American Citizens Abroad

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American Citizens Abroad, Inc.
Formation1978
Founder Andy Sundberg
Headquarters2001 L Street N.W.. Suite 500. Washington, DC 20036

American Citizens Abroad, Inc. (ACA) is a 501(c)(4) non-profit, non-partisan organization, organized as a Delaware corporation. Its sister organization, American Citizens Abroad Global Foundation (ACAGF), is a 501(c)(3) non-profit non-partisan charitable organization focused on education and research. ACA is a leading representative of American citizens residing outside the USA.

Contents

ACA was founded in 1978 by the late Andy Sundberg and several other American citizens residing in Geneva Switzerland and neighboring France. [1] In 2014 the principal offices were relocated to Washington D.C.

ACA maintains close contacts with the Americans Abroad Caucus, a caucus within the U.S. Congress originally established in 2007 under the direction of former Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, currently chaired by Congresswoman Dina Titus. ACA interfaces with U.S. government administrations and other agencies to educate these offices on the effects of U.S. legislation and regulations on U.S. citizens living and working overseas. [2] ACA publishes regular news items for its members with information on new legislation, rules and events which affect U.S. citizens, whether living overseas or in the USA. [3]

ACA's web site also contains information on issues of concern to Americans overseas, including transmission of citizenship to children born abroad, taxation [4] and voting. On taxation, ACA has written various pieces in its ongoing efforts to preserve the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE), which is vital for Americans living and working overseas to avoid full double taxation. [5]

ACA endorses adoption of Residence-based taxation (RBT) to alleviate the compliance and double taxation issues arising from the current system of Citizenship-based taxation (CBT).   ACA has published a side-by-side comparative study of how changes in the current tax regime could be made to move to an RBT system of taxation. [6]  

ACA played a significant role in improving the ballot request form used for absentee voting. [7] Banking is another area of current activity to counteract the disadvantages felt by Americans residing abroad, who often cannot open new bank accounts, neither in the USA because they have no address there needed to satisfy the Patriot Act, nor overseas because of the extra paperwork requirements imposed by the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). [8] [9] ACA endorses a Same Country Exception (SCE) for FATCA reporting for U.S. citizens living and working overseas whose in-country financial accounts should not be considered "foreign."

ACA works with U.S. embassies and other groups in a bipartisan manner on issues of common concern; it has co-organized town meetings around the world. In 2012, ACA founder the late Andy Sundberg produced a 10-page report "Issues of Concern for U.S. Citizens Working Abroad." [10] [11]

In July 2024 ACA officially registered as a lobbyist. ACA will lobby for residence-based taxation (RBT) and related tax bills in both chambers of the U.S. Congress. Americans living abroad want the U.S. tax code to be changed from citizenship-based taxation to residence-based taxation as is the case for most of the world's expats (persons living in a country of which they are not a citizen).

In order to finance this lobbying activity, ACA created a political action committee  – the American Citizens Abroad, Inc. PAC (ACA-PAC). This PAC, in addition to support for lobbying, will be used to fund educational efforts such as presentations, conferences and hearings. Financial contributions to the PAC are accepted from members of ACA who are U.S. citizens.

ACA (along with other organizations representing Americans abroad) was a strong advocate for the "Social Security Fairness Act," which removes the Social Security provisions known as the "Windfall Elimination Provision" (WEP) and the "Social Security Government Pension Offset" (GPO). This bill was passed by the Senate on December 20, 2024 after previous House approval. WEP reduced Social Security benefits for individuals who were receiving pension and disability benefits from employment when they did not pay Social Security payroll taxes during a part of their career. Teachers, firefighters and many other state and local workers as well as individuals receiving foreign pension benefits, were affected by the WEP reduction in Social Security benefits for decades. It is estimated that these provisions (WEP and GPO) affected an estimated 3 million individuals.

The bill went to the President's desk, was signed on January 5, 2025 and is now law. ACA is pleased to have advocated for this legislation alongside other organizations representing the individuals affected by these provisions. ACA has long heard from members and supporters who have been negatively affected by the WEP provision and it has long been a platform issue of the organization. ACA continues to advocate for the removal of other provisions which negatively affect Americans residing abroad.


See also

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References

  1. ↑ Obituaries of Warren Furth and Andy Sundberg https://www.americansabroad.org/in_memory
  2. ↑ It is difficult for an average congressperson to understand the concerns of an overseas voter, who appears only in small numbers in his/her district. A dedicated representative for overseas voters, though, could better take the time to understand concerns such as those of children born overseas in binational marriages or the physical presence test.
  3. ↑ Recent News Items can be seen at https://www.americansabroad.org/press_releases
  4. ↑ Cohn, Michael (February 21, 2012). "Expats Press Capitol Hill for Tax Reforms". Accounting Today .
  5. ↑ as documented in the ACA Press Kit: https://www.americansabroad.org/the_foreign_earned_income_exclusion_and_foreign_tax_credits_foreign_earned_income_exclusion
  6. ↑ Side-by-side Analysis of Residency-Based Taxation https://assets.nationbuilder.com/americansabroad/pages/33/attachments/original/1709155089/residency-based-taxation-aca-side-by-side-comparison-4-20-2022.pdf?1709155089
  7. ↑ Knowlton, Brian (May 9, 2012). "Change to Ballot Request Form Angers U.S. Expats". The New York Times .
  8. ↑ Bachmann, Helena (April 20, 2010). "Why More U.S. Expatriates Are Turning In Their Passports". Time . Archived from the original on April 22, 2010.
  9. ↑ Bachmann, Helena (31 January 2013). "Why Americans Working Abroad Are Ditching Their U.S. Citizenships". Time . Retrieved 11 March 2013. 'FATCA is the straw that broke the camel's back,' says Jackie Bugnion, [former] director of American Citizens Abroad (ACA), a Geneva-based expatriate advocacy group. Because this legislation forces local banks to invest in expensive new infrastructure in order to comply with the IRS rules, 'access to foreign financial institutions is being shut off and Americans abroad are treated like criminals,' she adds.
  10. ↑ Report of the Americans in Switzerland Working Group, September 2012, revised March 2013 http://pegasus.thomasruddy.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/final_arawg2.pdf
  11. ↑ Wallace, Ellen (14 February 2013). "US-Switzerland sign controversial FATCA agreement (update)". GenevaLunch news. Archived from the original on 2 March 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2013. One of the groups, American Citizens Abroad, which is based in Geneva, says it 'continues to combat the negative effects of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). In December 2012, after meetings with the Treasury Department and in a follow up letter, ACA pressed for the inclusion in Intergovernmental Agreements (IGAs) and in the recently finalized FATCA regulations of provisions incentivizing Foreign Financial Institutions to avoid discriminating against Americans. Treasury has included this language in most of the new IGAs and the provision has found its way into the final FATCA regulations.'


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