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| Published Friday, May 21, 2021
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff and wire services
American Citizens Abroad, ACA, a non-profit, non-partisan exempt organization representing U.S. citizens that live and work overseas has followed up with a letter to Congressional leadership and the U.S. State Department, to request for clarification on how U.S. taxpayers living and working overseas can avail themselves of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine.
According to ACA, in their request, sent already twice on April 12 and May 18, since U.S. resident overseas are subject to the same U.S. taxation requirements as U.S. stateside residents, these individuals should have access to the same healthcare opportunities, including free and expedited access to vaccines developed against the novel SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus.
"ACA has asked for clarification from the U.S. Government and U.S. State Department on opportunities that citizens may have for vaccinations at U.S. Embassies and Consulates in their countries of residence in light of the Biden Administration’s promise to vaccine all U.S. citizens and most recently the Administration’s decision to make available 80 million doses of surplus vaccinations to foreign countries by the end of June," the organization said in its statement.
According to Jonathan Lachowitz, ACA Chairman, the U.S. State Department last month reported that it had already shipped doses to embassies and consulates in 220 locations worldwide to vaccinate its own diplomats and other employees, and the same access should be made available to U.S. taxpayer residents.
ACA’s letter suggests that vaccinations could be provided through the various U.S. Embassies and Consulates. But according to President Biden’s press secretary Jen Psaki, the U.S. government had not “historically provided private health care for Americans living overseas, so that remains our policy.” Representatives from the U.S. State Department have contacted ACA and indicated that they are looking into the issue.
“The issue has picked up media attention and it once again highlights the inherent problems associated with a system of taxing U.S. citizens on their income earned overseas even when they are already paying taxes in the foreign jurisdiction in which they live and work,” Marylouise Serrato, ACA Executive Director said.
ACA’s website highlights numerous areas where U.S. tax policy and government programs are not designed to meet the needs of citizens who live and work overseas; from the inability to create IRS online accounts, the loss of U.S. Social Security Benefits due to the Windfall Elimination Provision, the inability to easily access taxpayer-funded government agencies and programs, the list is long, they said.
“One simple way forward is to join the rest of the world and adopt Residence-based taxation (RBT). RBT would tax Americans overseas on the income they earn in the United States but would not tax them on the income they earn overseas in the country of their foreign residency where it is already taxed,” Serrato said. “RBT can be done without costing the government revenue, without creating loop-holes for tax evasion and without making anyone else worse off.”
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Should your government provide the vaccine against covid-19 to its citizens living abroad? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com
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