Mike Sullivan, MP, York South-Weston, has given his permission to share my email “conversation” with him.
My original email to Honourable Mike Sullivan, MP (NDP):
Monthly Archives: January 2012
Freedom of Emigration in East-West Trade, USC Title 19 § 2432
We have seen that the United States condemns Eritrea’s extra-territorial taxation of its citizens abroad. But did you know that according to Federal Law, the United States would not be eligible for normal trade relations with the United States because of its expatriation exit taxes?
FBAR penalties for "reasonable cause". The Unknown unknowns.
This is a response to @Mona that I did over on another discussion thread. Petros has suggested I make a post out of it as a stand alone, which I am doing with some amendments to my previous rushed comments.
Mona said to Roger… ” I still think that they should allow for reasonable cause. I do see what you’re saying though, especially with the possible fbar penalties. But outside of the ovdi and ovdp programmes, do you know of anyone who genuinely hadn’t known about fbar and pleaded reasonable cause still being hit with draconian fines? There don’t seem to be any cases specifically mentioned on any of these blogs.”
Here is my response:
Welcome to the United States: Lesson I. Watch what you tweet
I have to watch what I say on this blog and elsewhere on the internet. I am no longer an American citizen, and so Homeland Security could refuse me entry into the United States. Case in point: A couple of tourists found themselves in handcuffs after arriving at LAX, then interrogated for hours, placed overnight in a holding cell, and sent home to Europe the next day.
Welcome to the United States!
Access to Basic Banking Services (Canada)
Getting over my initial trepidation of making my first post here I want to bring up the subject of the Access to Basic Banking Services regulations and what specifically are Canadians rights in this regard. First the rules are implemented by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada which is part of the Department of Finance but has its own independent commissioner a woman named Ursula Menke. The Financial Consumer Agency was created in back in 2001 and mainly handles consumer protection issues related to the federally Chartered Banks and to a limited degree those of federally incorporated insurance companies and federally incorporate trust companies (Note in the US Obama’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is effictively based on the FCA as on its models). Its jurisdiction DOES NOT apply to the provincially regulated stock brokerages owned by the all major chartered banks(Canada unlike every other country in the world does not have federal securiites regulator like the US SEC, UK FSA, Australia ASIC etc.)
Back to the subject of Basic Banking regulations here in my mind are some important quotes from the FCA website:
Isaac Brock and Facebook
Hi folks. I created a shiny, new Facebook page for the blog and it should automatically pull new posts from here. The one thing I’m scratching my head over is how to get a Like button on the blog to link back to Facebook. Apparently WordPress only allows certain features to be linked on personal FB profiles rather than organization or community pages.
In any case, tell all your friends about the new page and Like us over at FB! Click on “Our Facebook Page” link at the right-hand menu.
Or simply search Isaac Brock Society through your account. “Like” us and feel free to share posts on your personal pages. Let me know if anyone has suggestions on how to make this integration better.
Only the U.S. may tax its citizens living abroad – U.S. condemns use of Diaspora tax for other countries
Yes, it’s hard to believe. For a link to the U.N. resolution confirming this check out:
THE U.S. GOVERNMENT CONDEMNS THE USE OF A DIASPORA #TAX for Eritrea!US Taxing #Expats is ok.Hegemonic chutzpah!!bit.ly/w2db3f
— Marvin Van Horn (@FATCA_Fallout) January 30, 2012
The above tweet has a link to the actual U.N. resolution. Here is some commentary that I received on this issue:
FATCA, Place of Birth in Passports & Second Class Citizenship
My place of birth has begun to bother me more than ever with the systematic rise in discrimination of those with US birth places, clearly obvious for all to see the moment that you open your passport, by banks and other financial institutions due to FATCA. Yes, that horrible component of your personal data that, along with your name and date of birth, allows you to be systematically categorised and cataloged. For many, where you were born also happens to be where you grew up and where you most identify with. Many are born, live and die in the same city their entire lives and come from families that go back generations in the same city as well. Some of my French friends have even told me that an unwritten rule in Paris is that you need to be no less than the 5th generation to be born and raised in the city to be a real “Parisian”.
Only U.S. citizens abroad have issues – that must be why the IRS is hunting U.S. citizens abroad
Well, the primary issue they have is that they don’t live in the United States. This makes them particularly deserving of punishment. And of course, they have no say in the political process. Easy game and low hanging fruit.
Only 11% of U.S. citizens abroad are tax compliant in the U.S. – if you are a U.S. citizen you have issues #FBAR #FATCA calgaryherald.com/business/crack…
— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) January 30, 2012
IRS hunts U.S. citizens residing outside the U.S., while many U.S. residents pay no income tax
A recent article in the Boston Globe (a response to the Romney tax disclosures) notes that:
“In fact, nearly half of US taxpayers will probably pay no taxes at all for 2011, including 24,000 in the top 1 percent of incomes, according to the Tax Policy Center, a think tank in Washington. Some low-income families even get back more than they pay because of the Earned Income Tax Credit and other programs.” Continue reading
