Will A Repeal Of FATCA Save The Livelihoods of Millions of Americans?

[The following post is by Director Of TDV Offshore, Paul Seymour]

There are so many topics I’d like to talk about at the moment, that I’ve had a hard time to decide which one to focus on today.  Therefore I’ve decided to try and give a few briefs on more than one current event, the topics of which I haven’t seen any one else discussing.  Excuse me if any of it is a repeat, as I obviously don’t read everything.

Latest on FATCA Repeal

First, I’ve seen where some of my colleagues in the internationalization world have hopped onto my FATCA philosophy bandwagon.  I’m glad to see that, as I’ll admit it was a bit lonely being the only one out there stating that FATCA can’t hold up under water over the long haul.  True, many FFI’s around the world have been bullied into at least taking steps to show “reasonable efforts” during the “transition period” until sometime in 2016 (all wording of the Treasury Department) while they’ve “eased enforcement”.  That enforcement which can’t practicably be carried out. 

However, certain brave and principled banks have held out, and are now under an extra-judiciary attack by a body which can effectively intimidate almost every intermediary bank in the world, into refusing to trade USD with such principled, and privacy-respecting FFI’s.  I can’t imagine what body has the kind of power, so we’ll just have to wonder, as they’re too cowardly to show their face, and carry out a legal process.  It’s all being done under the table, and without any due process.  We should all be supportive of Loyal Bank and BMI Offshore for their principled stance against this aggression.

Similarly, we should all be supportive of Congressman Rand Paul, who recently re-introduced a bill to repeal FATCA provisions.  Said patriot Rand; “FATCA is in complete violation of every Americans’ constitutional right to privacy and adds burdensome regulations that negatively impact our economy.  It is a defective law which disregards the mutual respect of sovereignty among nations and drains money from the federal treasury, on top of discouraging overseas investment in the United States. My bill will reverse the negative aspects FATCA has on the economy, prevent the government from bulk collecting U.S. Citizen’s financial data, and preserve constitutional rights for all Americans.”

Why I haven’t seen this widely covered I guess isn’t such a mystery.  Everyone is too busy giving us the beltway spin about how inevitable it is, while trying to make a buck from the compliance side.  Shameless, unprincipled hacks that they are.  I’ve wondered aloud in the past if this isn’t Washington’s last desperate hopes of growing the faltering economy.  Pass endless laws which will provide jobs in the compliance and enforcement industries.  Thereby increasing the headcount of useless, but controllable government employees in the meantime.
I found two of the three comments posted after the article to be both depressing, and a bit frightening.  Here they all are:

“Rand Paul is supported by taxpayers who don’t want to report their income. And this guy wants to be President! President of the few.”

Posted by: NormanMGolden | March 6, 2015 10:02 AM

“To the previous poster: This law requires the reporting, not of income, but of principal. How many domestic US citizens would be comfortable with that?”

Posted by: Expat in SE Asia | March 6, 2015 9:05 PM

“income, principle, whatever, their tax cheats who love the american dream without paying their fair share. the foreign investor enjoys life because of our armies. so be patriotic mr. paul and friends.”

Posted by: wia-nam | March 6, 2015 10:35 PM

Of course the only intelligent input came from one smart enough to have already bolted.  This article was posted in a trade journal for CPA’s.  I’m going to go out on a ledge, and predict that only geeks who have qualified for, and passed the CPA exam are subscribing.  Therefore, with university degrees, and I presume, towards the upper end on the current Ameriken scale of “educated” citizens. 

I see that things have only gotten worse since I left so many years ago.  That after realizing that the future of the country was in the hands of such people, and who vote.  Truthfully, one could have a much more intellectually stimulating discussion on politics or the economy with the average Colombian waiter, or Argentinian taxi driver.  I’m not exaggerating, unfortunately.  They’re better educated, and not so easily herded by the media, nor exposed to so much propaganda.

Bill Introduced to Further Seal Financial Escape Routes

I also came across one that made that hair stand up again.  Lawmakers Re-introduce Bill to Curb Offshore Tax Havens.  This was all under the guise of preventing huge corporations from legally capitalizing on the idiotic tax code which is currently in place.  Both I, and others, have already discussed that brain fart more than once.  Obviously the fault is with the tax code itself, which Congress created, not with those who are smart enough to read and understand it, and then get around it.  Obviously we wouldn’t want a flat tax just taking away all of that complexity which only billion-dollar corporations can afford to take advantage of.

I can’t tell for sure if they’re stupid, or if it’s a complex charade intended to fool their employers into thinking that they’re actually trying to do something useful, while maintaining the status quo is the only true objective.  Meanwhile the true objective being to bury provisions in the bill to attack the middle class, and peel away, layer by ever-reducing layer, the ability of the middle class to escape to a better place.  I fear it’s the latter.

What got me hot was what I saw buried inconspicuously in the middle of the article.  Catch this one—“Among the provisions in the bill are ones that would strengthen the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA, prohibiting U.S. banks from dealing with foreign banks that violate FATCA and ensuring that credit and debit cards issued by the offending foreign banks do not work in the U.S. Any money transferred to an offshore account would be considered taxable income that has not yet been taxed.”

Can you hear that bell toll?  If you haven’t heard our warnings up to now, which people like me have been sounding repeatedly, then I think that one is loud and clear.  Your time to get out is almost gone.  Have you sent in your campaign contribution to Rand Paul yet? 

I just picked up a new client who lives in Eastern Europe, with an Eastern European wife, to move his IRA to a safe place outside the US.  She, although not a US citizen, is a US person.  The offshore SD IRA is suddenly getting very popular as these realities are hitting home with more people.

USSA’s War on Dissent

I saved the scariest for last.  Last, because my word-counter is already creeping up beyond the number of words that the average person can read while taking the average crap.  Not because there’s nothing left to whine about, and to inform you of.  I’d love to make my living just doing that, but it’s probably even more important to help those of you who finally see the light, to actually get out.  It’s like serving as a link in the Underground Railroad, and is quite satisfying.

First, I’ll say that I receive a lot of daily reading information from a relatively new industry.  That being lobbying groups who work to protect the rights of subjects, and are funded solely by voluntary contributions from those same subjects.   I know that many people which I respect highly, think that any efforts spent working with the political system are completely wasted efforts.  Doug Casey and Jeff Berwick being 2 guys who I greatly admire, and read all the time, for example.  Although I agree with 99% of what they say, I have to admit I disagree on this point.

I truly think activism works, and that it’s crucial to turning things around.  Furthermore, I think the apathy of my parents’ and grandparents’ generations is what got us here.  For example, the first step in the corporate take-over of the internet recently got thwarted by the FCC due directly to relentless pressure imposed by these relatively new lobbying groups. 

The ACLU has been doing it for a long time.  There’s nothing wrong with civil liberties, my friends, despite the propaganda against them.  It’s why the US was founded to begin with.  Campaign 4 Liberty, Ron Paul’s group, is another example.  There are quite a few at the moment, and I urge you to at very least receive their petitions, and make a few mouse clicks to sign the ones you believe in.  I also make monetary contributions, although it’s difficult with a foreign bank credit card for some reason.  Especially since I refuse to use the fascist Paypal system for reasons of principal.

I recently got an e-mail from the Center for Constitutional Rights summarizing some legal battles they’re involved in, which affect all of us freedom-loving peoples, all around the world. What happens behind the curtain, in the imperialist oligarchy, could eventually spread like cancer, and therefore many of us outside are watching with interest.

This should frighten all of you.  If it doesn’t, please unsubscribe, and go back to sleep.  CCR reported a case which I had not heretofore ever heard of. 

“We are disappointed to report that last week the judge in the case of two animal rights activists indicted on terrorism charges for allegedly releasing thousands of animals from fur farms has denied CCR’s motion to dismiss the case. The judge in U.S. v. Johnson provided one bit of comfort by interpreting the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA) narrowly to prohibit causing loss to only “tangible” property, such as committing vandalism. Sadly, since animals are considered “property” under the law, saving their lives, as was alleged in this case, is still deemed “terrorism” under the judge’s interpretation. Our participation in Johnson was part of CCR’s commitment to fighting the criminalization of dissent.”

Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act???????  Did anyone else know about this?  Here’s what I found: “Passed by Congress in November 2006, the AETA is aimed at suppressing speech and advocacy by criminalizing First Amendment-protected activities such as protests, boycotts, picketing and whistleblowing. It targets animal rights activists, but includes language so broad and vague it could be used to prosecute labor activists who organize a successful boycott of Wal-Mart, or union members who picket a university cafeteria.” 

Makes me wonder what else is out there to get one tossed in a dungeon for pretending to be a free citizen of a democratic republic.

This isn’t just about radicals who stepped across the line and committed illegal acts by basically stealing other peoples’ property.  I agree that’s a crime, and the people should be punished for the crime of theft.  When a judge classifies simple thieves as “terrorists”, though, that sends a chill down my spine.  Doug Casey reported a few years ago that there were over 100 official definitions for “terrorist”.  That was before Obama signed indefinite detention into law, on New Year’s Eve 2011, after publicly, and explicitly stating that he wouldn’t.

Therefore, these radical thieves, who apparently care more about animals than about humans (let’s keep our eyes on the ball and ignore how idiotic their move was), are now subject to being flown to secret US dungeons in places like Afghanistan or Israel, or Saudi Arabia, and held and tortured for the rest of their “lives” without any right to trial, defense, or even a phone call home.  They need not even be charged with any crime.  They have been labeled by some unaccountable bureaucrat as a terrorist.  Chao, sayanara, enjoy the torture.  And you are sponsoring that with your tax dollars, and further are condoning it with your silence.

I guess that public servants just inherently know what’s best.  In these dangerous times we can’t continue trying to live up to the ideals of Jefferson and Franklin.  I mean, they lived in safe, simple times, when large tribes of natives, who took umbrage to being driven from their homes, were subject to forming war parties, and attacking in the middle of the night.  Let’s not even worry about the fact that the then most powerful nation on Earth wanted to capture and hang them as traitors.  The average life expectancy in the 1700’s was 35-40 years.  They didn’t even discover that bacteria caused disease until the late 1800’s. 

Nowadays, though, it’s really dangerous.  Yeah right.    How many people have been killed by acts of terrorism in Amerike in the past decade?  However, in the time it took me to write this article this morning, it is quite likely that a government-sponsored paramilitary has extra-judicially executed at least one subject.  Therefore, in these dangerous times, modern day Amerikens can’t be expected to waste time with all of that trite, historical, due process nonsense.   Innocent until proven guilty?  What a rash of idealistic bull shit.  Throw ‘em in the dungeon, and bring me the rack.

It truly is time to internationalize.  At this point one could easily make a case that it’s for your own safety, and the safety of your family.  Contact Chris Martin at [email protected] to get started on a crucial aspect, which is citizenship in a free country. That takes some time, and some money, as the US government goes after nations which try to offer affordable means of gaining citizenship. 

I’ve been reminded recently by a reader about the USG attack on a relatively affordable and easy to obtain citizenship program in South America, via undercover agents employing smear campaigns with inaccurate data, and control of the mass media.  I wonder why the USG doesn’t want its subjects to be able to leave freely?  Aren’t American citizens able to live wherever they want to anymore?  We continue to stay on top of all opportunities in this dynamic arena, though.

Simultaneously, you should contact me at [email protected] to move some assets offshore immediately.  That will not only afford you protection from confiscation without due process, but also the ability to protect yourself from declining currency values in your home country, and increase investment earnings with access to more markets, investing opportunities, and currencies.  It is also quick and affordable.

Hasta la próxima muchachos.

Questions or comments? Join us at TDV Blog.

Paul worked for several years with Big 4 CPA firms in both the US and Saudi Arabia, and then spent many years as a multi-national corporate Controller and CFO in places like Florida, Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, Cairo, and Medellín. In his second, more free life, he has found a natural home in the offshore industry following almost 2 decades as a permanent expat from the former America.

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