For the first time, the White House is surveying Americans living outside the United States to find out which issues are important to them. The Tax Fairness for Americans Abroad (TFFAA) organisation is using this outreach to raise the issue of the US' unfair tax laws.
As the US tax system is based on citizenship rather than residency, Americans living abroad and so-called "accidental Americans" (those who have American nationality because they were born in the United States but have no other ties to the country) must still pay American taxes – a system they have repeatedly denounced.
"We have lots of different interests, but one that is very widely shared is our plea for an end to the tax and savings discrimination against Americans abroad caused by the US' citizenship-based taxation," Brandon Mitchener, executive director of Tax Fairness for Americans Abroad, told The Brussels Times.
Understanding needs and interests
For TFFAA (which recently launched a lobbying campaign to end Citizenship-Based Taxation), the White House survey is the result of a collective effort by several organisations to draw Washington's attention to the specific challenges they encounter.
"We are fighting for a shift to a policy of residence-based taxation," Mitchener added.
These organisations represent the estimated 9 million Americans living outside the US, whether temporarily or permanently. This includes Americans who moved away, as well as "accidental" ones who were born in the US but only lived there as children or were born to American parents abroad.
Man with American flag. Credit: Belga/Yorick Jansens
They are taking the White House's survey as a "sign that they are aware this population exists" and welcome the interest in "better understanding the needs and interests" of Americans abroad. They also called it a "fantastic opportunity" to raise the difficulties posed by this tax system.
Currently, Americans outside the US – including in Belgium – face discrimination from banks and other financial institutions that want nothing to do with American citizens because of the draconian penalties for non-compliance with US tax and financial reporting obligations. Even unintentional non-compliance can be punishable with fines beyond anything an American living in the US would ever face.
Importantly, as there is a formal legal separation between the work of the White House and electoral campaigns, this project is non-partisan and completely independent of the upcoming Presidential elections in November.
