Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" could tax expats 3.5%

[Longtime]

I've just discovered this post from yesterday from a fellow expat. In the video, Ted Bauman, Chief of International Diversification at International Living, explains a new U.S. legislative provision that would impose a 3.5% excise tax on money transfers from U.S. financial institutions to foreign accounts, potentially affecting non-citizens and possibly complicating transactions for U.S. citizens living abroad. He warns that financial institutions may preemptively apply this tax to all international transfers to protect themselves, forcing customers to claim refunds later. Bauman criticizes this vague and burdensome law as another example of U.S. policies that disadvantage expats and foreign workers.

.

 

[Longtime]

At minute 8 and on, the poster gives some suggestions of what to do, such as making large transfers of money now, before the law goes into effect, to avoid that tax, and having alternative methods for transfers. I bet some people here have more ideas.

 

[FrankPintor]

I wonder if this will affect SWIFT transfers?

 

[Longtime]

It hasn't passed yet. It is going through the Senate and they have revisions. The president wants it passed by July 4th...

 

[steveinbsas]

Is Western Union considered a "US financial institution?"

 

[IamWaldo]

Is Western Union considered a "US financial institution?"

I think so, they are listed in the US stock market and they have their HQ in Denver

 

[aloevera]

I've just discovered this post from yesterday from a fellow expat. In the video, Ted Bauman, Chief of International Diversification at International Living, explains a new U.S. legislative provision that would impose a 3.5% excise tax on money transfers from U.S. financial institutions to foreign accounts, potentially affecting non-citizens and possibly complicating transactions for U.S. citizens living abroad. He warns that financial institutions may preemptively apply this tax to all international transfers to protect themselves, forcing customers to claim refunds later. Bauman criticizes this vague and burdensome law as another example of U.S. policies that disadvantage expats and foreign workers.

.

The stupidest country on planet earth. This is an attempt to hurt immigrants to the US and to extract some money from them as they send remittances back to their families in their countries of origin, however, it will of course also impact US citizens living abroad. It almost seems to be yet another attempt to punish people who leave the plantation, just like the requirement to file and sometimes even pay tax when you live abroad, FBAR filing requirements, and even a $2k fee to renounce citizenship. The US government loves to do everything in its power to attempt to punish people who leave. What a mean and nasty entity. I'm thankful that its time as an empire is finally ending, although it's a shame that Milei seems intent on sucking off the US every attempt he gets. He's already on the wrong side of history.

 

[aloevera]

At minute 8 and on, the poster gives some suggestions of what to do, such as making large transfers of money now, before the law goes into effect, to avoid that tax, and having alternative methods for transfers. I bet some people here have more ideas.

One way to get around any remittance tax would be to buy crypto stablecoins on a crypto exchange and to then sell your stablecoins for local currency as needed.
Example: you buy $500 worth of USDT on a crypto exchange (e.g. Coinbase or Gemini) using your US bank account/debit card, then send it to your wallet on a crypto exchange where you can exchange your stablecoins for ARS (e.g. Binance Argentina), then withdraw the ARS to your local bank account and spend it. You might lose a few dollars with the exchange rate and gas fees, although that depends on what network you use (ethereum, tron, etc).
Meh. There are always ways to get around petty measures like this. This is how people send money to Russia and Iran in spite of Western sanctions. So much for the yuge "big, beautiful bill"

 

[Johngwyn]

One way to get around any remittance tax would be to buy crypto stablecoins on a crypto exchange and to then sell your stablecoins for local currency as needed.
Example: you buy $500 worth of USDT on a crypto exchange (e.g. Coinbase or Gemini) using your US bank account/debit card, then send it to your wallet on a crypto exchange where you can exchange your stablecoins for ARS (e.g. Binance Argentina), then withdraw the ARS to your local bank account and spend it. You might lose a few dollars with the exchange rate and gas fees, although that depends on what network you use (ethereum, tron, etc).
Meh. There are always ways to get around petty measures like this. This is how people send money to Russia and Iran in spite of Western sanctions. So much for the yuge "big, beautiful bill"

The problem is how you can safely buy cryptos? Most major US banks will likely close your bank account once they detects transactions goes to cryptos. Maybe I'm wrong, but few years ago it happened to few friends I know... Any good suggestion? Can't believe the damages trump has already done so far.

 

[aloevera]

The problem is how you can safely buy cryptos? Most major US banks will likely close your bank account once they detects transactions goes to cryptos. Maybe I'm wrong, but few years ago it happened to few friends I know... Any good suggestion? Can't believe the damages trump has already done so far.

As with all of these petty rules and restrictions, there are always ways to get around them:
1. You can buy crypto using a PayPal account and no one can stop you. Transfer money from your bank account to PayPal (banks are fine with this, of course) and then just buy crypto on a centralized exchange (e.g. Gemini, Coinbase) using your PayPal debit card. Or alternatively, link your PayPal account to the crypto exchange, if that's possible, and then buy your crypto that way. DO NOT USE PAYPAL'S CRYPTO WALLET! DO NOT BUY CRYPTO *ON* PAYPAL! You should never keep substantial amounts of money sitting in a PayPal account, lest they freeze it.
2. Physical bitcoin/crypto ATMs exist, you can buy crypto at these places, but they always have exorbitantly high fees, so they should only be used as a last resort.
3. This is probably unnecessary and confusing to some, but also as a last resort, there are some p2p (peer-to-peer) websites like Paxful where you can buy various cryptocurrencies by sending money to a seller via paypal or gift cards, but this might be a bit more complicated, slightly risky, and unnecessary, but they're there. These sites are somewhat similar to ebay, in that you should only do transactions with sellers who have a good reputation on the site.
4. I've bought lots of crypto using my debit card from my US bank and have never had any problems... try getting a better bank unironically lol. Opening a bank account with a smaller regional bank should probably work.
I'm sure there are more ways to bypass the ire of banks and acquire cryptocurrencies, but these methods should work for most people with US bank accounts.