CF&P Urges Support for Sen. Paul’s FATCA Repeal Amendment to Tax Reform

(Washington, D.C., Wednesday, November 29, 2017) – Senator Rand Paul is prepared to offer his FATCA repeal legislation, S. 869, as an amendment to the Senate’s tax reform bill. The Center for Freedom and Prosperity applauds this news and urges full-fledged support from his colleagues.

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act has carved a path of destruction through the international financial sector, leaving millions of innocent Americans in its wake. Its extensive reporting requirements and onerous penalties are completely out of proportion with the relative pittances it recovers.

FATCA was poorly conceived and looked at as nothing more than a hasty revenue raiser. Its anti-privacy provisions could not be adopted by foreign banks without so-called “intergovernmental agreements,” which Treasury implemented without authorization or consideration of the full impact on U.S. national interests.

Earlier this year, CF&P co-led a coalition of 23 taxpayer protection and grassroots organizations in a letter urging Congressional leadership to include FATCA repeal as part of comprehensive tax reform. As the GOP included FATCA repeal in its 2016 platform, Republicans must now seize the opportunity to fulfill their pledge.

CF&P President Andrew Quinlan commented, “Senator Paul is providing a voice for the 9 million Americans living abroad whose suffering has been ignored to date. FATCA’s aggressive and outdated approach to tax compliance has no place in a fair, pro-growth tax system.”