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Episodes
Discussion about current events, culture, independent candidates, business, education, travel, death and taxes, global mobility, citizenship and residence by investment options, Americans abroad, FATCA, CRS, citizenship renunciation, Green Card abandonment, citizenship taxation, PFIC, GILTI, foreign trusts and more ...
Episodes
Wednesday Mar 31, 2021
Coach Coutts: If you want to stay healthy, don't sit too long
Wednesday Mar 31, 2021
Wednesday Mar 31, 2021
March 31, 2021 - The Return Of Coach Coutts
John Richardson and David ("Coach") Coutts discuss the essentials of staying healthy.
"Somebody's Gotta Care!"
Monday Mar 29, 2021
Monday Mar 29, 2021
March 29, 2021 - Participants include:
Dr. Karen Alpert - @FixTheTaxTreaty
Dr. Laura Snyder - @TapInternation
John Richardson - @Expatriationlaw
"Activism Is NOT A Spectator Sport!" - To learn how to make your personal submission to the Senate Finance Committee read the SEAT blog post here.
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On March 25, 2021 the Senate Finance Committee held one (of what I assume will be) of a number of hearings on International Taxation. Interestingly the title of the hearing was:
"How US International Tax Policy Impacts Americans Workers Jobs And Investment"
Interestingly and significantly the hearing did NOT discuss individual American workers, jobs or investment. The hearing was primarily focussed on the GILTI provisions found in S. 951A of the Internal Revenue Code. The hearing also discussed whether the US corporate tax rate should be increased. It's important to understand that:
Any change in the GILTI rules and/or an increase in the US corporate tax rate will have an impact on Americans abroad generally and those Americans abroad running small businesses particularly.
I have previously written about how an increase in the GILTI tax would impact Americans abroad here. I have written about how a general increase in the US corporate tax rate might impact Americans abroad here.
You can read about the hearing and watch the video of the hearing here:
Helen Burggraf of American Expat Finance wrote an excellent article about the hearing which appeared here.
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These International Tax Hearings are a very big deal. They will impact you as individuals. SEAT has prepared a submission. It's important that the Senate Finance Committee receive a large of number of submissions from individual Americans abroad.
We ask that you make a submission. We encourage you to watch the hearing and send your own submission. But, given the time it takes and the technical content, we have prepared some "submission templates" for you.
SEAT is working very hard to help you! Please take the time to send your submission. It's important that Senate Finance hears from individuals - individuals just like you!
"Activism Is NOT A Spectator Sport!" - To learn how to make your personal submission to the Senate Finance Committee read the SEAT blog post here.
Thursday Mar 11, 2021
Thursday Mar 11, 2021
March 10, 2021 - Participants Include:
Wayne Bewick - Partner at Trowbridge International Tax
John Richardson - Tax Residency Solutions
In the 21st Century your most important asset may be your tax residency!
Volatile times mean instability. Instability causes individuals and families to reconsider their life circumstances. Covid-19 has caused many people to reconsider those circumstances. The threat of Wealth taxes in the United States (including California and New York) is making people nervous. The US extraterritorial tax regime is wreaking havoc in the lives of American citizens living in Canada and other countries outside the United States.
Life comes with responsibilities. Those responsibilities include the necessity of seeking opportunities for security and growth. Often the search for opportunities and growth results in a decision to sever tax residency with one country and to acquire tax residency in another.
But, severing tax residency comes at a cost. More and more countries are requiring individuals severing tax residency to pay a "departure tax". Canada has a departure tax. The United States has it's 877A Expatriation tax. Australia has a departure tax.
Although Canada's Departure Tax applies to a wider range of people than the US 877A exit tax, Canada's tax is payable on fewer things. Departure taxes are the cost of severing tax residency. As such they should be viewed as in investment. More and more people view the payment of Departure taxes as a sound investment (possibly prepaying taxes at lower rates) in their financial futures.
In this episode John Richardson and Wayne Bewick discuss the reasons for severing tax residency, the price of severing tax residency and why departure/exit taxes should be viewed as the price of investing in a different future.
Canada continues to be a very attractive country for immigration.
But, there is a growing group of people who see severing Canadian tax residency and paying the departure tax as an investment in their futures.
Sunday Mar 07, 2021
Sunday Mar 07, 2021
March 7, 2021 - Participants Include:
Virginia La Torre Jeker - @VLJeker
John Richardson - @Expatriationlaw
In the 21st Century the single most interesting thing about a person is her/her tax residency. The United States makes US citizenship sufficient for tax residency. The effect of US "citizenship-based taxation" is that the United States, imposes worldwide extraterritorial taxation, on the non-US income of individuals who are tax residents of other countries and do not live in the United States. (The rules of the US extraterritorial tax regime are far more punitive than the tax regime imposed on Homeland Americans.) That's on the income tax side.
In early March of 2021, Senator Elizabeth Warren proposed a US Wealth tax that would apply to the non-US assets (among other things) of US citizens living in other countries. Furthermore, it is drafted in a way that brings the assets of the non-US citizen spouse into the wealth tax net.
In this episode John Richardson and Virginia La Torre Jeker discuss how this is intended to work. Americans abroad considering expatriation should take note of the provision that (in addition to the 877A Exit Tax) the Warren wealth tax, would impose an ADDITIONAL 40% (that's not a typo) on "covered expatriates" who renounce US citizenship.
Virginia has supplied the following example in her blog post here, to illustrate the severity of this:
"Here’s a very realistic example: Let’s say Joseph was born in the US because his parents, who were Italian citizens, were employed in the US at the time. Assume Joseph lived in the US until the age of 5 and then returned to Italy with his parents. Assume he attended 4 years of college in the US as well. Assume Joseph moved to England and Joseph gives up his US citizenship. Assume Joseph is a “covered expatriate” with a net worth of US$53 million on the expatriation date. This significant wealth leaves him in the cross-hairs of the wealth tax.
For the sake of simplicity, let us say his exit tax amounts to $1 million and that he cannot use the exit tax to reduce net worth for purposes of the wealth tax. In addition to the exit tax of $1 million, Joseph will owe $21.2 million in wealth tax in order to escape Uncle Sam’s clutches ($53 million x 40%). Total US tax bill so far is $22.2 million. But Uncle Sam is not done yet! At Joseph’s death, let’s assume he leaves $25 million to his children and they are US persons. Uncle Sam will take another $10 million from them simply because they must be punished since their father was a covered expatriate. So, while Joseph and his heirs started off with $53 million, once Uncle Sam got through with them, Uncle Sam got $32.2 million and Joseph and his family got only $20.8 million. That’s right. Uncle Sam took 60% of their wealth, all because Joseph simply gave up his citizenship (or green card held for at least 8 tax years)."
Those considering renouncing US citizenship should expatriate at the earliest possible moment!
The proposed legislation (in two places) requires the use of FATCA to assist in the identification of assets outside the United States. John and Virginia discuss the evolution of FATCA and how it is being used to incrementally expand the US tax base outside of the United States.
Further details may be found at John Richardson's post here.
You can read the actual text of Senator Warren's proposal here. You will be shocked!