US Expats Struggling For Financial Access Get Updated Guide

Tom Burroughes

13 February 2020

American Citizens Abroad, an advocacy group for US expats wrestling with issues such as Washington’s global taxation reach, has relaunched a directory of services for its members, widening it to include more offerings. ACA estimates that there are as many as 5.3 million expat Americans.

US citizens and Green Card holders living abroad typically struggle to obtain financial services because banks and other organizations regard them as a compliance headache. Since the enactment of the Foreign Account Taxation Compliance Act, or FATCA, in 2010, the situation has worsened. Some lenders such as Deutsche Bank and HSBC decided several years ago to halt services to US expats.

ACA has called on US legislators to shake up how the US taxes people on a worldwide basis rather than on a territorial one, as is the case with most major industrialized countries.

The group has relaunched its online Expat Professional Services Directory, having originally issued it in 2014. It now includes new professional services in response to “almost daily emails received from individuals who need assistance for issues aside from pure tax filings”, such as, creating US wills and trust structures, accounting needs for US-based businesses, management of US investments, financial management for US-resident older relatives and dependents, ACA said.

“As tax season has begun in earnest, ACA is receiving more and more requests for tax preparation services. We are seeing more interest from professional service providers wanting to list in the directory and also more individuals using the directory to find service providers now that they are preparing to file their 2019 filings.” Marylouise Serrato, ACA executive director, said.

The directory is mobile-friendly and works on smartphones and tablets.

“There are an estimated 5.3 million American taxpayers overseas. We have found over time that a surprising number of people want advice relating not just to the preparation of returns but also accounting services, investment advice and various types of legal advice,” Jonathan Lachowitz, chairman of ACA, said.

The group has argued that if the US adopted residency-based tax then US citizens outside the country would not have to pay tax on income earned abroad. However, such investments are still taxed by the IRS.