Accidental Americans

These figures will keep climbing. The renunciation fee fell from $2,350 to $450 on April 13, but the effect has not reached the lists yet, for two reasons. First, after the oath, the State Department must approve the loss of nationality and pass the file on to the IRS, which takes months: the names published since April mostly belong to people who renounced before the fee cut. Second, those who decided to renounce because of the lower fee could only book an appointment after it was announced, and consulates have long waiting lists. Most of them have not taken the oath yet. Their names should start appearing in 2027.

The real number is also higher than the lists suggest. They depend on information the IRS can match to a taxpayer record. Many accidental Americans, born in the United States and raised elsewhere, often learned only as adults that the U.S. considers them citizens. They never had a Social Security number and never filed a U.S. tax return. When they renounce at a consulate, their name often never makes it onto the list.

Congress has the solution in hand: with residence-based taxation, Americans abroad would no longer be taxed twice, and far fewer would feel they have no choice but to give up their citizenship.

@APDiploWriter @shauntandon @David_Jolly_DC @vivwalt @RichardRubinDC

[𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐰]

On Wednesday, at the Council of the EU, a large majority of Member States backed Spains proposal to write into law that transfers of tax data to third countries shall be deemed necessary for reasons of public interest.

Read that again: deemed necessary. No longer assessed, simply decreed.

The text also provides that the absence of safeguards in the international agreement does not prevent the transfer. Its title: Safeguards applicable to exchanges of information with third countries. An article on safeguards whose purpose is to do without them.

⚖️ All this while the Court of Justice of the EU is examining thirteen questions on the compatibility of #FATCA with the #GDPR (Case C-804/25). The European Commission and the Council Legal Service both expressed reservations in the meeting on the grounds that the Court has been seised. Member States listened, then discussed the best vehicle to do it anyway.

😠 I am angry, and I believe that is legitimate. For years, we have been told that FATCA complies with EU law. If that were true, there would be nothing to secure. Every new attempt to change the law is an admission.

And in all of this, nobody asks the only question that matters: is it right that the banking data of our fellow citizens are sent to the IRS for the sole reason that they were born on American soil?

Accidental Americans are not asking for a privilege. They are asking that the Court be allowed to rule before the law is rewritten to get around it.

📰 @ElodieLamer article for @TaxNotes : taxnotes.com/featured-news/…

@EUCssrMcGrath @EU_EDPB @saskiabricmont @MurielleL69320 @fxbellamy @DolorsMM @zarzalejosj @maxschrems @NOYBeu @platombe

𝐂𝐞𝐭 𝐞́𝐭𝐞́, 𝐥𝐚 𝐃𝐆𝐅𝐢𝐏 𝐚 𝐞́𝐭𝐞́ 𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞́𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐢𝐬. 𝐄𝐥𝐥𝐞 𝐬'𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞̂𝐭𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐚̀ 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐞, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞́𝐞, 𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞́𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐮𝐬 𝐝𝐞 𝟒𝟎 𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜̧𝐚𝐢𝐬 𝐚̀ 𝐥'𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐦𝐞́𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞.

Depuis juin : 678 438 lignes de données fiscales, puis plus de 2 millions de propriétaires via le serveur cadastral, puis 1,8 million de comptes. Le parquet de Paris a ouvert une enquête.

C'est cette même administration qui, au plus tard le 30 septembre, exécutera la campagne annuelle de transferts FATCA vers un pays qui n’a que faire du RGPD.

Sans consentement. Sans durée de conservation. Sans retour possible.

⚖️ Nous avons saisi ce jour le Conseil d'État. Notre objectif n'a pas changé : mettre fin à FATCA.

📎 Communiqué ci-dessous