They aim to stop the European country from sharing information with the US
The Association of Accidental Americans (AAA) has filed an appeal with the Luxembourg Administrative Tribunal after the country’s tax authorities refused to stop the transfer of personal data to the US.
The sharing of personal financial information is required under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca) to determine how much tax US citizens who live overseas need to pay, as the US is one of two countries in the world to have a citizenship-based taxation model.
Foreign authorities, financial institutions and individuals are all bound to report under the legislation.
They argue Belgium and Luxembourg should stop ‘illegal’ transfers of data to the US
The Association of Accidental Americans (AAA) has filed two legal complaints simultaneously in Belgium and Luxemburg to demand the “immediate halt to the transfer of European citizens’ personal data to the United States”.
The claims relate to the countries’ adherence to the US’ Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca), which requires US citizens overseas and their foreign financial institutions to report their information to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for tax purposes.
The association claims the data reporting is “illegal” and breaches European privacy laws.
The US is one of two countries in the whole world that has a citizenship-based taxation system.