Rand Paul introduces bill to roll back portions of FATCA
In a move that was applauded by many anti-tax backers, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced a bill to repeal anti-privacy provisions of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and put an end to a defective bill that does not accomplish its objective of ending tax evasion.
Rand Paul at CPAC 2013
Image/Video Screen Shot
According to Dr. Paul’s press release today, FATCA infringes upon basic constitutional rights, for under FATCA, private data of anyone considered a “U.S. Person” would have details of their financial assets provided to the IRS without a warrant requirement, suspicious activity report (SAR), or any allegation of wrongdoing at all.
Stated in its simplest form, FATCA would require every non-American financial institution (such as banks, credit unions, pension funds, stock and investment firms, etc.) to register directly with the IRS and agree to provide specified financial data on the accounts of any “U.S. Person.”
Perhaps even more troubling, the implementation of FATCA has allowed the Treasury Department to make independent decisions with respect to the sovereignty of foreign nations and the privacy of United States citizens.
Sen. Paul’s bill, which will likely not get through a Democrat-controlled Senate, has garnered support from The Credit Union National Association, National Taxpayers Union and Grover Norquist, who said, “Unsuccessful tax systems attempt to force other countries to become their tax collectors. That’s what FATCA is, and it should be repealed.”
Dr. Paul said, “FATCA is a textbook example of a bad law that doesn’t achieve its stated purpose but does manage to unleash a host of unanticipated destructive consequences,” Sen. Paul said. “FATCA’s harmful impacts cover the spectrum. It is a violation of Americans’ constitutional protections, oversteps the limits of Executive power, disregards the mutual respect of sovereignty among nations and drains money from the federal treasury under the guise of replenishing it, and discourages overseas investment in the United States.
“Tax evasion is a problem that should be addressed, but not in such an egregious way. FATCA violates important privacy protections, disregards the sovereign laws of other nations and will cost the U.S. economy hundreds of billions of dollars in compliance costs,” he continued. “FATCA should be repealed, and Congress should consider less onerous means of enforcing tax laws.”
[…] Rand Paul introduces bill to roll back portions of FATCA […]
Thank you for this article. So many other major publications are vilifying Sen. Paul for ‘supporting tax evasion’ by trying to repeal parts of FATCA, when in reality, FATCA does almost nothing to stop tax evasion and instead punishes millions of expat Americans living in other countries who are neither rich nor evading their US tax responsibilities.
FATCA is going to cost the US far more than it will ever make back in chasing down tax evasion. And there are many, many ways to chase down tax evasion, as was demonstrated by the US indicting so many Swiss account holders and bankers (all without FATCA!) I sincerely hope that Congress scrutinizes FATCA closely and recognizes it for the travesty that it is.