FATCA is damaging US interests and is too unwieldy to deliver the tax results Washington demands claims Nigel Green, CEO of deVere Group.
Speaking to NewsMax TV, Green explained his forthright opinions on the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).
“The people haven’t thought through the consequences of FATCA,” he said. “On the surface, FATCA tends to go and find people avoiding tax, but actually it doesn’t achieve that and it causes, if you’re thinking very logically, a whole series of problems.”
The US FATCA rules demand US taxpayers should declare their worldwide incomes to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) including any income or assets held in foreign financial institutions of more than $50,000.
As a check to ensure taxpayers tell all, foreign financial institutions must report account details of US taxpayers to the IRS – and face stringent financial penalties for failing to do so.
Heavy-handed approach
FATCA is the spearhead of an international drive to recoup suspected undeclared tax.
“There are companies that invest in America and that becomes much, much more expensive to do,” said Green. “When companies decide, as many are, that they don’t want to invest in America because of the cost factor, obviously that affects the American economy and that affects jobs for those particular people.”
During the interview, Green also discussed how FATCA is having a detrimental effect on the USA’s image overseas and is seen by many as a heavy-handed approach for dealing with tax issues.
“There are many people around the world that are upset by the fact that the American authorities are asking people to collect their tax information,” he said. “Many people are saying that’s the United States of Arrogance rather than the United States of America, which is a terrible situation for America and I’m sure not something people thought through correctly.
Future focus
“America can see how much money and how much income is generated in America and it can control that money and see where that money goes, rather than trying to find out where money is, perhaps from the history of people that live abroad and perhaps put it into a tax haven.”
Green also argued that successful investors like Warren Buffett plan years ahead, and other investors should follow his example and focus further into the future.
He also favours investors pulling back and looking at worldwide investments rather than fettering their ambitions with self-made restrictions, like only investing in specific countries.
“You have to take an international view, and that’s where our company would have the edge because we’re not just looking at America. We’re looking at the world of investment,” said Green.
Watch the Video Interview
[ooyala code=”FleXRtYjqE0zjG7KVMxMXMPEsX5_I3q9″ player_id=”undefined”]
Source www.moneynews.com
Read the full article here: www.moneynews.com/StreetTalk/DeVere-Nigel-Green-Investors-Longer-Term/2013/05/16/id/504773
