Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ken., has re-introduced a bill to repeal certain provisions of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act that he contends violate taxpayer privacy.
Paul, who is widely expected to run for President, originally introduced the bill in 2013 (see
FATCA, which was included as part of the HIRE Act of 2010, requires foreign financial institutions to report on the holdings of U.S. taxpayers to the Internal Revenue Service or else face stiff penalties of up to 30 percent of their U.S. source income. The law has provoked controversy abroad, but after some delays and a series of intergovernmental agreements with foreign tax authorities, the Treasury and the IRS have been moving forward with implementation.
"FATCA is in complete violation of every Americans' constitutional right to privacy and adds burdensome regulations that negatively impact our economy,” Paul said in a statement Wednesday. “It is a defective law which disregards the mutual respect of sovereignty among nations and drains money from the federal treasury, on top of discouraging overseas investment in the United States. My bill will reverse the negative aspects FATCA has on the economy, prevent the government from bulk collecting U.S. Citizen's financial data, and preserve the constitutional rights for all Americans."
A Washington, D.C.-based think tank, the Center for Freedom and Prosperity, commended Paul for reintroducing the legislation. "FATCA has been just one disaster after another,” said CF&P president Andrew Quinlan in a statement. “Congress passed a rash law without first properly weighing the costs and benefits, and now millions of innocent Americans are suffering the consequences. Thankfully, Senator Paul recognizes that it's not too late to correct this egregious error."
