A mosaic of Americans abroad exasperated by double taxation and FATCA

Dear Congress,

For all the courageous Americans abroad who have shared their stories in detail on our blog, there are millions who support the ending of double taxation but prefer to do so from the sidelines. Today’s testimonial is a compilation of short comments from people who have shared small glimpses of their experiences and hopes as they donated to our campaign, which is 100% donation-funded and volunteer-driven. We urge you to read them to understand the huge scale of the harm that double taxation, FATCA, GILTI and other U.S. laws written without any thought to their impact upon Americans abroad inflict upon those same U.S. citizens.

• Make America Great Again by ending double taxation. Americans living overseas benefit their fellow Americans by doing business, finding new markets and products, innovating, learning new ways of doing things and building bridges between the USA and the rest of the world. Overseas Americans enrich the USA with the flow of trade, ideas and culture. Our international networks increase the resilience and economic security of the United States. And we project U.S. soft power collectively as an informal, unpaid army of expat citizen ambassadors. Don't punish honest, hard-working Americans who go out into the world and pay their taxes elsewhere. Leave citizenship-based taxation to Eritrea!

• CBT is an unjust and antiquated system that negatively impacts the lives of normal, everyday Americans around the globe.

• A win would be life-changing for me and other US citizens abroad who are just trying to plan for more financially secure futures!

• I've spent countless hours trying to figure out to stay in compliance. I've also created endless headache for my non American national business partner as he's now under the requirements of the american taxation system as well as his own. I hope we can find a way to update the tax code for a global world.

• Onerous tax obligations imposed by the IRS, such as citizenship-based taxation, PFIC, CFC, and other tax regulations make it prohibitively difficult for a good-faith taxpayer to remain compliant with US taxes while maintaining a life overseas. From personal experience I can attest to these difficulties: as someone who has worked and lived in Europe I have been denied access to banking services, investment opportunities, accounts at financial institutions, employment, and entrepreneurial opportunities solely because of my "US Person" status. The United States stands alone in its current regressive taxation model and in fact deeply harmed by it. Thank you your support in the effort to fix this major issue affecting so many Americans!

• Citizen Based Taxation and U.S. PFIC tax on investments not located in the USA, together with the tax regime where I live that taxes 'foreign' (ie U.S.) investment on unrealised gains, and U.S. banks & brokers now closing the accounts of American clients who live overseas, has made it impossible to save responsibly for my needs as I age, while the cost of compliance each year (and the cost in time spent filing multiple tax returns each year when the tax years don’t align) is a constant stress.

• It’s impossible to apply US tax rules to European financial products that everybody buys here. So instead of investing, I have to give my modest savings to my wife.

• I planned to move abroad and I am forced to renounce US citizenship in Europe because of terrible punitive CBT. If it is not for CBT and FATCA, I won't renounce! Canadians won't renounce their citizenship because of they are proud Canadians! Same with Brits and Australians! It is not fair! End CBT and FATCA!

• For 38 years we have paid taxes, paid tax accountants, were disallowed by Swiss banks to trade in stocks, had to close stock accounts at a loss. While US citizens who never lived and had never worked in the USA got the $ 1200.00 of the 2019 Covid payment, family total 3600.00 we family of 5 got nothing! Since we ( my wife and I) had paid into the Swiss and the US Social Security regularly the US SOC cut our contributions once we were retired!

• Creating a fair system means a lot to all Americans abroad.

• Please help us achieve residence based taxation and eliminate the unfair double taxation.

• Thank you for helping to enable hardworking Americans to compete fairly and succeed in business overseas, where they support American influence and companies abroad, and accumulate wealth which they invest back in the US.

• Please get this passed to take us out of this unfair and cumbersome tax scenario.

• The current tax regime is incompatible with other countries’ tax laws. It makes Americans vulnerable, banks don’t want to offer loans to us, property is often owned by spouses to avoid double taxation and filing multiple tax returns each year is expensive and complicated, especially when the tax years don’t align. Please get this passed!

• I owe nothing to the U.S. whatsoever. It’s a shame that I cannot escape being a U.S. citizen as renunciation has become unaffordable since FATCA and that I should pay even more taxes (e.g. when I sell my house) to the rascal state which the U.S. has become to U.S. citizens abroad since FATCA.

You can see more such comments at any time by visiting our Donate page. People leave them as they donate to our campaign. Our average donation is about $250, showing the hope that Americans abroad have placed in this campaign and in the campaign pledge of President Trump to “end the double taxation of Americans overseas once and for all.” Please support Rep. Darin LaHood’s Residence-Based Taxation for Americans Abroad Act and help restore U.S. tax fairness to Americans abroad!