Americans Abroad

I suggest you start looking up on your local Kijiji. Some of you just missed a meeting in Toronto. Kingston is next followed by other cities. Information sessions are being held discussing many of the problems surrounding these issues for expat families.

It's extremely complicated if your spouse or children are not American and you have no U.S. holdings but, have saved locally with a foreign spouse. As Nina Olsen pointed out some people might not be able to keep their citizenship. It's kind of a rock meets hard place for some low to middle income families where the American in the household does not make the income.

Really as DA points out this needs some serious amending before it can be workable and fair.

ACA (American Citizens Abroad) has good data and has submitted a fantastic proposal similar to DA's to House Ways and Means.

If you are not involved in ACA I suggest if you are long term expat that you DO get involved with them AND with the FATCA/FBAR task force for Democrats Abroad.

Frankly I don't think CBT works for long term expats in any sort of reasonable way. Both proposals have a work around to CBT for long term expat families. Now will congress do something about the "unintended consequences" of this law?

I agree there has to be a way to catch those living in the U.S. and sending their money off shore to hide it but, this is not that way without some amendments. When it was passed it was hidden in another act. "HIRE" and hardly anyone who signed off on it read it. Hardly anyone now realizes the fall out.

DA has worked on this for a long time and I think it's time for them to get a reasonable and workable response.

I do want to add please be careful of the "compliance condors" There are a lot of people who stand to make a lot of money from the situations caused by FATCA...not all of them are good at what they do and some of them are raising rates to take full advantage of expats and our families. Choose wisely. Talk to others in your area and only use those they recommend.