I saw some posts about american wanting to move to Europe; so just before you guys make the move, double-triple check insurances/banks, because literally every time I (not american) do smth financially related in France, they ask me if I am american? If yes, they won't even open accounts/ give me insurance etc.. Sounds discriminatory but apperently because legal

I dont know if that expands to any other field

EDIT: lol i am now wondering what are people are downvoting for? You dont like that fact, so you downvote whoever told you that fact? Some reactions are hilarious

I hate to recommend the evil empire, but there's a very good sub on this topic called r/AmerExit. Sometimes a community is too niche to exist on the Fediverse, and one must hold one's nose and visit Reddit for certain content.

If you're not American, why are you telling the institutions that you are?

Huh? Where i said that

They propably slip explanation to the question like "Good, then we can open the account"

Financial institutions in Japan ask the same thing. It is because Americans have to pay tax to American even when they don’t live in America. It just means there is more paperwork apparently.

AFAIK this has to do with US tax law and how it applies to income earned by US citizens abroad.

I have never answered yes to this, but would be surprised if it were impossible or even considerably harder for US persons to open bank accounts. I always thought this just triggered slightly different rules for the bank?

american in europe here,

this is true. it's very nearly impossible to open a bank account. There is exactly one bank in Switzerland who allows americans to open accounts, UBS. So far no banks in france have allowed me to open an account, even though I have a french residency permit. This makes it nearly impossible to take loans to buy things like houses or cars. Basically life here is impossible because being american fucking sucks.

It’s not discriminatory. They don’t have any legal obligation to serve citizens of foreign countries. Citizen of USA isn’t a protected class. When they do serve American citizens it triggers a whole lot of regulatory work, and it’s understandable they don’t want to do that unless you’re a high net worth individual (ie they make enough profit to cover that cost)

Renounce your citizenship.

Open an account at Service CU out of NH. Designed to work in Europe (IBAN, free foreign ATMs, etc). Everyone who works for the state department gets it, and afaik it's open to the public.

i don't have a second citizenship to fall back on, so i'd be stateless. also, i can't afford to since you have to pay all the taxes on potential income for the next 10 years or something

iban thing is nice, do you know if you can finance cars or homes? right now i have to have to drive around a beater because no european bank = no loan

Only people who make more than 200k/year or have more than 2 million in unrealized taxable assets have to pay an expatriation tax.

There is no paying future taxes as that’d be asinine.

I’ve used ServiceCU for more than 20 years and yes you can buy cars and such through them

TIL, i thought i read that 10 year tax thing somewhere. probably just bs i saw online and didn't look into it

thanks! I'm going to check them out.

Google FATCA, the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act.

Anyone anywhere in the world that is either US citizen, or a green card holder, or in other ways related to Murica, must pay US taxes. It's insane, but the US tax system is powerful enough to bully all other countries into compliance.

Don't get me started. 🤮

Yup, I had no idea how fucked you guys were with the taxes thing until I learned you had to declare it twice if living abroad

Citizenship isn't free. You don't get to have your cake and eat it, too.

My question was genuine. You wrote:

they ask me if I am american? If yes, they won't even open accounts/ give me insurance etc..

This isn't about Americans' obligation to pay. It's about hassle being forced upon foreign companies that have fuck-all to do with America (except for having American expat customers), to make them help collect the taxes on the US' behalf.

And my misunderstanding is genuine? I dont know how you derived that fact from what i posted lol i never stated "i am american" to anyone, because it is not only factually false but also would bring me problems

Funny, because it's free everywhere else. Sounds like a bit of a shithole country.

Except for maybe eight countries. The US, North Korea and a few small Pacific island states, if I recall correctly.

How do you know that they won't open an account if you say yes? Do you know people who have had this experience, or did the banks tell you that they would not provide these services for Americans?

The insurance told me, but you can google that information yourself, or simply call any bank in france usually they do have english speaking line

It literally is.

EDIT: lol i am now wondering what are people are downvoting for? You dont like that fact, so you downvote whoever told you that fact? Some reactions are hilarious

Perhaps, just maaaybe there's a social climate attributed to current events that makes this post more of a, "no shit Sherlock" kind of post. 🙄

Low hanging fruit and all that.

Also, being butthurt about downvotes is cringe as fuck, go back to reddit.

I am not on reddit, you seem to keep inferring random stuff lol go back to sleep

It’s not discriminatory.

I mean it quite literally is discriminatory, but it's legal and justified discrimination.

Lots of non-American banks don't want to deal with the rules, so it's easier for them to just say that they won't open accounts for Americans.

Good point.

They do have an obligation to serve their own citizens. The US double tax reporting bullshit does apply to dual citizens.

If you renounce your citizenship the US government still expects you to pay taxes for the next 10 fucking years. Do you think that sounds reasonable too?

Luckily I’m not one of those guys haha

That's only if you make more than 100k, just for additional information.

I believe you. My understanding of your post:

1. I'm not American
2. But I'm sometimes asked if I'm American
3. If "yes", I face repercussions

Hence my question. That's all.

I would absolutely talk to an embassy or at least an international tax professional before making decisions and not rely on Lemmy.

Alright maybe my English is at fault. "If yes" meant to be: when I asked "what d happen in the hypothesis I was american"?

Well, my reading comprehension as also not the best some times so I'm definitely not innocent here. I can take things to literally (and not understand sarcasm). Thanks for clarifying. I hope I didn't cause offence.

Who the fuck is getting cake!?
The only thing we're eating is shit from the Oligarchs.

Wait... You didn't know off-shore bank accounts are only for the rich and powerful?

Downvotes likely from non-Americans. Europeans specifically. They like to downvote stuff about America and Americans on Lemmy. A common prejudice on Lemmy, unfortunately.

Haven't heard that before, that's wild

is powerful enough to bully all other countries into compliance

But not to tax the rich or corporations at all.

It's not that funny tbh, they're people being treated poorly by their government

yeah I have eu citizenship and can't open an account in europe. Now I can if I am resident to the particular area. I think europe is losing a big opportunity as I would not be surprised if quite a few us people would not mind having a bit of euros in a better run banking system just in case. They should tell the us to shove it with whatever laws or treaties prevent this.

But they still have to report it, even if it is below.

They can do anything they want. That is just something they don't want to do. Again, 🤮

In other countries, you pay taxes if you actually live there. If I move to Spain and live there for enough days per year, my taxes go to Spain, not Estonia.

The US system I believe means you get double taxed if you live and work elsewhere, although I'm not 100% sure.

Downvotes likely from non-Americans. Europeans specifically. They like to downvote stuff about America and Americans on Lemmy.

Thanks for reminding me, I almost forgot to.