The Amy Feldman article appears on the Tax Advocate website. What could this mean?
I received an e-mail with the above link (click on above screen shot to go to government site). The Tax Advocate is the government ombudsman for taxpayers with problems with the IRS. Earlier this year the Tax Advocate rebuked the IRS for essentially acting in bad faith with regard to the 2009 Voluntary Disclosure program. See Jack Townsend, “Taxpayer Advocate Criticizes IRS Implementation of OVDP on Bait and Switch”.
The article by Amy Feldman, Taxpayers with overseas accounts seethe at penalties, tells some of the disastrous stories caused by the IRS belated crackdown on undisclosed foreign bank accounts and the insistence on the filing FBARs, which was not enforced for the first 35 years of the law’s existence. It is one of the better media stories out there, and it happened because people in the Isaac Brock Society insisted to her that she get the right story out there–not just the IRS propaganda that so much of the rest of the media is telling. We can make a difference folks!
Bravo ! At least our voices and our stories are being heard. This must continue, and the Canadian government needs to keep hearing about the damage that the FATCA legislation is inflicting on law-abiding Canadian residents. This US law will affect virtually every Canadian, when their own banks will have to invade their privacy or lose US-sourced business.
Not to mention that the cost of implementation will be borne by the customers – CANADIAN customers.