US Citizens Locked Out of Bitflyer

[ichiokuen]

Thanks, no it wasn't me, but I'll check it out.
We yanks are getting shafted both ways!!
We can't open an account here because we live are US taxpayers, but also can't open an account in the US bcuz we don't live there! Come on!

[Teflon]

On the Reddit Japan finance page, there is a similar recent post (perhaps from you?).

This has happened recently with a few other Japanese exchanges.

Why? Compliance is expensive and difficult when it comes to dealing with US taxpayers. Citizens or not. It's simply not worth it for many exchanges. There is no recourse. I

The US Congress recently rammed through a $1.2 trillion "Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill" which is a steaming pile of lobbyist pork and a few crumbs left for fixing bridges and roads. They also slipped in a new crypto tax which looks just as ugly as FBAR, FACTA, PFIC and all its other siblings that got slipped into similar monster bills. No wonder foreign crypto brokers will be shutting us all out.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/09/how-bip ... stors.html

Congress loves to tax us because there are only about 9 million of us living overseas and we're deemed an insignificant, toothless constituency. Most Americans living within US borders don't know about these destructive tax laws and don't care enough to educate themselves. Can't say I blame them. Who wants to read about PFIC unless they're forced to?

[EmaxisSlim Cultist]

Congress..

https://www.tokyoimmigration.jp/?p=178

[ichiokuen]

This. I'm done with the US of Taxation!

[ichiokuen]

Congress loves to tax us because there are only about 9 million of us living overseas and we're deemed an insignificant, toothless constituency. Most Americans living within US borders don't know about these destructive tax laws and don't care enough to educate themselves. Can't say I blame them. Who wants to read about PFIC unless they're forced to?

Nobody cares about us so we are f***Ed?
My father and grandfather fought for the country in WW1 and WW2 but since we moved abroad we are just pieces of s**t? Thank you USA!

[RetireJapan]

Congress loves to tax us because there are only about 9 million of us living overseas and we're deemed an insignificant, toothless constituency. Most Americans living within US borders don't know about these destructive tax laws and don't care enough to educate themselves. Can't say I blame them. Who wants to read about PFIC unless they're forced to?

Nobody cares about us so we are f***Ed?
My father and grandfather fought for the country in WW1 and WW2 but since we moved abroad we are just pieces of s**t? Thank you USA!

Please have a read of this: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1175

[ichiokuen]

I apologize for my overzealous posts.

[TJKansai]

I just tried to log in myself and got the same message:
I certify that I am not a U.S. national (U.S. citizenship holder) or a resident of the U.S.

I read a bit about the new law and it seems there are a lot of questions about how it can/will be applied. Some people buy crytpo and move it to offline wallets (or vice-versa) making it impossible for brokers to know what is going on.

These aren't supposed to take effect until 2024, so I am a bit shocked Bitflyer came down with the idea of locking us out (without any explanation or notice). They have my money and to prevent access without notice is probably illegal in Japan.

Of course what they really want us to do is just check the non-US box, which will let them off the hook. If this is really true though, then why doesn't every Japanese brokerage play the same game, and thereby skip all the US reporting requirements?

[ichiokuen]

Thanks for your reply TJ Kansai!

I finally got an answer back to my email message about what I should do about clicking the box or not and they told me they will close my account in 7 days because I am not in accordance with their new TOA. They stated that they will not give a specific reason, but it's obvious it's because of FATCA. I think you're right about them just wanting us to click the box, clearing them of compliance obligations.

They reopened my account after they sent me the message, but I lost 3 days of trading and my account value went down somewhat accordingly(with the current pullback).

If this is really true though, then why doesn't every Japanese brokerage play the same game, and thereby skip all the US reporting requirements?

Good question! It would be nice to get an answer on this from someone in the legal/banking industry.