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.
‘Accidental’ Americans are people who acquired US citizenship either by being born in the US – despite never living in the country – or from their parents.
Legislation ‘violations’
“The transfers are massive and automatic,” the AAA said. “This means that the financial institutions and tax authorities of European Union member states are violating European and national legislation on the protection of personal data and privacy.
“The violation of these fundamental rights is particularly detrimental to accidental Americans, who did not choose to be American citizens.”
Fabien Lehagre, president of the AAA, added: “This is just one example of the pernicious impact of the extraterritoriality of US law.”
The two complaints come shortly after the association filed a lawsuit against the United States on the complex and costly procedures people have to go through when renouncing their US citizenship, as many have turned to this solution to get out of Fatca’s remit.
The lawsuit argues this is a violation of the US constitution and international laws.
Additionally, in December 2020, the European Commission demanded a meeting with the IRS to tackle the issues dual EU-US nationals are facing due to Fatca.
