The deputies on Tuesday denounced the American extraterritoriality which imposes on French citizens born in the United States to pay taxes there, by approving against the opinion of the government a symbolic amendment without bearing on international conventions.
The amendment, tabled by opposition MP LR Olivier Marleix and supported by the opposition, aims to address the long-standing problem of so-called “accidental Americans”, French citizens born in the United States who are “subject to income tax income in the United States, although without having lived there”.
“It is our duty to defend our citizens”, declared Mr. Marleix, whose text was approved by 237 votes against 182.
“This situation is terrible for the accidental Americans who cannot resolve a situation that has now been known for many years,” he lamented.
The American tax administration uses the Fatca law (Foreign account tax compliance act) applied in France since 2013 to require dual nationals to declare their income in the United States.
Faced with this situation, the amendment “calls for a reciprocal application” of what the “accidental Americans” denounce as “double taxation”, so that France can also tax North American citizens born in France.
The debate gave rise to virulent positions against American “extraterritoriality”, with several deputies expressing their fed up with a situation which has still not been resolved.
“Extraterritoriality is a disgrace”, got carried away Andr Chassaigne, president of the communist group. “What is on trial here is the extraterritoriality of the United States and the approval of this amendment is a sign that France refuses it,” added PS Philippe Brun.
“It’s been 30 years since the United States abused their situation of legal imperialism to apply their standards”, got carried away the RN Jean-Philippe Tanguy, denouncing that “France submits everything with the other European countries”.
Countering the harmful effects of extraterritoriality
Faced with the opposition, which joined forces to pass the text, the government asked Mr. Marleix to withdraw it, which he refused.
“We recognize that there is still a problem,” tried the Minister of Public Accounts Gabriel Attal, who promised to continue “work” to resolve the problem.
“But this amendment is not acceptable, because it conditions an international convention to which France is a signatory,” he said before the vote.
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“Today is a great day!” Said Fabien Lehagre, president of the Association of Accidental Americans, in a press release.
“This is a big step forward to counter the harmful effects of the extraterritoriality of American legislation and to defend the sovereignty of France and of these 40,000 French citizens who have no connection with the United States except is the one to be born there”, he added.
In the afternoon, his association had filed a new appeal before the Council of State to “contest the persistent violations” of the rights of “accidental Americans”.
In July 2019, French banks warned of the lack of agreement on the application of Fatca, which allows the United States to ask foreign banks for information on their customers considered to be Americans.
For fear of reprisals from the American courts in the event of refusal to communicate information and potentially costly procedures, certain banking establishments prefer to prevent these French individuals from having access to their services.