Crawford v. United States Department of Treasury, No. 16-3539 (6th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CaseIn 2010, Congress passed the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), to reduce tax evasion by U.S. taxpayers holding funds in foreign accounts. FATCA imposes account-reporting requirements (and penalties for noncompliance) on both individual taxpayers and foreign financial institutions (FFIs). FFIs are further required to deduct and withhold a “tax” equal to 30% of every payment made by the FFI to a noncompliant (recalcitrant) account holder. To implement FATCA worldwide, the Department of the Treasury and the IRS have concluded intergovernmental agreements (IGAs), which facilitate FFIs’ disclosure of financial-account information to the U.S. government, with more than 70 countries. Separately from FATCA and the IGAs, the Bank Secrecy Act imposes a foreign bank account reporting (FBAR) requirement on Americans living abroad who have aggregate foreign-account balances over $10,000; willful failure to file an FBAR invites a penalty of 50% of the value of the reportable accounts or $100,000, whichever is greater. Plaintiffs, Senator Rand Paul and individuals who claim to be subject to FATCA and the FBAR, sought to enjoin the enforcement of FATCA, the IGAs, and the FBAR. The Sixth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of their lawsuit for lack of standing. No plaintiff credibly alleged injuries traceable to the laws.
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