Error canceling Voxbank accounts ‘Accidental American’

De Voxbank was not allowed to close an ‘accidental’ American bank account. This was determined by the Mid-Netherlands District Court in the proceedings on eligibility.

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U.S. law requires that all citizens, wherever they live, file a tax return in the United States.

Bank accounts were closed because the person did not want to provide specific information, did not want to file a tax return in the United States, and committed tax evasion. In a nutshell, a year ago, the bank was still right.

It is about a Dutchman who was born in the United States because his father was there at the time. That is why he is also a US citizen and has lived there for only the first year of his life, even though he has no connection with that country. U.S. law requires that all citizens, wherever they live, file a tax return in the United States. Moreover, the US is threatening sanctions if banks fail to pay attention.

The exception

According to the court, Dutch banks are not required to disclose US citizens’ bank accounts held by US officials up to $ 50,000 (€ 44,000). At trial, it turned out that the person’s accounts came under that exception.

De Volksbank, the parent company of SNS and RegioBank, closed the account because the person was suspected of tax evasion and the bank was also found guilty of money laundering. “Statistics from US officials show that only a small fraction of the ‘unwanted Americans’ there actually pay taxes,” the court said in a statement. “De Voxbank has to prove that this man falls under that small group. The bank did not do that.

Precious

Even if no tax is followed, filing a tax return in the United States can be expensive. It costs a few thousand euros to renounce US citizenship, and in that case, the tax return for the previous five years must be filed.