Republicans Overseas

Republicans Overseas
Formation 2013
46-3677880
Headquarters Terre Haute, Indiana[1]
Chairman
 Bruce Ash
Vice Chairman
 Solomon Yue
Worldwide President
 Michael DeSombre
Treasurer & General Counsel
 James Bopp, Jr.
Website FATCA Legal Action

Republicans Overseas (RO) is a political organization, created in 2013, for Americans who are living outside the United States. RO, has no formal ties to the Republican National Committee (RNC), and no connection to Republicans Abroad. Much like political action committees and Super Pacs, it is a 527 political organization that operates as a corporation with specific interests.[2] In this case, Republicans Overseas maintains a specific focus on repealing the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).

Mission

Outside of repealing FATCA, RO's stated mission on its Facebook page is "To inspire and facilitate the 8.7 million Americans living abroad to engage in the U.S. democratic political process through elections, briefings and policy advocacy."[3]

History

Republicans Overseas was established on September 18, 2013 as a 527 political organization.[4][5]

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act

Repealing FATCA is the leading priority for Republicans Overseas. Supporting this focus, the RNC, during their January 2014 RNC Winter meeting, passed a resolution to repeal FATCA with overwhelming support.[6] Additionally, in August 2014, the RNC unanimously passed a resolution supporting Residence Based Taxation,[7] and another resolution Opposing OECD's Global FACTA Common Reporting Standards in January 2015.[8]

RO views FATCA as violating fundamental constitutional rights of overseas U.S. citizens.[9] The law was passed by a Democrat controlled Congress in 2010, lacking a single House Republican vote,[10] and only 11 Senate Republican votes. The United States being the only First World nation that taxes its citizens living abroad indefinitely,[11] many Americans are now denied banking privileges throughout the world because foreign financial institutions cannot justify enduring increased compliance costs due to new regulations, and refuse to be proxy agents for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).[12] FATCA has faced considerable criticism, including from Democrats Abroad, the official expatriate wing of the Democratic Party. A lawsuit fighting against FATCA, Crawford v. U.S. Department of Treasury, with eight counts of constitutional violations, was filed on July 14, 2015 by Republican Overseas Action (ROA), a 501(C)(4) organization of RO.[13] The lawsuit currently has ten plaintiffs, including ex-2016 presidential candidate Senator Rand Paul.[13][14] Democrats Abroad condemned ROA's FATCA lawsuit, specifically Senator Paul and James Bopp, Jr., the lawsuit's lead attorney.[15] The RNC released a statement supporting RO and this legal undertaking.[16]

Although Republicans Overseas, as an organization, focuses primarily on the repeal of FATCA, some of its members, including chairman Bruce Ash and vice-chairman Solomon Yue, serve on the rules committee of the Republican National Committee (RNC). In that capacity Ash and Yue have advocated positions that go beyond the primary mission of Republicans Overseas, for example advocating for the candidacy of presidential candidate Donald Trump. Ash, in particular, is not only the chairman of Republicans Overseas, but also the chairman of the rules committee of the RNC.[17]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "About Republicans Overseas". Republicans Overseas. Facebook.
  2. ↑ Cooper, Kent (September 25, 2013). "Republicans Overseas Inc. Established to Speak on Public Policy". Political Moneyline. Roll Call.
  3. ↑ "About Republicans Overseas". Republicans Overseas. Facebook. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
  4. ↑ Cooper, Kent (September 25, 2013). "Republicans Overseas Inc. Established to Speak on Public Policy". Roll Call. Retrieved Apr 21, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Confidential FATCA Legal Action Fund Contribution Form". Republican Overseas. Abolish FATCA.
  6. ↑ "Resolution to Repeal the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)" (PDF). Republican National Committee. GOP. January 24, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Resolution Supporting "Residence Based Taxation"" (PDF). Republican National Committee. GOP. August 8, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Resolution Opposing OECD's Global FACTA Common Reporting Standards" (PDF). Republican National Committee. GOP. January 16, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Petition to Congress of the United States to Abolish the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)". Republicans Overseas. Abolish FATCA.
  10. ↑ "House Vote #991 in 2009". govtrack.us. December 16, 2009.
  11. ↑ Bachmann, Helena (January 31, 2013). "Mister Taxman: Why Some Americans Working Abroad Are Ditching Their Citizenships". Time. Time Inc.
  12. ↑ Hallow, Ralph (January 15, 2014). "RNC to join Rand Paul's fight to protect privacy of Americans overseas". The Washington Times. The Washington Times, LLC.
  13. 1 2 "Crawford et al v. United States Department of the Treasury et al". Justia Dockets & Filings. Justia. July 14, 2015.
  14. ↑ Goulder, Robert (September 16, 2015). "Litigating FATCA: Rand Paul And Financial Privacy". Forbes. Forbes.
  15. ↑ Montgomery, Alex (July 7, 2015). "Democrats Abroad Condemns Rand Paul's Legal Challenge to Law Targetting Tax Evaders". Democrats Abroad.
  16. ↑ Priebus, Reince (July 17, 2015). "RNC Statement on Republicans Overseas Action Lawsuit". RNC Press Releases. Republican National Committee.
  17. ↑ Hallow, Ralph (June 29, 2016). "Republican rules chairman aims to lock in Donald Trump as nominee". Washington Times. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
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