I think one of the important issues surrounding this whole compliance issue is the need for us to become organized and speak with one voice. It pains me to see people going through anxiety and fear as they desperately file their back returns and FBARs, spending thousands of dollars, with no direction from either Government, lets “sit tight and wait”. Just a bunch of empty words and no direction!
Monthly Archives: December 2011
Forget about form 8854: US law establishes a right to unilateral expatriation
A contradiction exists in United States law. On the one hand, the IRS requires former citizens to follow an exit procedure and the State Department requires a $450 fee. On the other hand, earlier law establishes and protects expatriation as a fundamental right.
See also:
Freedom of Emmigration in East-West Trade, USC 19 § 2432 (expatriation is a fundamental right)
Is the taxation of US persons abroad constitutional?
The stalker: divorce from the United States is a messy process
Civil Disobedience, FBAR and Forms 8854 and 8938
The right of expatriation II: The Ninth Amendment
The right of expatriation
Introducing KFOR–solving the US Federal deficit one foreign kitten at a time
Congress is having a hard time balancing the budget and every little bit helps. Peter W. Dunn has learned about a proposal that could seriously reduce the US federal budget deficit.
The term "aggregate" in IRS-speak is fraud commited against US persons
The IRS is using a fraudulent accounting practice, in the spirit of Enron and Bernie Madoff, to expose US persons to increased FBAR fines.
Update on possible IRS FBAR relief to Canadians – IRS says no additional relief for Canadians
This is the third post – December 18, 2011 – about the treatment by the IRS of U.S. citizens and dual citizens living in Canada.
Financial Post Article: Questions for Jamie Golombek
Jamie Golombeck has an informative article in the Financial Post, “Americans in Canada still at the mercy of IRS“. Petros asks questions about aspects of the problem that seem to be missing from the article, such as, How the hell is this fair?
The Tax Advocate features Amy Feldman's article
The Amy Feldman article appears on the Tax Advocate website. What could this mean?
Continue reading
From the archive: Did you relinquish? Here are some proofs that the State Department uses
In this conversation, Petros maintains that there are certain actions of US citizens that the State Department gages as determinative of whether a person’s intention is to relinquish their US citizenship or no. These go beyond the stated intention of the person, based upon the concept that actions speak louder than words.
Big News! FATCA to be less onerous for certain U.S. citizens living outside the United States
Renounceuscitizenship has found a news story about the form 8839 which will make the filing threshold much higher and provide relief to many living overseas. Continue reading
Did you relinquish before February 6, 1995? Then you did not have to inform the State Department
See also: Please read this post if your actual expatriation date is before 2004 (Updated)
The blog post on ex post facto stirred up a flurry of e-mails between members of the society. It switched on a light bulb for some that the State Department and the IRS were trying to pull a fast one, and that those who were following rules at the time of their relinquishment were not required to follow the new rules.