what is even crazier, is its not just Americans impacted by this. If you have a green card, but not working in the USA, you're impacted by this mess too.
I'm a non US citizen nor resident, never have been and probably never will be. Because of FATCA, I had to prove to my Eastern European bank (where I actually am a citizen) that I am not a "US person". That designation has no legal meaning, anywhere in my birth country, yet I had to sign a formal written declaration "I, NAME, declare under penalty of penal law, that I am not a US person", to be able to access my funds again.
> I'm a non US citizen nor resident, never have been and probably never will be. Because of FATCA, I had to prove to my Eastern European bank (where I actually am a citizen) that I am not a "US person". That designation has no legal meaning, anywhere in my birth country, yet I had to sign a formal written declaration "I, NAME, declare under penalty of penal law, that I am not a US person", to be able to access my funds again.
Your bank was terrified of losing access to US markets, so your bank forced you to prove you're not a US person to be super safe about US tax compliance. Seems like your complaint is with your bank, not the US. You're welcome to bank with a bank that has different policies. I have had European bank accounts before and I've certainly never been asked to prove I am not a US person. (On the other hand, I was asked to sign an absurd amount of paperwork that had nothing to do with the US, because it's Europe, and you need thirty-four forms and a notary public to be allowed to even exist.)
They don't mean the US cares about the individual - the post is about the general level of regulation that the US is able to force upon third parties.
But then again, this is what it means to be sovereign. And to be honest, the US's overreach is not as high as it could've been given how much clout they have. Imagine if it was china in the same powerful position - what would've been the overreach then?
> Your bank was terrified of losing access to US markets, so your bank forced you to prove you're not a US person to be super safe about US tax compliance
It's more that a lot of them got fines a decade ago because of that so now US citizens are just straight up banned from most European banks.
What's funny is America has some of the longest paths to a Green Card (for Indians and Chinese at least), but is very very happy to tax them as a resident the moment they spend a year in the country.
Indians effectively pay taxes as residents without any permanent residency benefits for decades
They chose to do it under the terms that have been laid out by the US - so obviously, it's _still_ benefitial for them to continue despite being taxed without representation.
