NEWS from the EU parliament Shouldn’t the US be on the Tax Evasion Black List?

4 min
Published on: 03-07-2018 Last modified on: 12-02-2024

NEWS from the EU parliament: Shouldn’t the US be on the Tax Evasion Black List?

European Parliament debates on the 4th of July about the terrible consequences FATCA and CBT (Citizens Based Taxation) has on its European citizens with (‘accidental’) US citizenship.

Today members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg (Sophia in ‘t VeldCecilia Wikström and Virginie Rozière) invited Americansoverseas.org founder Daan Durlacher to a ‘round table’ conference to prepare and inform European Parliament members for the debate about the terrible effects of the American laws; FATCA and CBT. They EU wants to debate possible solutions to avoid future problems. These laws greatly impact US citizens based in Europe in their daily lives; just because they are (accidentally) US citizen (because of birth or through US parents).

In return for the EU compliance to FATCA, the US had agreed to share information about EU citizens hiding capital in the US. However, until now the US has not responded to any requests to share tax information. The US therefore is seriously being considered to be blacklisted by the EU according to officials for refusing to cooperate as it is considered a non-compliant tax haven.

On the 4th of July 2018 the European parliament will meet and debate about FATCA and its consequences.

EU debates FATCA: 200.000 European-American citizens negatively affected by US tax laws

One becomes a US citizen by being ‘accidentally’ born in the US or having a parent that is a US citizen at birth (renouncing the US citizenship is hard and very expensive).

The U.S. has a so-called CBT (Citizens Based Taxation) system taxing citizens regardless of where they live. Furthermore the U.S. forces all European banks to provide all personal (and business) bank data of account holders with a US citizenship status (called FATCA). Simply being a US person makes it impossible for many to have standard banking services in the European country they live in.

According to the European parliament investigation over 200.000 European citizens are reported to have been affected in their daily life by this U.S. law.

EU study about effects of FATCA legislation on European-American citizens

EU Parliament asked Professor Carlo Garbarino to investigate. His study, commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs, analyses FATCA legislation and its application at international and EU level: it first provides a global overview on the exchange of tax information and of the FATCA mechanism applied through intergovernmental agreements.

The study then describes the extraterritorial nature and negative externalities of FATCA, in particular its impact in U.S. citizens abroad and the potential conflicts with EU law, with specific attention to the right of FATCA data protection under the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). It concludes with suggestions for bilateral and unilateral EU – U.S. policies, with final remarks on a multilateral approach.

The conclusion of the report confirms FATCA is in conflict and therefore violates the recently introduced EU data protection laws.

On the 4th of July 2018, American Independence Day, a press conference will be held on the conclusions of the report on FATCA.

UPDATE EU press conference report on FATCA

In the morning a press conference was given in Strasbourg on “Accidental Americans – The adverse effects of the US Foreign Tax Compliance Act”. The following statement was made by Cecilia Wikström, Swedish MEP in the European Parliament:

“Therefore I urge the commission counsel to present a joint EU approach to FATCA and open up negations with the United States on this agreement. We can only deliver a strong deal that protects citizen’s rights and interests by approaching the US collectively. Many times we’ve heard commissionaires say: ‘An EU that protects’ and now the counsel has said the same thing: EU that protects. Well, it has to mean something also to the 110.000 citizens affected by FATCA. They need a EU that protects and that’s why I am happy that my committee has come up with a resolution that every member of this house really has to know something about.”

 

Americans Overseas will update you with the latest developments on the EU debate on FATCA.

UPDATE: On the fourth of July there was a debate in the EU on US Citizen Based taxation, FATCA and the consequences for US persons in Europe.

Americans Overseas helps US citizens in Europe with US tax requirements

Americans Overseas informs local and European parliaments about the effects and problems European citizens have with these (recently) enforced laws.

We started this initiative to help people from all over the world by providing proper information to avoid unnecessary panic and offering help free of obligation and free of charge. If needed, we have a network of affordable professionals (accountants) who can help you with your tax obligations.

If you have more questions about the consequences of FATCA and CBT on European-American citizens and EU debates FATCA you can contact us at Americans Overseas.

Contact us for more information

Sign up for the newsletter to keep up to date.

Stay up-to-date with all information you need as an expat.

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Frequently asked questions

Understanding the US tax system, the obligations, and all the additional terms can be difficult. Especially if one lives outside of America. Is your question not answered? Contact us.

Read more

View all news