AmCham Vietnam | APEC Business Travel Card, FATCA, Tax ...

Tom Clark, APCAC Vice Chairman

? APEC Business Travel Card available by May 2013
? Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act implementation date extended to Jan 1, 2014
? Forging APCAC?s 2013 Advocacy Agenda
? Tax Reform Debate: Ways & Means Committee ? ?Territorial Tax Regime?

APCAC?s advocacy efforts, along with that of our member Chambers and the on-going support of our Washington-based advisors BGR, has been effective in moving the Administration on several areas that we focused on in our 2012 ?Washington Doorknock? and ensuing follow-up through the year. Collectively, these efforts show the importance of developing a credible, realistic advocacy agenda, tied to the goals of expanding U.S. business access to the growing Asian market, and then executing on that agenda not just in a once-a-year Washington Doorknock, but on an on-going basis throughout the year.

APEC Business Travel Card (ABTC)?: As noted in APCAC Chair Steve Okun?s separate letter, our on-going advocacy on ABTC, following up continuously from the Washington Doorknock in June 2012, has produced firm commitments from the Customs and Border Protection office (CBP) of the Department of Homeland Security to implement the ABTC legislation over the next several months. In a direct response to our APCAC letter to Senator Cantwell, members of her staff, along with staff from the offices of Senators Hirona and Shatz of Hawaii, and Congressman Larsen, met with officials of CBP and were assured that CBP is planning a full implementation of the ABTC legislation by May of this year. It will be based on the existing?Global Entry Trusted Traveler Program with an additional fee of no more than $100. CBP also pledged a 1 week turnaround from the time CBP confirms receipt of an application and the issuance of the new card. This will require ABTC applicants to also become members of the Global Entry Trusted Traveler Program, and we now have a firm commitment for an implementation timeline that will allow U.S. business people access to the benefits of this APEC initiative already enjoyed by their competitors from other economies.

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA): Last week, the US Treasury released its final rules on implementation of FATCA. While there is no denying the continuing complexity of the rules and the burden that will be placed on US financial institutions and as well as difficulty for overseas American citizens in obtaining financial services, the final regulations have taken some material steps to respond to the inputs made by these stakeholders, including by APCAC in our 2012 Doorknock and on-going advocacy. The final rules extend the implementation deadline by a year until January 1, 2014, reduce some of the documentation requirements for covered institutions (allowing, for example, tax withholding certificates instead of full financial statements, letters of counsel, etc., to verify certain representations), and allow institutions in ?Model 1? jurisdictions to comply by providing information to their host country tax authorities and be exempt from many requirements of the final rules. Some more detailed overviews of final rules and comments are available at the links provided below. Obviously, chambers and their member companies or individuals should consult their legal and tax advisors as to particulars.

http://www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom-UnitedStates/Local%20Assets/Documents/Tax/us_tax_FATCA_Final_Regs_012313.pdf
http://www.kpmg.com/US/en/IssuesAndInsights/ArticlesPublications/taxnewsflash/Documents/1339finalfatca.pdf
http://www.sidley.com/IRS-Releases-Final-FATCA-Regulations-01-18-2013/
http://blogs.wsj.com/corruption-currents/2013/01/22/experts-laud-extra-time-to-implement-fatca-compliance/

Forging our 2013 Advocacy Agenda: The upcoming APCAC Annual Meeting and APCAC 2013 Business Summit in Taipei is shaping up to be a great event under the leadership of AmCham Taipei. This event will continue the practice of organizing panel discussions and keynote addresses attracting experts from around the region and the U.S. on key topics such as: innovation, energy and environment, healthcare, financial services and regional trade architecture. As in past years, these discussions will be an important input into our new APCAC Report and associated advocacy documents to be used in connection with our upcoming Washington Doorknock, June 9-12, and in advocacy directly with our host governments throughout the region. Please be prepared to receive and comment on, in the next 2-3 weeks, preliminary drafts of a new APCAC Report. This will be a great opportunity for your input into this 2013 APCAC Report to ensure that issues of importance to your AmCham are properly included or brought up to date. These issues will include new challenges to growth and market access in the region, both from governments in the region (emerging restrictions on cross-border data flows and capital flows, continuing level playing field challenges) as well as U.S. actions that may have unintended consequences for growth and markets in the region (for example, the various extraterritorial applications of Dodd-Frank).

Tax Reform Debate: Significantly, we will also follow closely the ongoing tax reform debate in Washington DC, particularly where it may affect the interests of overseas Americans and U.S. corporations operating overseas. APCAC?s long-standing advocacy on maintaining meaningful protections for overseas Americans against double taxation and securing the foreign earned income exclusion (FEIE) will continue, as will upgraded efforts to move to a territorial tax regime such as that maintained by most of our trading competitors. This debate is already under way, as demonstrated by the documents (see links below) from the House Ways and Means Committee and Congressman David Camp?s office of proposals on reforms of taxation of financial products. The framework also includes reform of taxation of individuals and businesses that are to be determined. You will recall that Congressman Camp was a recipient of one of our APCAC Awards in 2012. We will remain in close contact with his office and those of other members of Congress to ensure that APCAC?s voice is heard in the development of these proposals.

Best regards,

Tom Clark
Vice Chair for Washington, APEC and TPP
Asia Pacific Council of American Chambers of Commerce (APCAC)

Comprehensive Tax Reform ? from Ways & Means Committee Web Site

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Source: http://www.amchamvietnam.com/9268/apec-business-travel-card-fatca-tax-reform-apcac-advocacy-update/

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