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Chapter 9: Bail-ins, Derivatives, & Employment

Congress to act with the passage of the Foreign
Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) in 2010 but
which took effect in July 2014. FATCA requires that all
world financial institutions make available to the U.S.
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) full documentation of
their American customers. The IRS will then do due
diligence to make sure that these people are complying
with American tax laws.
If banks fail to report this information, the U.S.
government will withhold 30 percent of all monies paid
to the financial institution. It is hard to know the long-
term impact of this law on foreign relations, but
FATCA will set back the American dollar as the
world’s standard currency.
The U.S. government will also deny or revoke
passports for U.S. citizens who have not paid their
taxes. The State Department will block Americans with
delinquent tax debt from receiving new passports and
will rescind others. The Internal Revenue Service, using
a threshold of $50,000 of unpaid federal taxes, compiles
a list of affected taxpayers. This provision affects about
seven million U.S. citizens living abroad who need their
passports for many purposes, including for work visas
or residency permits, registering a child for school,
banking, and checking into a hotel.
Obamacare, the Financial Reform Bill, the
impact of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,
FATCA, tax law changes, and other things have
resulted in structural unemployment. U.S. exports have
flatlined since the passage of FATCA. Small businesses
of less than 500 employees do not have the resources to
hire accountants and lawyers as do large corporations.

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