Actually accounts owned by government entities are excluded from FBAR...not sure about FATCA.

I see the comments on the Guardian article are now over 2100. As I understand it, most serious news sites consider an article a great success if it attains 1000 comments.

The negative aspect of the article:
Many opinions are based on Boris, as the person (a rich toff) and the politician (Tory), and there is little discussion of the merits of Citizenship Based Taxation verses Resident Based Taxation. No surprise there, then.

The positive aspect:
It may alert any "accidental Americans" who remain uninformed of their US obligations to consider their situation. The negative of that may be for some to dig their head even deeper into the sand instead of investigating their options.

I wonder if he travels on his US passport, and if he registered for military conscription (draft) when he turned 18?

Was actually thinking of his personal accounts though...

The cat is out of the bag. More today from:

The Telegraph, with a good deal more about the house sale and his wife:
Boris Johnson could be hit with six-figure tax bill - Telegraph

The Independent:
American-born Boris Johnson refuses to pay hefty US tax bill - UK Politics - UK - The Independent

the Mirror, which gives info on the house sale.
Millionaire Mayor of London Boris Johnson SNUBS his £100,000 US tax bill - Mirror Online

and another column from Forbes:
London Mayor Boris Johnson Politely Gives IRS The Finger - Forbes

and the Financial Times:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/842c060a-7...#axzz3JhXV9H8l


Boris may have a problem filing "joint". His wife is a barrister, and likely earns a fair income also.

A single shot fired, a lot of attention, to be followed by complete silence?
Too bad, it could have lead to an interesting discussion.

Yeah, if Boris and spouse made 730kGBP profit on the sale of their main residence, even after the CGT allowance of $500k the bill could still be $100k....some simple maths confirms it......looks like an open and shut case.

It looks like Boris is ok with filing his US taxes as long as the credits he gets from the UK tax he pays means he gets a zero US tax bill....it's a shock to him in the circumstance where the US tax is greater and he has to pay the iRS.

Would the allowance be $500,000, or more likely $250,000? Nothing has been said, but it's assumed his wife is an NRA for US purposes. As a barrister, she's probably in a partnership at her firm. The mind boggles at the investments; a Mayors 'budgets' or perks; gifts from visiting dignitaries; and on and on. All covered, probably, by HMRC rules, but for the US it's back to square one. It must take a team of accountants to work out US tax now, let alone if his wife were included. And, of course, this is 'passive' income, and calculated separately on 1116 than 'general limitation'. With other investment income, the approaching NIIT threshold must be close by on which FTCs can not be taken.

To be honest, £470,000 for a home in London was not that excessive for 1999. What if it were a 'normal' successful couple without the Boris family fortune behind them, and they now faced this situation. They would still have a very good profit. But if they needed the money as pensioners to support a failing health condition requiring special accommodation and an income for life, it would not be welcome. The US gets the money for no cost at all, and the UK taxpayer pays for benefits. Great racket.