n25an Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 I have been reading about fatca lately and I am looking for a level headed discussion of this topic... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skibum Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 Off the top of my head, at least in its effects, it’s a law or series of laws that revolve around tax compliance for foreign banks and their US customers. It was a big deal when some Swiss banks said they would now comply with FATCA I think, because basically it means the IRS can do all kinds of snooping around on Americans and force the bank into all kinds of reporting. The fallout is that it’s becoming very difficult for American citizens to do any banking overseas, and many longtime expats are giving up their citizenship just so they can open or keep open their foreign bank accounts. Hopefully that gets the discussion started for you; I’m sure you can get some much better replies on this. Folks like the Sovereign Society (former congressman Bob Bauman discusses it quite a bit I think) do some pretty good work on this as much of their business revolves around helping Americans escape heavy taxation, future economic collapse, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-William Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 I'm in China, and one benefit of that is that I don't have to worry about this kind of crazy BS, because I think China's response to this idea was an outburst of hysterical laughter... I think it's hilarious how they expect you to report if you had more than $10k in a foreign bank account. I mean seriously, who does that? (also not something that affects me, cuz I don't just leave $10k sitting in a bank account...) The fallout is that it’s becoming very difficult for American citizens to do any banking overseas, and many longtime expats are giving up their citizenship just so they can open or keep open their foreign bank accounts. This is a very insidious way of controlling the herd. The soviets would have wanted this kind of control, but they didn't have the ability to so thoroughly control their "citizens" The great thing is that at the same time that the government is imposing controls that totalitarians of the past could only have dreamed of we also have Bitcoin and the internet taking controls off the flow of ideas and capital. It's an exciting thing to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n25an Posted May 30, 2014 Author Share Posted May 30, 2014 could fatca create opportunities for non-americans... ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todofixthis Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act or FATCA for short (I'm still amazed they didn't find a way to put a T at the end) is a law passed by the US government that requires foreign banks to enter into an information sharing agreement with the IRS. Basically, all foreign banks must share with the IRS account details for any of their customers who are US citizens. Of course, it would be absurd for a non-US bank to comply with US law, so here's where things get interesting. If a bank is found to be in violation of FATCA, the US government will impose a 30% withholding tax on any transfers originating from that bank that pass through the US financial system. This is interesting to me primarily because it has accelerated the move by other countries away from using the dollar as the world reserve currency. Unintended consequences... well, you know.... Anyway, foreign banks have responded one of 2 ways: - Comply with the new regulation, incurring significant costs to do so. For US citizen account holders, you can expect higher fees, and of course say goodbye to banking privacy (if there is such a thing anymore). - Refuse to accept any US citizens as customers. If you are a US citizen and have an account at one of these banks, expect your account to get closed. You can still hold precious metals anonymously, and digital currencies offer some degree of privacy as well, but these days - especially for US citizens - hiding fiat money from a government is quickly becoming (if not already) an impossible challenge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n25an Posted May 31, 2014 Author Share Posted May 31, 2014 what about the privacy laws in other countries...? do privacy laws apply to banking customers accounts? has anyone heard of any fatca compliance law suits....? or will there ever be such a thing??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todofixthis Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 Honestly, there are so many better alternatives to banks if you want privacy. Banking privacy is already incredibly rare - most countries' governments can already access banking info in their own jurisdiction; all FATCA did was attempt to get access for a particular government to that data in other countries. If you want to store your wealth anonymously, try storing precious metals in Das Safe or buying Darkcoin. You'll have to be careful how you purchase your assets, of course; the fiat conversion will leave a paper trail. Fiat currency is a government monopoly; more controls and restrictions are inevitable. Don't fight this battle on their terms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n25an Posted June 2, 2014 Author Share Posted June 2, 2014 I have heard the saying history doesn't repeat bit it rhymes.... is this rhyming for anybody... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shirgall Posted June 2, 2014 Share Posted June 2, 2014 I have heard the saying history doesn't repeat bit it rhymes.... is this rhyming for anybody... Unfortunately it rhymes like the Star Wars prequels "rhyme" with the original trilogy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n25an Posted June 2, 2014 Author Share Posted June 2, 2014 Unfortunately it rhymes like the Star Wars prequels "rhyme" with the original trilogy. can you unpack that statement for me.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shirgall Posted June 3, 2014 Share Posted June 3, 2014 can you unpack that statement for me.... George Lucas made repeated references (especially in the "Making Of..." specials) to events in the Star Wars prequel movies "rhyming" with themes from the original series. Unfortunately these rhymes came off rather ham-handedly because there was no one gutsy enough to challenge him during the creative process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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