posted.

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SimpleDon said:
And in your opinion this is a bad outcome?

Many of the wealthy in the US are transferring their income off shore to escape paying taxes. Mitt Romney, Apple, Google, etc. You think that this is acceptable?
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You misunderstand. The problem is that not all Americans live in America. It's a big problem for an American living in a country that does this.
 
fromderinside said:
Remember the war reich's clarion siren of the late sixties and s early seventies "America, love it or leave it"

Time for the gone to pay the piper.
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So American companies can't post workers to overseas posts?? You want all those jobs to go to foreigners?
 
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