Center for Freedom and Prosperity
For Immediate Release
Monday, November 19, 2012
202-285-0244
www.freedomandprosperity.org
CF&P President to Give Presentation on Destructive FATCA Law at 36th Annual Conference on the Caribbean and Central America
(Washington, D.C., Monday, November 19, 2012) Center for Freedom & Prosperity President Andrew Quinlan will be taking part in a panel discussion on the implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and its ramifications for international banking at the 36th Annual Conference on the Caribbean and Central America, hosted by Caribbean-Central American Action. The conference will be held November 28th – 30th at the InterContinental Hotel in New Orleans, with the FATCA panel convening on November 29th from 11:30 AM – 12:45 PM.
Quinlan’s talk will focus on the difficulties faced by the Treasury Department as it tries to implement the poorly crafted legislation, and will highlight the causes behind the multiple delays to date. He will further emphasize the need for governments and both domestic and foreign banking institutions to stand up against the law and US fiscal imperialism in general.
“The primary point I want to get across,” said Quinlan, “is that financial institutions and their home governments should not provide tacit approval for US fiscal imperialism by meekly accepting IRS demands to sign FATCA implementation agreements. Congress can still repeal FATCA and end this nightmare just as easily as it was created, but to compel them to do so will require more consistent uproar from the international and banking communities. If the US is allowed to get away with such fiscal imperialism today,” he warned, “it’s a sure bet that even more costly and economically devastating rules will be right around the corner.”
Passed in 2010 as part of the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act, FATCA threatens foreign financial centers with a 30% withholding requirement on US accounts if they don’t comply with draconian new reporting requirements. Citing the added costs and hassle, many institutions have already begun dropping American clients and divesting of US holdings, reducing much needed investment in the US economy, which reduces both economic growth and the availability of new jobs. With fewer institutions willing to serve them, Americans living overseas are also finding it difficult simply to open bank accounts, and are renouncing their US citizenship at an increasing rate.
CF&P’s mission is to educate the public and members of Congress on the benefits of tax competition, financial privacy and fiscal sovereignty, including how passage of laws like FATCA will backfire and drive investment out of the US economy.
For more information on FATCA visit http://freedomandprosperity.org/issues/foreign-account-tax-compliance-act/
For additional comments:
Andrew Quinlan can be reached at 202-285-0244, andy@freedomandprosperity.org
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