White House Petition

I don't wish to open a discussion on the rights or wrongs of taxation of US Persons resident in foreign countries as I am aware there are those on this forum who do not object to that premise, and those that do object.

The purpose of this forum is to assist where possible in answering the multitude of questions that arise from filing both a UK and US tax return. Judging from the number of threads, there are varied uncertainties (and worries) that arise due to the fact the US imposes taxation on US Persons resident in the UK.

A petition has appeared on the White House 'We the People' web site which proposes the following:

(W)e petition the obama administration to:
Change US tax law from citizenship based law to residence based law.

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/change-us-tax-law-citizenship-based-law-residence-based-law/b6v4xfpV

The petion requires 25,000 signatures to be obtained before any response is required from the White House. I'm not sure if a time limit to obtain the required number of signatures is imposed. If you wish to sign the petition, there is a box requesting a US Zip code. Leaving this box blank is OK and will not prevent the signature from being registered.

Again, you may disagree with the proposition. It does, though, help raise an awareness that some Americans abroad are most unhappy with the difficulties, complexity, and possible excessive financial cost which may result from the current method of taxation and financial reporting imposed on US Persons resident abroad.

Will 25,000 signatures be found? If so, would it really change anything? Probably not. But, if you find US taxation and/or financial reporting (FBAR, FATCA, PFIC, etc.) for US Persons resident in the UK to cause the expenditure of excessive amounts of time, stress, or costs, this may be one way to voice a concern with the overall situation.

Think of this post simply as a public service announcement. If you have issues with the current legislation, you may wish to respond. Some may be inclined to think it pointless to voice their concerns as they assume (know?) nothing will change. For others, sadly, fear of publishing their name on a petition against taxation on a US government site may be a factor in that decision. That in itself speaks volumes.   

I think that the petition is worth signing, just to get the word out.

If some of you are not already aware of the following associations of Americans abroad, please take note, join, read the material they have to offer, contribute money and/or your own written opinions and research (these are all nonprofit groups):

newcomer link: http://www.aca.ch [nonactive]   /  newcomer link: http://www.americansabroad.org [nonactive]   (Geneva and Washington based not for profit association dealing with issues faced by US Persons abroad).

newcomer link: http://www.aaro.org [nonactive]   (another not for profit organization, based in Paris and Prague if I remember correctly).

ACA and AARO deal with issues other than taxation such as the right to vote, right to citizenship, retirement benefits, etc. 

newcomer link: http://www.isaacbrocksociety.ca [nonactive]   (Canadian-based blog particularly concerned with taxation and loss of citizenship, but other interrelated topics are also discussed). 

newcomer link: http://www.maplesandbox.ca [nonactive]   (Another Canadian based blog.  Many members of Isaac Brock also visit Maple and vice-versa). 


Some lawyer's sites (I cannot endorse them of course, and you cannot consider their content as legal advice.  Opinions of a lawyer are only legal advice if you have a contract for legal services with the lawyer in question.):

newcomer link: http://mopsicktaxlaw.blogspot.ch/ [nonactive]   (former IRS counsel, as far as I know he is still an advisor to the ACA-- see above)
newcomer link: http://www.hodgen.com/ [nonactive]   (California lawyer who has dealt with FBAR cases)
newcomer link: http://federaltaxcrimes.blogspot.ch/ [nonactive]   (For tax professionals, not intended for lay readers, but still very interesting).

There is also a discussion on the petition at newcomer link: http://www.englishforum.ch/finance-banking-taxation/165906-end-citizenship-based-taxation-petition-whitehouse-petition-whitehouse-gov.html#post1760351 [nonactive]

There is a time limit - it still needs 23k+ signatures before January 28th, 2013. I've added mine though!