FAWCO Update September 2003

U.S. Tax Code Section 911 Conflict

In May of this year, the Senate Finance Committee began to look very seriously at the U.S. Tax Code’s Section 911, figuring that ceasing to allow Americans abroad to exclude the first $80,000 of foreign-earned income when declaring U.S. tax liability on their worldwide income could generate up to $34 billion in needed revenues. Like members of other overseas organizations, FAWCO members were encouraged to write to their legislators and to Congressional leaders, pointing out that the exclusion was not a “tax break”, as it was often portrayed in the press, but rather a means of easing the pain of possible double taxation on Americans abroad.

U.S. Liaison Lucy Laederich watched the news from the Senate, and later the joint House-Senate Conference Committee, on a daily basis and provided updates on the FAWCO website. To our considerable amazement and satisfaction, toward the end of the battle, anyone doing an Internet search for “Section 911” found the FAWCO website article posted 4th on Google and 3rd on Yahoo, just under the Cornell Law School and the National Review. FAWCO’s “virtual visibility” was consequently considerably increased, and FAWCO received comments and questions from new quarters. And what came out of this ‘rally en masse’?

In a late and tense session on Wednesday, May 21, the House and Senate agreed to drop the Senate plan to repeal the Section 911 tax exclusion for Americans living and working abroad on foreign-earned income. For details about Section 911 and links to relevant articles in the International Herald Tribune and the New York Times, visit the FAWCO website at http://www.fawco.org.

FAWCO Conference at The Hague 2004

The Hague is the beautiful site of the March 25-29, 2004 Conference. The AWC of The Hague, assisted by the AWC of Amsterdam, invites FAWCO Club delegates and participants to join FAWCO colleagues at the Kurhaus Hotel (http://www.kurhaus.nl) located on the Scheveningen beach, about 10 minutes from The Hague city center. The Conference Planning Committee is chaired by FAWCO Counselor Georgia Regnault. Innovative workshop formats and speakers representing this city of international peace are part of the four-day Conference. A program for spouses is being planned. For more details and information, please refer to the FAWCO website at http://www.fawco.org.

See you at The Hague!