FATCA Lawsuit

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FATCA Lawsuit

2014
January 26, 2014

RO’s FATCA lawsuit supported by deVere Group

Republicans’ “common sense” fightback against FATCA championed by global advisory giant.

2015
July 14, 2015

FATCA lawsuit is filed

This is a challenge to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”), the intergovernmental agreements (“IGAs”) unilaterally negotiated by the United States Department of the Treasury (“Treasury Department”) to supplant FATCA in the signatory countries, and the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (“FBAR”) administered by the United States Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”). These laws and agreements impose unique and discriminatory burdens on U.S. citizens living and working abroad.

July 14, 2015

Summary Description of Plaintiffs Published

1) Plaintiff U.S. Senator Rand Paul: Through FATCA, the Executive Branch is attempting to usurp Congress’s constitutional power to approve international tax agreements and override the law written by Congress simply because the IRS and US Treasury would prefer to enforce a different law. Senator Paul has been a vocal opponent of FATCA from the beginning. He has introduced legislation to repeal parts of FATCA in 2013 and 2015 and opposed international tax treaties in the Senate related to FATCA. However, because the Treasury Department and IRS have refused to abide by the constitutional framework for concluding international agreements, Senator..Read More

July 14, 2015

Plaintiffs file a motion for preliminary injunction

Plaintiffs move for preliminary injunctive relief on all counts set forth in their complaint to repeal FATCA.

July 14, 2015

Ten detailed points on RO’s lawsuit

Ten Detailed Points on ROA FATCA/IGAs/FBAR Lawsuit 1) Republicans Overseas Action, Inc. challenges the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), the intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) unilaterally negotiated by the U.S. Treasury to supplant FATCA in the signatory countries, and the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) legal requirements in the U.S. district court for the Southern District of Ohio on behalf of seven plaintiffs. The U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Ohio is in the jurisdiction of U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Click below to read the full document. Ten Detailed Points on ROA..Read More

July 14, 2015

RO press release on filing of FATCA lawsuit

Today on behalf of Presidential candidate, Senator Rand Paul along with other six co-plaintiffs (A summary description of each plaintiff is attached), Republicans Overseas Action, Inc. (ROA) challenges the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), the intergovernmental agreements (IGAs), and the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

July 24, 2015

Defendants’ opposition to preliminary injunction

The defendants United States Department of the Treasury, United States Internal Revenue Service, and United States Financial Crimes Enforcement Network oppose plaintiffs’ motion for expedited review (Doc. No. 9) of their motion for preliminary injunction (Doc. No. 8), which was filed on July 22, 2015. Plaintiffs have asked that the defendants’ response to the motion for preliminary injunction be due within 14 days, i.e., by August 5, 2015. The request (1) violates local rules, (2) is impractical, (3) is overbroad, and (4) is unsupported.

July 27, 2015

Reply in support of plaintiff’s motion

Plaintiffs moved for expedited review of their Motion for Preliminary Injunction (Doc. No. 8) on July 22. Defendants filed their response (Doc. No. 10) on July 24. Plaintiffs now timely reply. Plaintiffs’ request to expedite consideration of their preliminary injunction motion will not prejudice Defendants.

August 12, 2015

Defendants’ memorandum on plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction

Defendants U.S. Department of Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (collectively “Defendants” or “Government”) submit this memorandum in opposition to plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction (Doc. No. 8).

August 26, 2015

Plaintiffs file a reply on the preliminary injunction

Plaintiffs have standing under Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 560-61 (1992). Americans living abroad were the specific objects of FATCA, the IGAs, and FBAR. Those provisions cause unique and discriminatory injuries on Americans living abroad. Plaintiffs are among those affected, and requested relief will redress their injuries.

August 26, 2015

RO files preliminary injunction reply on behalf of Plaintiffs – press release

Today on behalf of Presidential candidate, Senator Rand Paul, and six other co-plaintiffs, Republicans Overseas Action, Inc. (ROA) filed a 44-page Plaintiff’s Preliminary-Injunction Reply responding to the 57-page DOJ Defendants’ Memorandum in Opposition to Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

September 29, 2015

Judge denies Plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction

Plaintiffs request that the Court enjoin Defendants from enforcing the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act(“FATCA”), the intergovernmental agreements (“IGAs”) negotiated by the United States Department of the Treasury (“Treasury Department”) to supplant FATCA in the signatory countries, and the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (“FBAR”) administered by the United States Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”). FATCA mandates that foreign financial institutions report the tax return information of their U.S. citizen account holders directly to the IRS using the FATCA Report (Form 8966). 26 U.S.C.§ 1471(b)(1)(C); 26 C.F.R. §§ 1.1471-4(d)(3)(v), -4(d)(3)(vi).

October 20, 2015

RO files Plaintiffs’ Motion for Leave to Amended Complaint

Last Friday on behalf of Presidential candidate, Senator Rand Paul along with other nine co-plaintiffs, Republicans Overseas Action, Inc. (ROA) files the 78-page Plaintiffs’ Motion for Leave to Amended Complaint against the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), the intergovernmental agreements (IGAs), and the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. The Amended Complaint addresses standing issues, adding new facts about plaintiffs (such as who meets certain trigger amounts for disclosure) and adds challenges to two other IGAs: Danish IGA and French IGA to address harm caused to..Read More

October 20, 2015

Plaintiffs seek to amend the complaint

Plaintiffs move for leave to file an amended verified complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(a). The proposed amended complaint is included as an attachment in the ECF filing. Plaintiffs’ counsel have consulted with Defendants’ counsel seeking consent to the filing of the amended complaint and asking whether Defendants oppose this motion for leave to file the amended complaint. Defendants’ counsel advised Plaintiffs’ counsel on October 30, 2015 as follows: “We do not consent to the amended complaint and oppose a motion for leave to amend.” Defendants’ counsel provided no explanation for those responses.

December 7, 2015

Plaintiffs’ Reply Supporting Their Motion for Leave to Amend Complaint

Plaintiffs reply to the Government’s Opposition (Doc. No. 34) to their Motion for Leave to Amend Complaint (Doc. No. 31). The Government (i) requests dismissal, incorporating by reference large portions of its dismissal motion, and (ii) claims that amendment would be futile. But (I) dismissal should only be considered on full, final briefing on dismissal based on the amended complaint; (II) any “futility” must be obvious (which is not the case here), with far-reaching analysis reserved for the dismissal-motion context, and (III) amendment would not be futile.

December 29, 2015

Plaintiffs’ Memorandum in Opposition to Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss

A. Plaintiffs Have Standing Plaintiffs have standing under Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 560-61 1992) because they are suffering ongoing and threatened concrete injuries to protected interests caused by challenged provisions, of which they are the object, and the requested relief will redress those injuries. Because at least one plaintiff has standing for each claim, the Court need not decide the standing of each. See McConnell v. FEC, 540 U.S. 93, 233 (2003).

2016
January 14, 2016

Defendants’ reply to Plaintiffs’ opposition to motion to dismiss

The Procedural Posture of the Case Supports Dismissal A. The Court Should Grant the Motion to Dismiss for the Same Reasons Stated in Its Decision Denying the Motion for Preliminary Injunction 1 In ruling on the motion for preliminary injunction, the Court found that plaintiffs almost entirely lack standing and that their Fifth and Eighth Amendment claims are legally meritless. Doc. 30.

April 26, 2016

Judge dismisses the FATCA lawsuit

For the reasons set forth above, the Court DENIES Plaintiffs’ Motion for Leave to Filean Amended Verified Complaint, (doc. 32), and the Court GRANTS Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss, (doc. 26), Plaintiffs’ Complaint. The captioned case is hereby TERMINATED upon the docket records of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Western Division, at Dayton.

July 5, 2016

RO files appeal for FATCA lawsuit

Plaintiffs request oral argument. 6 Cir. R. 34(a). This case involves many facts and plaintiffs, eight counts, and complex legal arguments. Moreover, it is a case of national import, with effects reaching far beyond the present Plaintiffs because the challenged provisions and agreements cause serious harm to myriad Americans. The opportunity for counsel to answer questions and clarify facts, issues, and arguments is essential to proper resolution of this appeal.

August 29, 2016

Defendants request that the FATCA appeal is dismissed

Defendants request that the lower court’s verdict be upheld.

September 15, 2016

Plaintiffs reply to motion to uphold lower court’s verdict

Plaintiffs have standing. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a), complaints need only provide a “short and plain statement” regarding jurisdiction and claims. To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint needs only to contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to “‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (citation omitted).

2017
January 24, 2017

Lead litigator Jim Bopp, Jr. presented oral argument in Sixth Court

Lead litigator Jim Bopp, Jr. presented his oral argument in front of the Sixth Court. Click to listen.

August 19, 2017

6th Circuit Court denies that FATCA harms overseas Americans

6th Circuit Court Opinion

August 21, 2017

RO will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court

RO announces that it will repeal the 6th Circuit Court’s ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.

August 22, 2017

Memo Released on 6th Circuit Court Ruling

This memo highlights the flaws in the 6th Circuit Court’s opinion and the bases on which Republicans Overseas can appeal to the Supreme Court.

September 1, 2017

RO seeks en banc hearing before the 6th Circuit Court

Republicans Overseas has issued a press release stating that we will seek an en banc hearing on the FATCA challenge at the 6th Circuit Court.

October 13, 2017

Heritage Foundation writes article urging an end to FATCA

If you’re an American living overseas, Uncle Sam is making life hard for you—and he’s probably giving your bank a headache, too. For one, the U.S. government often taxes the earnings you make outside the U.S., meaning you can be double-taxed—both by the U.S. and by your host country. But even if you don’t owe U.S. taxes, reporting your foreign earnings to the IRS can be expensive and complicated. In addition to that, if you live overseas, your bank is probably quite annoyed at you and has an incentive to stop doing business with you.  Read more here. 

December 22, 2017

Republicans Overseas takes the FATCA Fight to the US Supreme Court

Republicans Overseas petitions the Supreme Court to hear the FATCA case and grant standing to the plaintiffs. Read the petition here.  

2018
February 26, 2018

US Treasury replies to RO’s Petition

The US Treasury responded to Republicans Overseas’ lawsuit, stating that they agreed with the 6th Circuit Court that the plaintiffs did not have standing to bring suit. The response can be read here.

March 9, 2018

RO responds to Treasury’s statement

Republicans Overseas replied to Treasury, reiterating that FATCA does create harm and that the court’s ruling is in conflict with precedent. Read the entire document here.  

April 2, 2018

Supreme Court declines to hear RO’s FATCA case

The Supreme Court declined to hear Republicans Overseas’ FATCA case, effectively ending the lawsuit. You can read the list of  cases declined by the Supreme Court here.