I personally never liked the idea of these overseas IRS offices to begin with. They
have always seemed to me to be an infringement of host country
sovereignty and I am happy to see them disappear. In fact I don't
believe any other country in the world has overseas tax collectors like
this although I will have to do more research. This will also be a blow
to the FATCA compliance complex which has frequently used "fear" of IRS
overseas offices to sell their services.
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/irs-budget-shrinks/2015/01/14/id/618441/
Just 4 million USD in savings compared to the billions they are claiming exists abroad in potential revenue. Makes no sense, does it? And yet the IRS is stretched so thin and is being asked to do so much. Congress threw FATCA and ACA at them and then cut their budget? That's just nuts. And now everyone gets to suffer because the IRS doesn't have the staff to properly help US citizens in the US and the Commissioner is warning that refund checks will be delayed this year. What a mess.
They report that IRS offices in Beijing have already been closed down and the Paris, London and Frankfurt offices will be closed soon. These offices were located at the US Embassies in those cities. All the staff will be sent back to the US and all international taxpayer assistance will now be done from the US.
Great timing. As more and more US Persons abroad are being FATCAed, they are desperately in need of reasonably priced assistance and reliable information. Now as they try to make sense of US tax rules and reporting requirements that they never heard of and don't understand, they have fewer resources to make good decisions and get compliant.
That just doesn't make any sense, folks. Before there was a Compliance Gap and a Communication Gap. Keeping those IRS offices open and giving the staff the autonomy and resources to craft information campaigns to reach US Persons abroad would have been a damn good idea. This would have sent an important signal to America's population overseas - yes, you have to file but we are here to help.
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/irs-budget-shrinks/2015/01/14/id/618441/
Just 4 million USD in savings compared to the billions they are claiming exists abroad in potential revenue. Makes no sense, does it? And yet the IRS is stretched so thin and is being asked to do so much. Congress threw FATCA and ACA at them and then cut their budget? That's just nuts. And now everyone gets to suffer because the IRS doesn't have the staff to properly help US citizens in the US and the Commissioner is warning that refund checks will be delayed this year. What a mess.
They report that IRS offices in Beijing have already been closed down and the Paris, London and Frankfurt offices will be closed soon. These offices were located at the US Embassies in those cities. All the staff will be sent back to the US and all international taxpayer assistance will now be done from the US.
Great timing. As more and more US Persons abroad are being FATCAed, they are desperately in need of reasonably priced assistance and reliable information. Now as they try to make sense of US tax rules and reporting requirements that they never heard of and don't understand, they have fewer resources to make good decisions and get compliant.
That just doesn't make any sense, folks. Before there was a Compliance Gap and a Communication Gap. Keeping those IRS offices open and giving the staff the autonomy and resources to craft information campaigns to reach US Persons abroad would have been a damn good idea. This would have sent an important signal to America's population overseas - yes, you have to file but we are here to help.
If the Bloomberg article is indeed correct then I would very much like
to know what the IRS' Plan B is. Assuming that they won't simply give
up providing taxpayer assistance to US Persons abroad, how might they
deliver those services from the US? Is there any possibility that
Americans abroad organizations and even citizens abroad panels could
participate in the design of service delivery solutions?
All good questions to ask the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service and you can do so right here.
Could the closures prompt a spike in passport/citizenship renunciations?
In response, the US might extend the "waiting" period to some incredibly long time (ten years?), post a list of "traitorous citizens" who wish to turn in their passports, and raise the price of renunciation...to some unaffordable level.
It doesn't look pretty, however you cut it.
All good questions to ask the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service and you can do so right here.
Could the closures prompt a spike in passport/citizenship renunciations?
In response, the US might extend the "waiting" period to some incredibly long time (ten years?), post a list of "traitorous citizens" who wish to turn in their passports, and raise the price of renunciation...to some unaffordable level.
It doesn't look pretty, however you cut it.
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