New Zealand

Submissions

February 2014

• Roy A Berg JD, LLM The fire-breathing leviathan is complex, lacks precedent... and, in light of FATCA’s complexity, right minded people would expect there to be changes.

• Andrew Broadwell Release of NZ details of my lawful banking activities in this country to a Foreign government is a clear violation of my fundamental rights as a NZ citizen undertaking lawful activities.

• Anne Cargill Because of my country of birth, the proposed bill could potentially allow the United States to have uncensored access to my New Zealand banking information

• Arielle Hiscox Our laws can't discriminate against a minority just because the US demands us to. Do not let them blackmail us.

• Benjamin Popovich force deplorable conditions on New Zealand and other sovereign nations... intrude on the sovereign rights of both US citizens and New Zealanders, but it negatively impacts the every day lives of US citizens overseas, many of whom may be dual citizens or residents... It is invasive and flawed. In addition, this law is being forced upon foreign nations through blackmail tactics (threats of withholding should one choose not to comply). Due to the blatant disregard of New Zealand laws and the aggressive manner in which these policies have been foisted upon New Zealand unwillingly, I strongly oppose passage of this bill.

• C. Tobias There are many things wrong with this bill including faulty logic behind its crafting, lack of oversight and consultation, and many unforeseen implications that it will have on many New Zealanders.

• Caroline Hooper Access financial information about New Zealand citizens which violates New Zealand privacy laws and discriminates against a wide range of people only to benefit the US (foreign) government

• Carol Tapanila My Canadian-born son was never registered with the US, never lived in the US, never had any benefit from the US – only from Canada. He (and many others) will be entrapped into so‐called US citizenship and the cost of administration of compliance year after year after year – for very little or no actual US taxes owed. FATCA will define him (and others like him) criminals.

• Carrie Fisher The implementation of FATCA and the IGA currently being negotiated will affect my children and subject them to unfair discrimination within the New Zealand financial system. They will not have privacy of their financial data – all because of the US strongarming governments around the world to report bank accounts belonging to “tax cheats” to the US

• Center for Freedom and Prosperity The law also raises privacy concerns for New Zealanders, as the private financial information of some New Zealand citizens, especially in cases where they have an American spouse or share a joint account with an American, will inevitably be caught in the FATCA net.

• Dan Sullivan The bill punishes those who have essentially no real connection with the states, or who have attempted to stay honest with the U.S. tax system but now will come under intense scrutiny because of the provisions of the bill.

• Darlene Hall My bank is not foreign to me. It is down the street from where I live. Please use common sense. Do not change your constitution for American government's wishes. FATCA is an ill thought out law, which the American congress has already vowed to not reciprocate

• Darryl Betham This bill violates privacy of NZ citizens, discriminates against a subset of New Zealanders with any US connections. This includes NZ citizens who happen to have been born in the US, NZ children who have a US parent, any New Zealander married to a US citizen and any former green card holder even if it is expired.

• Dean Tatro wife's income and interested income solely derived in NZ which is taxed in NZ will also be taxed again by the US... This also affects her Kiwisaver plan

• Dr Stuart Jeanne Bramhall This proposed bill violates the NZ Bill of Rights Act, the 1993 Human Rights Act and conflicts with the Privacy Act. It denies basic human rights to roughly 60,000 Americans who have chosen to become NZ permanent residents and to thousands more who merely have US ancestry.

• Dr. Nathaniel Janke-Gilman Clauses 6, 128, 129, 150, 151, 152 and 158 of this Bill are a direct attack on the privacy of a minority group, and they will directly lead to discrimination and negative financial repercussions for affected people, who are not limited to US citizens only.

• Elliot Sawyer Privacy rights exist to protect everybody. Taxpaying citizens and residents should not be treated like this because their documentation is not desireable. If a bank can get a privacy law waived, what other laws can get waived? Every dollar that this law sends back to the United States is a dollar that is not spent in New Zealand. It's a detriment to the economy

• Grant Kuppernick You have to understand that non-compliance with US tax law comes with harsh penalties. For example, the penalty for failing to file a foreign bank account report is $10,000 per account not disclosed per year not disclosed... The legislation is highly discriminatory. To protect the privacy of its citizens and residents, New Zealand must make provisions to counter this discrimination, should this legislation pass into effect. The Government must enable these "US persons" to be able to bank without threat of undue process and intervention by the IRS.

• Gwen D Once someone's privacy has been breached without cause there is no recourse in closing that door. This is a pure nightmare for your citizens. The fallacy that there will be reciprocity is used as a justification for signing away your citizens' rights. There will be no reciprocity for two reasons

• Harold David Bonnett this potential monitoring is unfair and a breach of privacy for a large group of New Zealand citizens. Allowing the United States to demand changes to New Zealand privacy law is a disturbing loss of sovereignty and appears to sacrifice the rights of citizens to the interests of another country... I am completely stunned that New Zealand would allow the creation of a subclass of New Zealand citizen with fewer rights than other New Zealand citizens, solely because of a previous or current tie to the US such as birth or marriage.

• Henry Velthuizen We should NOT allow another nation like the USA to BULLY us and threaten our financial institutions with THEFT of their US investments if they don't cowtow to the demands of the USA. (If the USA does "withhold" (STEAL is the proper term)

• Ian Fish this legislation on the grounds that it is being done without regard for the sovereign rights of this country. Effectively NZ is being blackmailed and bullied into approving this, and without detail. This bill violates privacy of NZ citizens, discriminates against a subset of New Zealanders with any US connections.

• James George Jatras The IGA is not a “treaty” under US law and can be changed by the US at will: NZ would lock in its compliance with US demands through domestic legislation approved by Parliament; on the US side, no Congressional action would be taken to bind the US.

• John Smith FATCA treats any New Zealanders with the misfortune of being born in the United States, or even born in New Zealand with an American parent, as “United States taxpayers that are resident in New Zealand... FATCA is a gross violation of international norms and respect for sovereignty. Its purpose is to enforce a US taxation regime that is one-sided, unique in the world, and inconsistent with OECD model taxation agreements.

• John Smith Sup1 The proposals are arguably discriminatory under section 19 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990

• John Smith Sup2 FATCA was never debated in Congress, but was discretely added to the HIRE Act (Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act) of 2010; and, it was never subjected to a cost/benefit analysis by Congress; it requires substantial Internal Revenue Service (IRS) legal, software development and administrative costs; adds one more layer of excessive bureaucracy; imposes significant compliance costs on U.S. financial institutions

• Kirsten Woods Sup1 FATCA infringes on the rights of New Zealand as a Sovereign Nation with its own laws, on the rights as a New Zealand Citizen as outlined in the NZ Bill of Rights 1990 and Human Rights Act of 1993, on my right to privacy, and runs on a system of “Guilty until You Prove Your Innocence”.

• John Smith Sup4 The New Zealander (US Person) removed from the account has now become a 2nd class citizen/resident in their own country.

March 2014

• Marvin Van Horn Sup1 New Zealand is NOT a Tax Haven like America is, and to stop the hypocrisy... the willingness of New Zealand to discriminate against a class of New Zealand Citizens and residents, their wives, children and business partners who the IRS (at its sole discretion) determines are "U.S. Persons" means you accept US domination of YOUR Citizens living within YOUR borders!

• John Richardson Sup1 [1] I urge you to consider the emotional impact that “FATCA Hunt” is having on New Zealand residents who have been born in the United States. The effects are severe. Those affected are overwhelming people who are completely tax compliant in New Zealand. They have saved responsibly for retirement. Their financial futures and years of savings are now at risk simply because of their country of birth.

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