A reader has asked me to post the following letter to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, a warning about FATCA.
22 February 2012
The Hon. James Flaherty, Minister of Finance
House of Commons Centre Block Building – Room 435-S
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
RE: FATCA: Noli me tangere
Dear Minister Flaherty:
As you stated in your letter to several US newspapers in October 2011, Canada has a relatively high rate of taxation and is therefore not a tax haven. Wealthy Americans in the United States are taxed at a rate far lower than their income counterparts in Canada. There is no economic incentive for them to flee to Canada to avoid taxes. Therefore, the US government’s agenda has the effect of both subverting the Canadian government’s authority as well as compromising client confidentiality and the integrity of Canadian financial institutions with the imposition of an extraterritorial jurisdiction.
If Canada allows US government attempts to compel Canadian financial institutions to disclose private banking and investment information, then expatriate Americans residing legally in Canada could possibly be subject to double taxation, which would contravene Canada’s tax treaty with the United States.
Furthermore, if the IRS is allowed to monitor the income of the legal residents of Canada, there is no assurance that the minimum income/assets threshold would not change, thus at some point potentially leaving American expatriates living and working in Canada with a US tax liability. This kind of uncertainty leaves the US government with unlimited opportunities to extort Canadian residents and citizens of a sovereign nation with threats of tax liabilities and penalties. Expatriates would of necessity have to divide their attention between US and Canadian politics and policy changes; such a bifurcation would weaken people’s relationship to Canada. Were Canada to agree to such a faustian bargain, there would be significantly less incentive to reside in Canada; American expatriates would, in effect, not have actually left the US system and its threat to the inviolability of the individual’s freedom of choice and movement. Those among us who have become citizens of Canada would conceivably become targets of suspicion and reprisal.
There is no reason for timidity, because Canada has an increasingly strong economic position vis à vis the United States and should be able to avoid the historical US tactic of linking political agendas with trade agreements, of which there were notable examples during the Vietnam era, when Canada received American refugees from a political war. During this era of an unpegged dollar, the United States could and did respond with currency manipulation and customs inspection delays at the border. Historically, the United States has been the bully with regard to its neighbours.
With an ever more Caesaristic mentality from the United States, it is therefore incumbent on the Canadian government to protect not only the political integrity of its sovereignty, but also the rights of its people from the confiscatory and predatory designs of the United States of America.
Thank you for your attention, and I await your informed decision.
Sincerely,
(signed with writer’s real name)
cc: Right Hon. Stephen Harper, Prime Minister
Hon. John Baird, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Hon. Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration, and Multiculturalism
MP Bob Rae, Leader (Acting), Liberal Party of Canada
MP Don Davies, NDP, Official Opposition Critic for Citizenship and Immigration
MP Elizabeth May, Green Party of Canada
MP John Duncan, Vancouver Island North
Bravo, the author’s done an excellent job putting into words what we’re all felt instinctively. Thank you.
Excellent Letter, Fantastic!! Thank you very much for composing such a Wonderful Letter!!
Great letter, thank you. One thing I noticed though, it was not forwarded to any NDP member. They have been fairly consistent in responding. More so than the liberals, I believe.
Very strong letter. For me, the only thing missing is that the concept of “US person” has no special standing in Canadian law; we’re a nation of immigrants, and all Canadians deserve equal treatment regardless of their country of origin.
Suggestions for cc:
These NDP members have been vocal on this issue:
Denise Savoie
Victoria, British Columbia
Alex Atamanenko
British Columbia Southern Interior
Also, consider members of Canadian Senate, who have a special mandate to protect minority rights.
Finally, journalists Don Cayo at Vancouver Sun, the editorial board of the Ottawa Citizen and Barrie McKenna at G&M have been covering this beat.
You might also include from the NDP:
Hoang.Mai@parl.gc.ca
Mike.Sullivan@parl.gc.ca
You can see NDP engagement in this thread: http://isaacbrocksociety.com/2012/01/31/appreciated-conversation-with-honourable-mike-sullivan-ndp-fellow-us-person-in-canada-reasonable-cause-certificates-of-loss-of-nationality-etc/
Excellent letter. The only issue i would have is that comments such as this
“If Canada allows US government attempts to compel Canadian financial institutions to disclose private banking and investment information, then expatriate Americans residing legally in Canada could possibly be subject to double taxation, which would contravene Canada’s tax treaty with the United States”
implies that Canadians are actually avoiding US taxes by hiding money in Canada, and FATCA would mean they would be “caught”.
We know that’s not really what it meant, but it could be taken that way.
@author, thank you for writing that excellent letter! Every effort by one, helps all of us.
As I read it, it reminded me that for every US dual/citizen/’person’ in Canada, there are also all their Canadian spouses and family members affected. This is another constituency that Minister Flaherty and Canadian politicians must be made aware of…..
‘All for one, and one for all”….
To all those single citizenship Canadians with dual/US citizen/US ‘person’ spouses, children relatives and friends, who have not been writing letters to politicians and newspapers:
We need your help!
An important angle to emphasize with Canadian officials:
Extraterritorial IRS banking penalties, and extraterritorial tax levied takes money away from WHOLE FAMILIES in Canada and elsewhere internationally – not just the individuals that the US designates as ‘international taxpayers’. I read stats re reasons for US citizens to live permanently abroad, and if I remember accurately, the results showed that at least a third are married to non-US citizens. That greatly amplifies the scale of the statistics that should be discussed anytime the injustice of the current FBAR and FATCA provisions are described.
When the IRS taxes and invades the financial privacy of US ‘persons’ abroad, the effect is to tax and invade the financial privacy of whole non-US families…and thus tens of millions of individuals who are NOT US citizens, with no US status or ties also become victims.
Any potential liability or penalties incurred by one family member, re the IRS, would be levied out of pooled Canadian family funds. In practical terms, ANY THREAT TO ONE MEMBER OF A FAMILY IS A THREAT TO ALL. When joint assets are threatened, that takes food money directly out of a Canadian child’s mouth, steals their education funds, and supports available to Canadian spouses in retirement. The same goes for estates, however modest.
We need to emphasize publicly, that in addition to the millions of US citizen/duals/’persons’ in Canada, the numbers of Canadians affected personally by FBAR, FATCA and the US extraterritorial tax regime in practical terms actually affect millions and millions more – all the sole citizenship Canadians holding joint family assets with those the IRS is targeting. Any joint family accounts disclosed to the IRS are accounts belonging to Canadians. The account privacy invaded is the privacy of Canadians in Canada.
Since duals/US ‘persons’ in Canada are being painted by the IRS as noncompliant with UScitizenship based tax laws, and as ‘evaders’ hiding funds in ‘foreign’ Canadian accounts, etc.
then,
What does that make their Canadian-sole citizenship spouses and relatives who hold those very same ‘foreign’ (Canadian) joint assets in common with US citizens/persons (re FBARs and FATCA disclosure) – and who rightfully object to the idea of being forced to collude with the IRS because of the threat to their partners from a ‘foreign’ (non-Canadian) government? Are those Canadians then also magically transformed into criminals with ‘foreign accounts’, ‘accessories’ assisting ‘tax evaders’?
Single citizenship Canadians (with no green card, US residence, US property, etc.) are under no tax obligation to the US – and the US laws do not apply to them in Canada. But, they pay the price in loss of assets if their spouse and children are subjected to US citizenship based taxation, draconian reporting and penalties. So, the very same Canadian held assets and accounts are at once both legal in Canada – according to Canadian laws, and also ‘suspect’ – according to the US….. Since the IRS acknowledges – without apology or justification – that the FBAR (and FATCA) penalties can far exceed the value of the accounts to be reported, and are not contingent on any tax owed, and are levied on legally acquired funds, then that liability can wipe out the assets of an entire Canadian family – NOT just the member with the US status …..
Emphasizing that inherent contradiction extends and underscores the size of the insult and threat to Canadians and Canadian sovereignty.
So it seems to me that we need more single-citizenship Canadian protesters to complain to politicians and write articles, etc. in order to publicly embarass the US and the IRS – because the issue of the privacy threat to Canadian’s accounts, their assets and their family’s financial well-being. Which cannot be dismissed by the US and the IRS as being the work of US ‘tax protesters’. Basically, a tax or FBAR/FATCA requirements and penalties imposed on US citizens ‘abroad’ is also a tax/penalty structure imposed on their non-US families. It is a case of ‘all for one, and one for all”.
Single citizenship Canadians should also embarass the US by pointing out that the FBAR rules deprive Canadians of the security of having their spouses and relatives – if UScitizen/dual/’persons’ act as executors for their estates, and holding powers of attorney, because the mere existence of those powers trigger the obligation to report those CANADIAN assets/accounts/estates in Canada to the IRS – without actually even exercising the powers, (or benefiting from them).
Single citizenship Canadians need to write letters from that viewpoint, because their position is unassailable – they have no obligation at all to cooperate with the US – and basically, they are being blackmailed by the IRS into allowing the disclosure of their bank accounts to spare their US/dual spouses and children. They are deprived of their own individual financial privacy – because the IRS is holding their US status spouses and children for ransom. This is also a threat to the stability of households – if a Canadian spouse is unwilling to allow a disclosure.
I have not seen this angle emphasized in news coverage…..
Canadian single citizenship relatives of US persons could also write to the US Ambassador David Jacobson – who presumably would be interested in coverage which compromises the image of the US in Canada. http://canada.usembassy.gov/ambassador.html
And I wonder if on the US side, this could be a good issue to register with the TAS http://www.irs.gov/advocate/article/0,,id=103729,00.html through the SAMS http://www.irs.gov/advocate/article/0,,id=117703,00.html and hope that it will be highlighted in any future reports to Congress – noting that this tarnishes the image of the US abroad.
@Brock the Badger. These are excellent points you have posted and one of the main reasons that I am renouncing soon. My husband is a Canadian citizen (born in Denmark) and is very resentful that under FACTA the IRS will get info on our joint accounts. Denmark is not after him to file taxes etc., and it makes him angry the way the US is treating its expats. He did not have to visit a consulate and pay $450 to Denmark to avoid lifetime harassment.
Another point that goes along with this, is that I cannot hold an executive position in of any of the volunteer organizations that I belong to. As I understand, the IRS would demand access to the accounts of these groups if I had signing authority.
@somerfugl;Thank you for your comments!
I have been in a similar position in terms of spousal/family accounts, and felt very isolated in trying to deal with it – especially as currently I am un/deremployed and so am not able to offset any IRS related expenses through income. I am certain that there are many more faced with a similar reaction from spouses. Given that finances are a potentially stressful issue for families anytime, add in the extensive reporting, expensive accounting fees, draconian scale of the FBAR and FATCA penalities, plus IRS demands which breach the financial privacy of non-US citizens, forcing disclosures even on joint accounts and non-personal accounts (ex. voluntary, workplace, estates, etc.) and there is a very potent recipe for destabilizing relationships and families ‘abroad’.
I also really relate to the issue you raised about the inability to participate as a volunteer – co-signing powers in voluntary organizations triggers IRS reporting liabilities (re FBARs). This applies also to volunteer positions in professional organizations. DonPomodoro mentions this on the ‘Ask questions about FBAR thread’ http://isaacbrocksociety.com/2012/01/13/ask-your-questions-about-us-expat-tax-fbar-and-fatca-discussion-thread/ Feb 18 and 19th. Other posts have described the liability in business partnerships. In my work life, participation in voluntary roles, and governance for community and professional organizations has been key to building skills, experience, and networking – which resulted in employment and professional recognition. The related issue of FBAR reporting required for any workplace accounts we can sign on – and we’ve got multiple strikes against us that US resident citizens don’t face.
This prevents us from participating fully in the lives of our communities, and governance of our professional societies. It is an issue that would qualify as a systemic advocacy example – and it would be great if we could get as many as possible to register a complaint about it to the Taxpayers Advocate through SAMS. The voluntary governance issue appears to be an area they are actively interested in investigating.
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@Somerfugl
The IRS will not get “access” to your organization’s accounts. You are however, supposed to report them on your FBAR, which, I agree is VERY annoying.
I am the treasurer of a non-profit group that promotes and organizes amateur musicians. My accountant just said whether to report it is a “difficult choice” that I will have to figure out. I seriously considered not reporting it, but in the end I decided that i since i am trying to be compliant so i can renounce, I would do it.
But i didn’t feel I could do anything of the sort without telling them, so told the executive at our last meeting. It turned out that 3 of the other 5 people at the meeting were US citizens of various sorts who were struggling with the same things. We all had a good rant about it, and they were all OK with my doing what i had to.
@ CanuckDoc I don’t understand. FBAR compliance has nothing to do with renunciation of citizenship–if you decide that you must accurately fill out your tax returns and your 8854, then do so. But I would definitely leave the non-profit group’s accounts out of it.
If I fill out a 8854, I may simply give them my assets as a total number and just simply leave the final page with “Fifth Amendment” written on it. Giving the information is a substantial hazard and therefore it is privileged: See http://isaacbrocksociety.com/2012/02/09/fifth-amendment-belated-fbar-filings-are-a-substantial-hazard/
I will never fill out an FBAR or any other form that reveals my financial assets to the IRS or any other government organization in the United States.
@petros
I guess we all have to make our own choices.
I have several reasons I might get audited. I am self employed ( target for auditors) , and they know I am a physician, which means, even if I didn’t complete my FBARs, they are likley to expect me to have lots of money (probably much more than i actually do) and therefore they may think I could be a potential tax evader.
I also have a elderly parent in the US who is likely to one day need my care, so I would rather not have to avoid going to the US. So, when i get to the stage of renouncing, i want to be “squeaky clean” so as avoid harassment by the IRS as much as possible.
So agree or not, that is what I have chosen to do.
@ CanuckDoc The non-profit seems to me beyond anything reasonable. If the IRS receives this information and acted on it, it would be very very interesting for the us to be able to publish it.
But the IRS probably won’t do anything with it–not if they know what’s good for them.
But there are three other considerations:
(1) the information serves absolutely no purpose to the IRS. So they don’t need it. Financial information should never be given to anyone who is not in the need to know.
(2) As treasurer of the non-profit, you are put in a position of trust. You cannot in such a position reveal the account information to a foreign government.
(3) I don’t understand how you could ever get in trouble for NOT revealing this information to the US. How would they ever find out that you have signing authority in the first place?
So this is lose-lose for you. You lose the confidence of your non-profit and you gain nothing by revealing the accounts to the US which they in turn have no right to know anything about. I’m sorry, but your need to have access to the United States notwithstanding, I think the correct thing to do in this case is to withhold the information. I too have signing authority for a charitable project. I don’t see what purpose giving the US that information would serve anyone. The FBAR law is just the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen.
But this gets back to why I will never comply with FBAR. My wife and I have joint accounts. I will NEVER violate her trust in me by revealing her account information to the foreign government. And that is exactly what the United States has become to me, a foreign country. They can throw me in prison before I voluntarily hand over her private financial information to the United States.
@CanuckDoc, @Petros AND @somerfugl, the TAS has contacted me for more details re the SAMs complaint I registered on the issue of the negative impact of FBAR (and FATCA?) on the full participation of individuals in their voluntary community and professional organizations (ex. treasurer, board member). It is worth submitting other individual SAMS complaints on this issue – the more submissions, the more likely that it will register as a significant overreach of the IRS into our lives ‘abroad’.
My argument was that the IRS insistence that the signatory powers that accompany those voluntary (and unpaid) roles trigger personal FBAR reporting obligations, and are counted towards the aggregate account totals and in the instance of errors or omissions, the calculation of draconian penalties for the individual. This is particularly egregious because in that instance, the individual would have no financial gain or income from their role, the Canadian registered charity or professional society would have no IRS tax liability, and no obligation to report to them, and the US individual would be disclosing private Canadian account information that does not belong to them. Just as with Canadian workplace/employer accounts, IRS compliance breaches the privacy of the true owners of the assets – to no logical benefit, and to the detriment of the US individual obliged to report.
Federally registered charities in Canada are also overseen by the Canadian federal government, audited annually, and must report those results regularly in order to keep their registered status – so present no risk re US tax evasion or ‘hidden’ ‘foreign’ accounts.
Therefore, US/dual/’persons’ face significant barriers to full community and professional participation – which US residents do not – a systemic issue – with inequitable impact on a whole class of taxpayers.
This is obviously not about ‘tax’ evasion as there would be no US tax obligation in these cases. It can’t be justified on any logical grounds, as it appears particularly ridiculous for the IRS to demand reports on the financial accounts of little league baseball, and assets generated by charity bake sales in Canada. The more egregious the true life examples, the more absurd it would look if we could get the Canadian and US media to include it in stories demonstrating IRS overreach….which could counteract their insistent repetition that this is about tax evasion and hidden offshore bank accounts!
I also would be very interested to hear US Ambassador Jacobson explain why ‘Canadian/dual citizen grandmas’ are obliged to report to the IRS on the Canadian accounts of their local charitable group (pick one that is the most innocuous example and insert here ——-) located in —– (insert small Canadian community).
@Brock
Thank you for that. What is SAMS? I am still VERY uncomfortable with the whole idea of including the reports on my FBAR. I think I mentioned it in my list of concerns that I sent to the TAS a month or two ago, as well as in all the letters I wrote to the privacy commissioner, Flaherty, Harper, my MP etc. But it might have gotten buried in all my other concerns
I think the only argument the IRS could make would be that the organization might be a terrorist organization or a cover for a criminal organization, which is absolutely ludicrous. It should be quite enough that we are overseen by the CRA.
It would be an excellent story to demonstrate the over reach of the new IRS rules I would happily contribute my voice to any such project.
What is SAMS?
SAMS stands for Systemic Advocacy Management System, our new web-based method of receiving and prioritizing systemic issues and problems. SAMS allows taxpayers to bring systemic issues directly to our attention.
Sorry, the following links won’t work, although I found them / they are there. Perhaps goggle TAS SAMS FAQ
TAS Systemic Advocacy FAQ http://www.irs.gov/advocate/article/0,,id=108952,00.html
http://www.irs.gov/advocate/article/0,,id=117703,00.html then look for TAS Systemic Advocacy FAQ
(I submitted something regarding the discrimination exercised toward parents / guardians / trustees (and the developmentally delayed person himself or herself) not being able to renounce US citizenship on behalf of the persons they make daily decisions regarding their well being. Their well being is not being served by being a citizen of the US and having to bear the absurd cost of yearly administration of IRS returns and FBARs, etc. for $0.00 owed to the US. Not one penny of their disability benefits from whatever country should be used for the administration of absurd IRS regulations regarding that person’s absurd US citizenship — if that is the decision of the person given authorization to make decisions for that person. I hope I hear from TAS SAMS as well. Thanks, Brock!)
@ Brock, etc. Thanks for mentioning your complaint to the TAS. Excellent work.
This gets down to the whole stupidity of the FBAR law in the first place. It violates many principles of law. The “required records doctrine” which has been invoked to violate filers’ Fifth Amendment rights, is actually supposed to have a high degree of usefulness to the government. The information included in FBAR is not of high usefulness but little usefulness: they are even behind in processing the millions of forms that have been sent in. So one could even argue of no usefulness.
@CanuckDoc, sorry not to have replied earlier; but thanks to Calgary411 for posting the links to explain SAMS.
And good luck Calgary411 – re your own SAMS submission.
I think we should all try to submit on issues like these as we identify them, whether it is affecting us personally now or not – all for one, one for all….
Also, Calgary411, the issues you’ve educated us about here are another really dramatic example of IRS/US injustice to raise with politicians and media – it would resonate with many people.
The situation you are grappling with is another scenario that could apply also to Ambassador Jacobson’s ‘Canadian grandmother’ remarks – since eventually most of us will either hold/use power of attorney for someone in our lives, or have someone else hold/use it for our own affairs.
It is obscene that taking care of our family members has IRS Bank Secrecy reporting and possible draconian penalty repercussions depending on the citizenship of both persons with ‘foreign’ Canadian assets/accounts involved. Taking care of, and being responsible for others is the fabric that a healthy society is based on?
I do wonder how the mistreatment of duals/US ‘taxpayers’ ‘abroad’ with disabilities stands up to scrutiny under the ‘Americans with Disabilities Act’ – http://www.ada.gov/pubs/adastatute08.htm since the effects of FBAR and FATCA erects an additional double barrier/inequity, which penalizes those with disabilities ‘abroad’ (and their guardians/representatives) in the IRS treatment of their ‘foreign’ assets and ‘accounts’ in the form of RDSPs. As long as the IRS continues to refuse to recognize the legitimacy of Canadian RDSPs, continues to refuse to exempt them from FBAR/FATCA, and treats the owners as potential tax ‘evaders’, that would seem to me to be an issue that the ACA and the TAS (and Canadian politicians and disability activists) should take up. If the IRS erects barriers for parents and guardians to try and ensure security of the person and of finances for vulnerable persons – that is an egregious example of discrimination – in outcome, even if not by design.
The SAMS is trying to identify issues that affect whole classes of ‘taxpayers’, so making the link between an individual case example – and then extrapolating out to a whole group that is affected (ex. the large group of ‘taxpayers’ ‘abroad’ with disabilities such that they need guardians to manage their affairs, seniors with dementia, chronically ill, etc.) is very very important. If we can establish that there are these ‘systemic’ barriers/inequities – as compared to the treatment of US resident ‘taxpayers’ re FBARs and FATCA, (esp. re RDSPs not being recognized as exempt from reporting, counted in thresholds, and in calculating penalties) then (however reluctantly) the IRS may be forced to make at least some adjustments – see recent examples re ‘innocent spouse’ relief (TAS Olson had been raising that issue since at least 2005). http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/business/yourtaxes/innocent-spouses-get-more-relief-from-irs.html
http://www.irs.gov/irs/article/0,,id=101099,00.html “Systemic Advocacy
“The Office of Systemic Advocacy is part of the larger TAS organization. Systemic advocacy means addressing broad issues that impact groups of taxpayers, including both individuals and businesses.
These issues:
Affect multiple taxpayers;
Are not individual problems or cases;
Require analysis, administrative solutions or legislative changes; and
Involve protecting taxpayer rights, reducing or preventing taxpayer burden, ensuring equitable treatment of taxpayers or providing essential services to taxpayers.
The Office of Systemic Advocacy works within the IRS to resolve issues involving procedures and policies. If a problem requires a legislative solution, the National Taxpayer Advocate may recommend a change in the Annual Report to Congress.”
Sorry that this reply is so long. Just want you to know that I empathize with your struggles, and wish you and your family well.
sorry, the link to the SAMS page for the TAS works if you cut and paste it into the browser window, rather than clicking on to the link I provided. It is worth reading all the pages for advice to make the submission as effective as possible.
Pasting in the link above should take you to: http://www.irs.gov/irs/article/0,,id=101099,00.html AND then go to: http://www.irs.gov/advocate/index.html , read this: http://www.irs.gov/advocate/article/0,,id=103729,00.html , this http://www.irs.gov/advocate/article/0,,id=117703,00.html, http://www.irs.gov/advocate/article/0,,id=117672,00.html and at the bottom of the page it says: “Enter SAMS”….
There is very good advice on the SAMS Help page http://www.irs.gov/advocate/article/0,,id=117672,00.html and SAMS FAQs http://www.irs.gov/advocate/article/0,,id=117676,00.html re the format and focus of the submission – which has to fit a certain limit of 2000 characters – so it is short.
SAMS “Issue Summary: Enter a short sentence that summarizes the issue and your concerns. Example: “The IRS Campus at ___ (name of city) is incorrectly assessing failure to deposit (FTD) penalties.” Try to include key words that others might search for later: the key words in the example above would be campus, FTD and penalties.
Issue Description: Enter the details of the issue or problem: does the problem follow a pattern? Who or what is affected? Do not use personal names, addresses, or any other identifying information. Do you know if this or a similar issue has surfaced in the past? If you know it, enter the IRS Functional Business Unit involved (such as Wage and Investment or Large and Mid-Sized Businesses). Again, try to use key words that others might search for later. Please input a separate submission for each unrelated issue or problem (limited to 2000 characters).”
“Do not submit any taxpayer or personal information, such as a Social Security number. Also, please don’t paste in text from Microsoft Word, which contains hidden characters. If you feel that you need to paste something into a field, prepare the document in Notepad (found under Accessories on the Windows Start menu), which is plain text. You can also convert Word files to text and paste from those.”
Further to my post of March 3, 2012 at 4:41 pm, on this thread – re the ‘true’ numbers effected by the IRS overreach, FBAR and FATCA: which necessarily includes the single-citizenshipCanadian spouses and families of dual/accidental/US’persons’ who have no IRS obligation – but who never-the-less suffer as their US status member and shared assets are held hostage.
Below is where I found the information about those in a 2006 survey, who said that their reason to expatriate was marriage to a non-US citizen abroad : from the “OVF 2006 Post Election Voter Survey Results, Feb. 2007, p.5” http://www.overseasvotefoundation.org as cited in: “Revising the Taxation of Americans Abroad”
an “in-depth article by Bérengère Parmly (American University Washington College of Law) ” from the American Citizens Abroad site http://www.aca.ch/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=212&Itemid=46#_edn7
I am not sure if this is the correct place to post this. I received a letter in the mail today from James Flaherty, in response to one that I sent to his office approximately one month ago. Most of what the letter says, I have seen posted here by others or have read in comments made by Mr. Flaherty in the newspapers. There are the usual comments about “the vast majority of these dual citizens being targeted are honest,……. who have dutifully paid their Canadian taxes etc. etc.
In his comments re FATCA, he speaks to the fact that FATCA “has far-reaching extraterritorial implications, as it would turn Canadian banks into extensions of the IRS and would raise significant privacy concerns for Canadians.” He goes on somewhat, more of the same as we have heard through this site and the media. He does finish up by saying “We are actively seeking a solution that both countries will find agreeable.”
At least I received a response. At the same time that I sent the letter to Mr. Flaherty, I sent one to Andrew Saxton, my MP. His office phoned me approximately one week after they received the letter to tell me that Mr. Saxton would be sending me a reply to my letter. I am still waiting for that reply.
@tiger
I have actually heard someplace the John Weston of West Vancouver Sunshine Coast has been pretty involved on FATCA and tax issues. I am somewhat curious why Saxton in the next riding over isn’t either.
Saxton used to actually be the head of “Private Banking” at HSBC Singapore(Singapore is the Switzerland of Asia) and earlier in his career was one of those infamous “Swiss Bankers” in Switzerland. (Note I am not alleging in untoward behavior or activity).