49 thoughts on “Expat Tax Forum Hijacked (Updated)”

1. Censorship offends me. ~Author Unknown

   We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people. ~John F. Kennedy

2. I do not understand at all how we are “off topic.” Maybe I should have read all the ibeginning nfo but we are expats living in Canada and especially for the duals, these issues are too huge to sweep under the rug.

   I am especially grateful to Peter for creating this site

3. One thread migrated to the US forum, where the the discussion centered around official sources versus newspaper articles. w.r.t. renunciation numbers. The moderators should have shut the thread rather than our forum.

4. Forum was shut down by the owner, Bob Sheth, not by the moderators.

5. 

6. Rule 10 of the Pravda Expat Forum: “Active members (those with a 5+ post count) may display a single line link in your signature to a site that you are personally involved in. This is not a tool for advertising someone else’s site, and any links found to be doing so will be removed immediately.”

   That’s interesting. I wonder’s whose sites people were linking too?

7. Being taxed by the IRS, complying with FATCA, filling out FBARs, losing time and money and stomach lining in the terrifying search for answers to whether one’s life savings will be plundered for failing to file paperwork showing you owe nothing, all directly due to being a “US person” living outside the US..these are not “expat related discussions”??

8. The losers in the suspension of the Expat Tax Blog, of course, are those yet to come in search of information to assist in their decisions re taxation issues for US persons abroad, including support when they learn in disbelief, they are considered tax evaders and how others in their situation are handling it. The interesting debate takng place at the Expat Tax Blog assisted me immensely, giving me information I could use and the confidence to fight for my family, especially my adult son, who happens to be disabled. He is an “Accidental American,” and one that needs the advocacy that the Expat Tax Blog DID provide. This more dedicated site is the better choice for me.

   If the US (or any other country) is to do right for all their citizens, debate and awareness have to be part of the equation. Silencing the debate does not mean it won’t continue elsewhere.

   Thank you PetrosResearch, Peter, Friend, for your role on this site and to all the contributors continuing an intelligent conversation here at Isaac Brock Society. I am proud to be a small part of this site that is open to US persons with the same issues from all around the world.

9. It seems as though our support group has been taken from us. I enjoyed the many perspectives and honest opinions shared on expatforum. Clearly someone has been offended. Surely that issue could have been dealt with individually. Is there more to the story than they are saying? Is our part of the forum being censored for other reasons?

10. I think that the answer could be found in two possible reasons: (1) Expat Forum is a commercial site. It therefore must have an absolute reign on conversations in order to avoid offending advertisers. (2) The owner is apparently a fan of Obama. Any criticism of the US government becomes criticism of Obama. Thus, I believe the decision is politically motivated.

    If, today, you are White House reporter who criticizes the POTUS, you lose access. Our situation is analogous. If you criticize the way they run Bob’s Expat Forum, if you discuss things that Bob is uncomfortable discussing, then he takes away your access. That is why ultimately the Expat Forum is not a safe place to discuss our issues, because someone who is against our interests owns and controls the place–and he has been uncomfortable with the discussion for some weeks now.

11. Oh, I see. For a the thread where potential USC’s or LTR’s were being warned…..I thought the reference meant our entire Expat Tax site was considered “off topic.” It still seems rather ridiculous. One of the moderators was starting to understand the point; asking questions and so the exchange was fruitful. At least I felt it was. I will miss the forum immensely. If it were not for all of you, I wonder how lost I would be at this point.

12. Nobledreamer, you have no reason to feel lost. We are all still here. Remember, you and I were the one’s who first conceived of this site as a resource? Ring me up if you are feeling down.

13. You are too funny! And thanks for the offer, I am not “lost” or “down”, I meant I would be, if it weren’t for all of you! 🙂

14. It is almost comical to me that they say that the expat tax forum was hijacked and only of interest to the hijackers since two threads had over 100,000 views combined! “US taxes for dual citizens – consequences ?” had 86,579 views and “Renunciation” had 26,792 views – obviously of interest to more than a small number of people.

    Why was a moderator allowed to be rude to us especially when they did not understand our points?

15. Petros, you made a very good point. It is an election year, I believe the race will be tight (I could be wrong) and I’m getting mail that says that I should shut up, support the president, count my blessings (“You live in Paris! – actually I live in Versailles) and take up any grievances AFTER the election. Well, to hell with that. I’m not going to be obnoxious about it but I am going to clearly explain my reservation and my frustration and why exactly my vote is up for grabs right now. Of all the things I’ve said (and have been saying) this is getting the most attention from folks back home. Good! And, now that I have your attention, mes amis, can we start talking about all this and perhaps you will be a bit more attentive this time around?

16. What sell outs! How are taxes not applicable to expat life??

    I was telling Peter about the need to create a forum about two weeks ago. I never got around to testing the packages, but maybe this is a good thing that they censored talk about the REAL tax situation for expat Americans.

    Maybe pe will be appalled by this blatant censhorshp and start participating on other forums.

17. I believe that the only reason the forum was shut down was that those two trolling moderators, “jojo” and “xabiachica”, didn’t like that we didn’t agree with their ignorant posts, and complained about it. I am pretty angry about this. Talk about misuse of “power”. How petty.

18. I have sent this message to the administrator (using the feedback form under “contact”). Feel free to take inspiration and write your own.

    “Dear Administrator

    Please bring back the Expat Tax forum. Hundreds of us expats used it for information and support every week. If you read through some of the threads, you’ll notice that there was no negativity, insults, etc before two of your moderators, “jojo” and “xabiachica”, began trolling one of the threads, posting misleading information and displaying contempt for those of us who use the forum.

    Until the trolling began, this forum was one of the few forums I know of where people actually treated each other with respect. It is a shame for all expats with tax-related issues that the actions of a very few have been allowed to ruin something good.

    Sincerely, Rødgrød”

19. The moderators are above the rules. They are the interpreters of the rules. The final arbiter is Bob, who is the owner of the forum. I am glad you stood up for justice, but reason will not win the day. What you have to understand, is that Bob and some of the moderators (not Bev) were offended that their Expat Forum had become a venue for complaining about United States’ tax overreach. The first action that they took was to remove the “Tax Forum” from the Canadian Expat Forum–which meant that rather than being a “real issue”, it became a side issue–by creating another side venue where the discussion took place. Well this action offended some of the members who were participating. But where can you lodge a vocal complaint? You are not allowed to criticize the Admin or moderators in a public venue. When they read this post and the comment stream, they will flip, because they buck no public criticism. This is why it is not a safe place for Expats to talk about their issues. Complain, because they are treating you and many others unjustly. But if you don’t play nice, they will edit your posts, delete your threads, move you to places which are less offensive to them, or just simply shut down the discussion altogether (all of these actions have been their wont).

20. Wow, how incredibly childish and petty. I’m so glad we’re all still able to discuss these issues here without worrying whether we’ll be censored.

21. Oh My!! I am really going to miss the Forum, so many of you have helped me cope so much!! I am so glad there is this site, Peter has done such a great job and is extremely helpful. I am thankful to be a part of this group. Thanks to all for all your support and helpful comments.

22. My excellent visitor message was deleted a second time with no private message from JoJo explaining the action:
    

    So I’ve replaced it with the following:

    

23. This is a very sad commentary on the self-image of Boss Bob and the moderators of that forum. It is a loss for so many people across the globe who need the information available to them on that forum. This is the best thing that could have happened to the Isaac Brock Society, and I say this with no great joy at the manner in which this was handled.

24. Victoria, who is telling you this, your friends and family in the US?

    As for the election, why on earth should anyone keep quiet until after the election? If The One gets a second term, he will have no reason to listen to anything but his own magisterial plans to transform America (in much the same way GWB did, judging by Obama’s first term). Now is the time to make a joyful and preferably extremely obnoxious noise unto the lords and masters in Congress. And then VOTE!

25. Wondering if the reason it was closed is that many of us were now focused on not being an expat!

    For the past 2 months since my renunciation and filing of my returns I haven’t ‘needed’ the forum but go to help others and to share with those of us in the same situation. It will indeed be missed by many.