The Expat Tax forum has been temporarily suspended due to the amount of posts that are off topic and breaking the rules. If possible we will try to tidy up the section and revive it into a more general expat taxes section rather than one that is currently being hijacked by a small group of members with their own agenda which has no respect for the expat forum rules.Regards
Admin__________________
Bob Sheth – Administrator at the Expat Forum. If you want to get in touch please use the Contact Us link at the bottom of the page.
Our sympathies to the Expat Forum–we hope that they can quickly get the Tax Forum back under their control.
UPDATE: Bob has now altered his message: it now says (emphasis mine):
FORUM SUSPENDED
The Expat Tax forum has been temporarily suspended due to the amount of posts that are off topic and breaking the rules. If possible we will try to tidy up the section and revive it into a more general expat taxes section rather than one that is currently being hijacked by a small group of members with their own agenda which has no respect for the expat forum rules.Examples of the rules that were broken included being insulting and rude to the moderators of the site, having signature links to sites that were not owned by the member, discussing moderating decisions in public and taking the general theme of the forum off topic and away from expat related discussions.
I would like to remind members that discussing moderating actions in public is against the forum rules so please do not discuss this action on any of the open forums.Regards
Admin
__________________
You’re right, saddened. In my view, there was a place for both formats. The Expat Tax Forum allowed a person just learning of their US person tax situations to ask all the questions we asked at the beginning of our various learning curves. And, it provided much needed support from very caring people who understood exactly what they were going through for the most part. As I learned more, it was just a natural progression to go to more in-depth sites, like Isaac Brock.
It is very sad that one avenue to information and support has been shut off from those searching for answers — that we have been silenced there to help those people. I believe there are still a lot of people who don’t know how this affects them and their families.
We can place an open, sticky thread at the top of our page for questions: “Open Thread: Ask your questions here”
What do you think?
Or even, a menu on the side bar:
Ask your questions about FBAR and Taxes?
Ask your questions about renunciation or relinquishment of US citizenship?
Can you think of anything else.
I posted in the Canada forum yesterday asking what rule had been violated, and the thread was vaporized without trace, which is maybe an answer or sorts.
@rødgrød: I like ‘trolling moderator’.
@calgary411: You’re right about the losers including people looking for information in the future. Oddly they also include Bob Sheth, who turned down an entreprenurial opportunity because it didn’t take the form he expected. It would have been much more intelligent to spin off the US tax discussion into another vertical and sell ads to lawyers and accountants. It’s a much more viable business model than the one they came up with on their own. If I was between jobs at the moment I’d try it myself.
Petros, your idea would help mitigate the loss of the Expat Tax Forum. It would give “newcomers” a place to ask questions as they are learning. I like that A LOT.
“We can place an open, sticky thread at the top of our page for questions: “Open Thread: Ask your questions here”
What do you think?
Or even, a menu on the side bar:
Ask your questions about FBAR and Taxes?
Ask your questions about renunciation or relinquishment of US citizenship?”
Peter, installing forum software is the best. phpBB (which they say is 2nd best to vBulletin, doesn’t cost anything and it is a piece of cake. Here are the instructions:
http://www.phpbb.com/support/documents.php?mode=install&version=3
Shared hosting space is super cheap. All you have to do is MAKE SURE that there is no limit to the MySQL databases.
Doing research on Bob Sheth, owner of the Expat Forum? Try this, google his name. Notice the position of the Isaac Brock Society post.
This site is hosted by WordPress, and it does not accept FTP. If you want to create a sister site in Brazil (like “sociedadedeisaquebroque.br”), we could make a link to it here.
Why did the Expat Forum Moderator cross the road?
An Expat Forum Moderator doesn’t have to explain her actions.
Guess what? I can still post at Expat Forum on the Canadian thread:
Nanaimo Bar Recipe
Hey guys I found a great recipe for baked bottom nanaimo bars, which were invented on Victoria Island at the city of Nanaimo (that’s why the are called Nanaimo bars).
Nanaimo bars are a really important aspect of Canadian culture. I learned to love them when living in Vancouver, where I attended school for five years.
The other thing you have to know when you come to Canada is that a knit cap is a tuque; Rubber bands are elastics; bandaids are elastoplasts. Napkins are called serviettes, and sofas are called chesterfields. With this knowledge you can really fit into the Canadian setting.
Don’t forget butter tarts! They are 100% Canadian, and win new friends every time!
Thanks. I gave you a big like at the Forum
I just asked the moderators if the Expat Tax – Canada forum will be reinstated. I told them how helpful it was to me and others and I also told them that I had given the site address to friends and relatives who could benefit from it.
We’ll see if they respond.
Hi Baird: yes it has been helpful; the problem going forward is that they have proven themselves unworthy of our trust, in asserting their right to shut down the conversation without adequate justification. As a writer, I found it intolerable that someone can come along an edit out my posts, determining what is appropriate and what is inappropriate, as if I am some kind of four year old that doesn’t yet know how to wipe. Or to shut down an entire conversation because they don’t find it relevant. The best thing that those who want to keep this conversation going can do is to find another venue that those tyrants do not control.
I guess she didn’t like this joke, my last entry:
How do you keep an Expat Forum Moderator busy all day?
You put her in a round room and you tell her to sit in the corner.
Once there was an Expat Forum Moderator whose husband, on his way to work, said, “Look over there is a can of paint, please paint the living room.” She said, “I don’t know how to paint.” So he says, “Look just follow the instructions on the side of the can.” So he comes home and she is painting away, but he notices that she has her parka and her fur coat on, sweating and getting paint all over her beautiful coat. So her husband say, “Why are you wearing your parka and your fur coat.” “Because,” she says, “The paint can says ‘best if applied with two coats'”.
This one is still up:
How do Expat Forum Moderators keep up their nylons?
They back comb their leg hairs.
This one has been removed: The world ends tonite at midnite. Half-past the hour in Newfoundland.
The Expat forum brought us together, but Peter Dunn united us.
Thank you Peter and everyone else who has now made the IBS the main source of information and discussion for our continuing fight for equality, rights, and the IRS.
A new thread was started by Rifka88. It was on the generic Canada site and deleted immediately. The comment on the side was: Thread deleted by Expatforum. Renunciations are off topic. Please do not post it again.
So much for freedom of speech.
*Hey guys you should know by now there is NO freedom of speech on emigration forums. They exist for one reason only and that is to make money from gullable wannabe migrants.
None of them are really into providing a genuine advice or support service, not unless it can be billed direct to your credit card.
You should take a trip over to a free, uncensored forum called EXPATEXPOSED.com. It’s primarily a support group for migrants in New Zealand who’ve fallen foul of the hype and broken promises. There are a number of threads there about the censorship and bias on sites like EXPATFORUM.com and the way in which only postive images of emigration are manipulated by those with vested interests.
Take a look, you’ll learn a lot.
From a thread on Expatexposed.com :-
“I don’t post over there (Expatforum) I had a look a few
times, and it’s just the usual commercial forum like emigratetonz or
whatever that other one is. There was a thread on here once about how
those sites operate, using social networking as a marketing tool. I
don’t think they have to state up front that they have an agenda, and
some people who don’t know just take them at face value as a viewpoint
exchange and information forum, not realising that the content is
“managed”. I sort of think of those people as cattle being herded. They
WANT to believe they are heading for a good new life.
Thumbnail, click to enlarge.
Owners of the site are moveforward. So if people peek around, they can
kind of connect the dots, I guess. I have learned to look for that kind
of thing since New Zealand, can’t believe someone as cynical and logical
as I was, was taken for such a ride.
I was looking for tax information once and found this:
http://isaacbrocksociety.ca…x-forum-hijacked/
One commenter summed it up:
Quote:Expat Forum is a commercial site. It
therefore must have an absolute reign (sic) on conversations in order to
avoid offending advertisers.
Fair enough. It isn’t emblazoned across the top of the site though.
They also have an overseas property investment forum.
Quote:http://www.propertycommunity.com/forum/
I guess they have to keep playing whack-a-mole to keep people from altering the desired tone with blasts of unfettered opinion.
Quote:Advertising is the rattling of a stick inside a swill bucket.
-George Orwell” ”
Here’s the thread http://www.expatexposed.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=48665
@ Dado Rail
Oh my, that Expat Exposed site is quite an eye opener. I adore NZ (based on the best vacation of my life many years ago) and my best e-pal ever lives there (she’s quite forthright about the ups and downs of life there). However, I’m certain every country in the world could have a similar forum with similar experiences related. I’ve often thought about where in the world would be the perfect place for me (geographically, culturally and politically) and although many places tick the first 2 boxes off nicely the last box is impossible because I have as yet found a country with a totally uncorrupted, fair, logical and compassionate political system. So despite the climate (and winds from Fukushima), because of the good people who surround me and despite the politics I will stay in Canada but if I ever find that paradise on earth I’m out of here.
@Dado Rail…
Thanks for the link to something that has some Kiwis immigrants on it. I think I will have a look and see if anyone is talking about FATCA or other issues similar to here. I created an account. Just Me, like here.
I agree, there is no paradise on earth, except for that which you create in your mind! All countries have their positives and negatives, and I have never been starry eyed about the time I have spent living in NZ. What has been a positive for me is the dealings I have had with their bureaucracies of Inland Revenue Department (IRD) and Immigration. They have been very pleasant, courteous and professional in all my contacts. They are especially welcoming when coming into Auckland immigration control. Also we have some of the nicest neighbors I have ever known, (but that probably is true in rural Kansas or Alberta also) and I haven’t had to worry about drive by shootings, yet! 🙂
I am now back in the States, and only visiting for the summers, but still, in the neck of the woods where I am, I really enjoy it. Now, if I was living on the southside of Auckland, or Moerewa, I might think differently. 🙂
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