“ "The case serves to highlight a concerted effort by the IRS to track down and prosecute American citizens with Israeli bank accounts"

Yes, I know this news aggregation web site serves a very small niche readership, ie orthodox Jews, but the way Matzav.com's ace reporter has portrayed things the average internet reader (and this includes non-Jews too, ShmuelG) could easily be fooled into thinking that this campaign is an act of government-sponsored anti-Semitism.

Gentiles are equally able to open bank accounts in Israel if they so wish. After all, money is money whichever way one looks at it. ”

“ to continue: I also felt that this IRS agent was trying to trap me into revealing something about income she thought I was hiding but which I was not. It's a very dangerous situation. If I fill out the W9, the bank will verify that no money is coming in from one of those taxable sources but no one will believe that we are living very humbly and even that is a struggle. The IRS will then be aware of us and will do an audit and hunt for something, causing us all sorts of undeserved woe. However, we have a bank account from before this came into effect so unless they ask, we will not VOLUNTARILY fill one out, unless our situation changes dramatically. I don't want to pay US taxes because I no longer derive benefit from them but since we might legally be required to do so in the future, we will at such a time it applies to us. ”

“ The problem with this thing is not every American here has "Income" as per the W9 form the banks are DEMANDING one fill out to open an account. The W9 does not include "income" from Israeli unemployment. It covers EARNED income and income from investments, trusts and estates. If you refuse to fill this form out, the banks here will not open an account even if you have none of the above. There is something not right about what the IRS is doing. They are trying to entrap people who have nothing to declare. I have gone to the IRS web site and there is no form for reporting unearned income, or investment, trust and estate income as an expatriate. From everything I can determine, an American who was unable to find work here and has no investments, trusts or estates does not even have to file because studying the forms available online, there isn't a single one that provides a way to report unemployment, for example. I spoke to the IRS representative in the US London Embassy. She handles Americans living in Europe and the ME. She gave me double talk, which I felt was because she didn't believe we only have unemployment and my US Social Security pension. ”

“ Correction: ther eis no form for reporting Unearned "income" e.g. unemployment, *ONLY* wages and commissions, investments and trusts and estates for expatriates. ”

“ B"H

I don't have any money in Israel but I think that any foreign entity that provides information to the US government is wrong.

It is none of their business is the right answer when US government calls on Swiss Bank Irish Bank etc. ”