January 13, 2014 | Amber Hildebrandt | CBC News

The US government’s FATCA law is to identify US persons who hold assets outside the US and are not complying with US tax law which requires US persons to report worldwide income. Do you know what you need to know about FATCA to prepare your clients?

Canadians are starting to become aware of the implications of FATCA as this CBC article states:

A Calgary woman's developmentally disabled son is caught in a U.S. tax quagmire that she fears may cost him the money she spent years setting aside for his financial future.

"He's entrapped," said Carol Tapanila, the 70-year-old mother. "There's no way out. He is entrapped into U.S. citizenship."

Her 40-year-old son was born in a Calgary hospital, but automatically received U.S. citizenship because both his parents were American. That simple fact may soon create financial woes for the Tapanila family.

Read on for more about the impact on "accidental Americans".