@Bubblebustin, this is true. It’s the same with our UK tax returns…there are many sorts of accounts like ISAs that are tax free to UK residents and don’t need to be reported on our tax returns here. Ditto with the sale of one’s primary residence which, like Canada, is not subject to capital gains taxes.
I’ve concluded that I made the fatal mistake of not having done proper financial and tax planning with taking my US citizenship into account… I will always regret that I didn’t seek specialized advice before blindly assuming I could invest like a Brit.
@monalisa, like so many of us, OUCH 🙁
@monalisa,
We are all discriminated against economically by virtue of our supposed or otherwise US citizenship, some more so than others. If we want to renounce or relinquish, it should be an easier choice — and should be for all (i.e. the example of parents, Guardians, Trustees unable to renounce on behalf of their family members if they deem it in that person’s best interest because that person cannot do so themselves). Think Amnesty, the real definition of Amnesty. If we wish to retain our US citizenship, going forward, then we must be adequately and continually informed of our tax and reporting responsibilities so these traps don’t occur. It should not cost any of us outrageous sums of money to get rid of or to retain US citizenship, given the absurdity of citizenship-based taxation laws.
@Bubblebustin, well I can’t undo much of what I’ve done, such as my personal pension plan…would have never even bothered opening one or even joining the pension scheme at work because of the risks of getting into trouble for not filing forms 3520/3520A…The IRS could easily argue that these are foreign grantor trusts but it would cost me more to file these obscure forms than what I actually put into the plan each year!! It is beyond ridiculous.
Fortunately, my accountant believes I’ll be OK simply invoking the treaty but I still worry a lot about it. I believe she’s correct but it’s one of those grey areas which I believe the IRS could become awkward about if I chose to do something ‘unspeakable’ like renounce. Unfortunately, in the UK it’s impossible to either transfer my plan to my spouse or cancel it. I’m stuck with it till I’m at least 55, and if I took it before 59 1/2 I’d have to pay a 10% penalty on its value.
@Calgary, I completely agree with you. It’s especially wrong in your son’s case.
We’re effectively second class citizens both where we live and to the US. We get the short end of the stick.
I’m personally too frightened to renounce and have concluded that I am going to have to learn to live with the annual accounting fees and sometimes double taxation. I’ve abandoned any hopes of being able to retire early because I’ll have to budget at least two or even three thousand dollars annually for these costs…of course, part of me is bitter but don’t know that there is a whole lot I can do about it. I don’t think anyone in Congress cares about our problems, to be frank. It sucks.
I’ve made my bed, as the saying goes. No one made me come to England to live… :'(
monalisa,
No one advised you of the consequences either, which should have been done. I refer to it as entrapment by the US. Surely, they should live up to their PR stories.
“A lie of omission is still a lie.”
@Calgary, you are a great advocate for your son. Because he cannot be relieved of his duty to the US he will always need an advocate like you and I imagine that it causes you no end to your worry about his future. My heart goes out to you.
Thanks, bubblebustin and monalisa.
Unfortunately it is not just my son that this affects — it will actually be many. I know that my son can stay in Canada and be safe, but that should not have to be the case. He should not be denied the right to visit with my and his relatives across the border.
Some won’t have someone to advocate for them and they don’t have a voice — and I believe most don’t know anything about this mess yet. They have more important daily issues.
@Calgary, yes, it’s the blatant lack of readily available information that results in our effective entrapment. Even when I go on the IRS website, I don’t see anything on there that jumps out at me saying I need to file an FBAR, for instance…it’s unreal.
But on a more practical note, couldn’t you get a special ruling from the IRS for your son, especially if in future, he can’t realistically comply? I’d imagine though that you’ll have to appoint a guardian to oversee his financial affairs and thus, US filing/reporting obligations.
@monalisa, my mother made me move to Canada. THANK YOU MOM!
I don’t want this just for my son, but for all in this situation. (I do, however, have a US tax lawyer in Calgary and a Washington, DC immigration / nationality lawyer advising me on this.) Again, I, you and everyone else should not have to spend retirement savings or dollars from our family’s budget to reconcile all of this. A REAL AMNESTY would, I think, be the fair solution and we can all go forward from there as we CHOOSE.
I have given the IRS Taxpayer’s Advocate, TAS Systemic Advocacy and the Taxpayer’s Advocacy Panel information on what I believe to be blatant discrimination for my son and for others in my family’s situation.
Getting back to the Japan Times article, this article is an excellent presentation. I’ve forwarded the link to my US sisters and our two remaining non-family US friends, to help them understand what my wife and I, and everyone on Brock, is going through. This is a much better-written and more concise summary (excepting the omissions of FATCA and FBAR) than I’ve managed so far.
I would encourage people for forward this link to their American family members. The more potentially sympathetic and sane Americans who read this article, the better.
*The author of the article was really lucky. He had a CLN six weeks after becoming an Australian citizen. Little did he know then what that might mean for him down the road.
I don’t think anyone in Canada received one so quickly. Schubert, how long did yours take after you wrote to Henry Kissinger? I think Mr. Ladybug received his first letter a year after he became Canadian and I think it was several more months before he had his CLN. I think TomOn was two or three years later.
This article confirms that in the 1970s it was not possible to become a citizen of another country and maintain U.S. citizenship.
@Schubert1975
I, too, have forwarded the article to some of my family members living in the U.S. I also forwarded the article to two of my sons, who are both Canadian social studies teachers. What caught their attention the most was how the author compared things to historical events. They both felt that would have the greatest impact. One of my sons posted the article on his facebook page – thought it might help get the word out to those people not directly affected by all of this.
*Has anyone seriously looked into the ACLU yet?
They usually get involved in things which could make it to the supreme court, which makes this a bit difficult, with these things I remember from high school govt class:
Supreme court takes up cases upon appeals from the lower courts—where someone has been found guilty of something. Someone must first be found guilty of a crime. Making an unconstituional law is not something that the Supreme Court is immediately involved in. -Unfortunately, OVDP is not a judgement, it is a self-admittance -Tax penalties are given from administration of the IRS, not from a court. I can’t think if any of the sufferers here have received their whippings directly from a court of law.
@Mark: I have contacted CCLA (Canadian Civil Liberties Association) via e-mail several times since February or March. I have had several replies that someone will respond “soon.” I’m no longer optimistic they will help.
I am quite certain if I was of Chinese, Mexican, Indian, Iraqi or Eritrean origin and those countries were demanding access to my private financial information, I would have had a response long before now. Of course, if I was born in any of those countries, my bank and the Canadian government would just laugh at the efforts of those governments to try to violate the rights of Canadian citizens and residents.
Last week, I forwarded CCLA the information from TD Waterhouse, including a copy of their form for “US persons.” I thought seeing proof this is actually beginning to happen in Canada would get them moving. They have not even bothered to acknowledge it.
I don’t know if there are similar organizations in your country (is is Sweden?) or other countries, but it might be worth a try.
If other Canadians are interested in contacting CCLA, here’s a link: Canadian Civil Liberties Association Perhaps the more Canadians CCLA hears from, the more seriously they will consider this.
@blaze, sometimes I wonder if there’s some kind of gag order in place. I’ve written to two financial advisers who talk on a local news show re FATCA, and haven’t received any response. I also wrote to ‘Business in Vancouver’ asking why they haven’t covered the impending neutron bomb of the globe’s financial system. No response, though I’ve always gotten one in the past. It’s as though they know the FATCA word getting out will wreak havoc, and perhaps think it will get derailed beforehand???
WOW! My husband just informed me that Global Morning News interviewed Shaun Rickerby of Rickerby Wealth Group-TD Waterhouse this morning. He is one of the people I just referred to writing to, and he talked about FATCA and made it the subject of the entire interview. My husband recorded it but I will have to view and run as I’m catching a ferry, so I’ll try to get more info to you all later.
After watching the interview I’m please to inform you that Mr Rickerby’s tone was FAR from the usual “fess up you non-compliant Americans” but more of a Canadian call to arms against the over-reaching US. He made clear that the costs to the financial institutions will be enormous and every Canadian’s privacy is in jeopardy (he used the Sophie Lui the newcaster as an example by saying that she will be asked if she is a US person). Let’s face it, financial institutions are bottom line people and FATCA is going to kill it-if they can derail FATCA by political means, but getting 1st class Canadians up in arms, they certainly will make the effort to do so!
*I had been hoping for the usa aclu—Locally here, the most important right is to use the 5 weeks of legislated vacation time and the most important responsibility is to get to the daycare before they charge you overtime. I just read form 3520 and it is really evil, directed specifically at all those tax cheaters hiding their money in Canadian government retirement funds: “Note. The fact that a foreign country would impose penalties for disclosing the required information is not reasonable cause.” (for non-report). My friend is CFO for an international company’s branch in a former USSR colony. I have emailed him to ask as to how his company’s lawyers are viewing his signature authority over the entire company ($100’s of millions).
*ok. The country CFO of one of the largest companies of the world is vaguely familiar with his personal accountant’s discussion of FBAR’s (a bit higher awareness than mine was up til this year). He has no idea from his company of his 8938 obligations over all of the company’s accounts. His company’s accountants are one of the big ones (just google “FBAR” and that accounting company shows up in the search) and they have never told him about it.
*I predict that this is going to go viral very soon. Think about it–the presidents, CFO’s and others of the domestic Honda of America, Toyota. The domestic and international COO’s and CFO’s of Haliburton, Schlumberger, Exxon, Chevron. Apple. Microsoft. Facebook. Whirlpool. GE. All of them owing 50% per year for each of their foreign accounts which they have willfully not reported. Rickerby is the start and it will snowball from here on out! This will be better than that Tunisian?/Algerian? guy that started the Arab revolution. Schumer, Carl Lenin, and Obama will suffer the same fate as had happened in the Arab revolutions!
@MarkTwain, it would be really interesting to see a public statement from non-US companies on this issue; what would they do if one of their officers actually tried to comply by disclosing company or organizational financial information on an FBAR – with the resultant loss of asset and account privacy – and breach of the officers’ fiduciary duties to their employers? The US doesn’t recognize anything like a right to financial privacy for deemed US ‘person’s, but it would be very illuminating to see any justification made for the breach of a non-US business or quasi-government body’s accounts – which they have no jurisdiction over. So, if the non-US employer refused to allow a disclosure, then would the IRS position be that the US ‘person’ must never take employment in such a post? There must have been some discussion of various common scenarios when the regulations were drawn up.
Given how very ‘overbroad’ the FBAR describes which accounts and assets must be reported – there must be many organizations in Canada and elsewhere in the world, where in the performance of work duties, someone that the US deems to have signatory reporting requirements is not filing FBARs for those non-personal accounts, but where filing the FBARs would be in direct conflict with their fiduciary duties to their non-US employer/and or clients. There are lots of roles in which employees must hold the ability to sign or co-sign on accounts – even very small ones, and so the likelihood is that there are lots of people in violation globally. Does anyone think that the Canadian government, or a Canadian bank, etc. or other non-US organization would actively give someone consent to disclose their non-personal Canadian account #s and balances to the US? It would be nice if a Canadian government body or other non-US organization in the world would stand up and say that they would not under any circumstances allow such a disclosure to take place – thus forcing the US to acknowledge that the ‘foreign’ account reporting under FBARs is unworkable, arrogant and ‘overbroad’ – and serving no such practical purpose as described below;
“The FBAR is required because foreign financial institutions may not be
subject to the same reporting requirements as domestic financial
institutions. The FBAR is a tool to help the United States government
identify persons who may be using foreign financial accounts to
circumvent United States law. Investigators use FBARs to help identify
or trace funds used for illicit purposes or to identify unreported
income maintained or generated abroad.”
‘The Filing Requirements for the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (“FBAR”) are Confusing and Extremely Overbroad’
@Badger, Mark: There are also public sector employees who were born in the U.S. with signing authority for government funds and budgets in other countries where they are now citizens. I was one of them before I retired. There is no way my employer would have allowed IRS access to that information. Neither would the Canadian government or any provincial or municipal government.
Then, of course, there are all the charitable organizations to consider.
A former colleague, who is a Finance Manager, was on vacation in Washington,D.C. last month. I told her to show those American politicians and bureaucrats how a government should be run. We are far from perfect in Canada, but we’re much better than the U.S. in delivering public services and value for money.
Go Badgers! The model for this comes from the 3520/8938 series of forms and instructions”Note. The fact that a foreign country would impose penalties for disclosing the required information is not reasonable cause. (for non-report).”
Is there any one Brocker who has social media copywrite experience who could write a facebook post which is intended to go viral? For example (this from an engineer) Mentioning the CEO’s & CFO’s of apple versus the minnows, referring to the OVDP, and some catchy phrase such as getting a kiss from your favorite USA expatriate for reposting? One, specific, well-written post, reviewed by an editor-type person prior to any jump start by all of us who are ready to act yesterday? The call to action must be positive to the end goal–to end FATCA (rather than to take down any political person or CEO). Any Brocker would be willing to post and repost such a great text onwards.
@Bubblebustin, this is true. It’s the same with our UK tax returns…there are many sorts of accounts like ISAs that are tax free to UK residents and don’t need to be reported on our tax returns here. Ditto with the sale of one’s primary residence which, like Canada, is not subject to capital gains taxes.
I’ve concluded that I made the fatal mistake of not having done proper financial and tax planning with taking my US citizenship into account… I will always regret that I didn’t seek specialized advice before blindly assuming I could invest like a Brit.
@monalisa, like so many of us, OUCH 🙁
@monalisa,
We are all discriminated against economically by virtue of our supposed or otherwise US citizenship, some more so than others. If we want to renounce or relinquish, it should be an easier choice — and should be for all (i.e. the example of parents, Guardians, Trustees unable to renounce on behalf of their family members if they deem it in that person’s best interest because that person cannot do so themselves). Think Amnesty, the real definition of Amnesty. If we wish to retain our US citizenship, going forward, then we must be adequately and continually informed of our tax and reporting responsibilities so these traps don’t occur. It should not cost any of us outrageous sums of money to get rid of or to retain US citizenship, given the absurdity of citizenship-based taxation laws.
@Bubblebustin, well I can’t undo much of what I’ve done, such as my personal pension plan…would have never even bothered opening one or even joining the pension scheme at work because of the risks of getting into trouble for not filing forms 3520/3520A…The IRS could easily argue that these are foreign grantor trusts but it would cost me more to file these obscure forms than what I actually put into the plan each year!! It is beyond ridiculous.
Fortunately, my accountant believes I’ll be OK simply invoking the treaty but I still worry a lot about it. I believe she’s correct but it’s one of those grey areas which I believe the IRS could become awkward about if I chose to do something ‘unspeakable’ like renounce. Unfortunately, in the UK it’s impossible to either transfer my plan to my spouse or cancel it. I’m stuck with it till I’m at least 55, and if I took it before 59 1/2 I’d have to pay a 10% penalty on its value.
@Calgary, I completely agree with you. It’s especially wrong in your son’s case.
We’re effectively second class citizens both where we live and to the US. We get the short end of the stick.
I’m personally too frightened to renounce and have concluded that I am going to have to learn to live with the annual accounting fees and sometimes double taxation. I’ve abandoned any hopes of being able to retire early because I’ll have to budget at least two or even three thousand dollars annually for these costs…of course, part of me is bitter but don’t know that there is a whole lot I can do about it. I don’t think anyone in Congress cares about our problems, to be frank. It sucks.
I’ve made my bed, as the saying goes. No one made me come to England to live… :'(
monalisa,
No one advised you of the consequences either, which should have been done. I refer to it as entrapment by the US. Surely, they should live up to their PR stories.
“A lie of omission is still a lie.”
@Calgary, you are a great advocate for your son. Because he cannot be relieved of his duty to the US he will always need an advocate like you and I imagine that it causes you no end to your worry about his future. My heart goes out to you.
Thanks, bubblebustin and monalisa.
Unfortunately it is not just my son that this affects — it will actually be many. I know that my son can stay in Canada and be safe, but that should not have to be the case. He should not be denied the right to visit with my and his relatives across the border.
Some won’t have someone to advocate for them and they don’t have a voice — and I believe most don’t know anything about this mess yet. They have more important daily issues.
@Calgary, yes, it’s the blatant lack of readily available information that results in our effective entrapment. Even when I go on the IRS website, I don’t see anything on there that jumps out at me saying I need to file an FBAR, for instance…it’s unreal.
But on a more practical note, couldn’t you get a special ruling from the IRS for your son, especially if in future, he can’t realistically comply? I’d imagine though that you’ll have to appoint a guardian to oversee his financial affairs and thus, US filing/reporting obligations.
@monalisa, my mother made me move to Canada. THANK YOU MOM!
@monalisa.
See my comments to the Financial Post article, at http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2012/06/09/time-is-running-out-for-you-to-file-your-2011-u-s-1040-tax-return-if-you-havent-already-done-so/.
I don’t want this just for my son, but for all in this situation. (I do, however, have a US tax lawyer in Calgary and a Washington, DC immigration / nationality lawyer advising me on this.) Again, I, you and everyone else should not have to spend retirement savings or dollars from our family’s budget to reconcile all of this. A REAL AMNESTY would, I think, be the fair solution and we can all go forward from there as we CHOOSE.
I have given the IRS Taxpayer’s Advocate, TAS Systemic Advocacy and the Taxpayer’s Advocacy Panel information on what I believe to be blatant discrimination for my son and for others in my family’s situation.
Getting back to the Japan Times article, this article is an excellent presentation. I’ve forwarded the link to my US sisters and our two remaining non-family US friends, to help them understand what my wife and I, and everyone on Brock, is going through. This is a much better-written and more concise summary (excepting the omissions of FATCA and FBAR) than I’ve managed so far.
I would encourage people for forward this link to their American family members. The more potentially sympathetic and sane Americans who read this article, the better.
*The author of the article was really lucky. He had a CLN six weeks after becoming an Australian citizen. Little did he know then what that might mean for him down the road.
I don’t think anyone in Canada received one so quickly. Schubert, how long did yours take after you wrote to Henry Kissinger? I think Mr. Ladybug received his first letter a year after he became Canadian and I think it was several more months before he had his CLN. I think TomOn was two or three years later.
This article confirms that in the 1970s it was not possible to become a citizen of another country and maintain U.S. citizenship.
@Schubert1975
I, too, have forwarded the article to some of my family members living in the U.S. I also forwarded the article to two of my sons, who are both Canadian social studies teachers. What caught their attention the most was how the author compared things to historical events. They both felt that would have the greatest impact. One of my sons posted the article on his facebook page – thought it might help get the word out to those people not directly affected by all of this.
*Has anyone seriously looked into the ACLU yet?
They usually get involved in things which could make it to the supreme court, which makes this a bit difficult, with these things I remember from high school govt class:
Supreme court takes up cases upon appeals from the lower courts—where someone has been found guilty of something. Someone must first be found guilty of a crime. Making an unconstituional law is not something that the Supreme Court is immediately involved in.
-Unfortunately, OVDP is not a judgement, it is a self-admittance
-Tax penalties are given from administration of the IRS, not from a court. I can’t think if any of the sufferers here have received their whippings directly from a court of law.
@Mark: I have contacted CCLA (Canadian Civil Liberties Association) via e-mail several times since February or March. I have had several replies that someone will respond “soon.” I’m no longer optimistic they will help.
I am quite certain if I was of Chinese, Mexican, Indian, Iraqi or Eritrean origin and those countries were demanding access to my private financial information, I would have had a response long before now. Of course, if I was born in any of those countries, my bank and the Canadian government would just laugh at the efforts of those governments to try to violate the rights of Canadian citizens and residents.
Last week, I forwarded CCLA the information from TD Waterhouse, including a copy of their form for “US persons.” I thought seeing proof this is actually beginning to happen in Canada would get them moving. They have not even bothered to acknowledge it.
I don’t know if there are similar organizations in your country (is is Sweden?) or other countries, but it might be worth a try.
If other Canadians are interested in contacting CCLA, here’s a link: Canadian Civil Liberties Association Perhaps the more Canadians CCLA hears from, the more seriously they will consider this.
@blaze, sometimes I wonder if there’s some kind of gag order in place. I’ve written to two financial advisers who talk on a local news show re FATCA, and haven’t received any response. I also wrote to ‘Business in Vancouver’ asking why they haven’t covered the impending neutron bomb of the globe’s financial system. No response, though I’ve always gotten one in the past. It’s as though they know the FATCA word getting out will wreak havoc, and perhaps think it will get derailed beforehand???
WOW! My husband just informed me that Global Morning News interviewed Shaun Rickerby of Rickerby Wealth Group-TD Waterhouse this morning. He is one of the people I just referred to writing to, and he talked about FATCA and made it the subject of the entire interview. My husband recorded it but I will have to view and run as I’m catching a ferry, so I’ll try to get more info to you all later.
After watching the interview I’m please to inform you that Mr Rickerby’s tone was FAR from the usual “fess up you non-compliant Americans” but more of a Canadian call to arms against the over-reaching US. He made clear that the costs to the financial institutions will be enormous and every Canadian’s privacy is in jeopardy (he used the Sophie Lui the newcaster as an example by saying that she will be asked if she is a US person). Let’s face it, financial institutions are bottom line people and FATCA is going to kill it-if they can derail FATCA by political means, but getting 1st class Canadians up in arms, they certainly will make the effort to do so!
*I had been hoping for the usa aclu—Locally here, the most important right is to use the 5 weeks of legislated vacation time and the most important responsibility is to get to the daycare before they charge you overtime.
I just read form 3520 and it is really evil, directed specifically at all those tax cheaters hiding their money in Canadian government retirement funds: “Note. The fact that a foreign country would impose penalties for disclosing the required information is not reasonable cause.” (for non-report).
My friend is CFO for an international company’s branch in a former USSR colony. I have emailed him to ask as to how his company’s lawyers are viewing his signature authority over the entire company ($100’s of millions).
*ok. The country CFO of one of the largest companies of the world is vaguely familiar with his personal accountant’s discussion of FBAR’s (a bit higher awareness than mine was up til this year). He has no idea from his company of his 8938 obligations over all of the company’s accounts. His company’s accountants are one of the big ones (just google “FBAR” and that accounting company shows up in the search) and they have never told him about it.
*I predict that this is going to go viral very soon. Think about it–the presidents, CFO’s and others of the domestic Honda of America, Toyota. The domestic and international COO’s and CFO’s of Haliburton, Schlumberger, Exxon, Chevron. Apple. Microsoft. Facebook. Whirlpool. GE. All of them owing 50% per year for each of their foreign accounts which they have willfully not reported.
Rickerby is the start and it will snowball from here on out! This will be better than that Tunisian?/Algerian? guy that started the Arab revolution.
Schumer, Carl Lenin, and Obama will suffer the same fate as had happened in the Arab revolutions!
@MarkTwain, it would be really interesting to see a public statement from non-US companies on this issue; what would they do if one of their officers actually tried to comply by disclosing company or organizational financial information on an FBAR – with the resultant loss of asset and account privacy – and breach of the officers’ fiduciary duties to their employers? The US doesn’t recognize anything like a right to financial privacy for deemed US ‘person’s, but it would be very illuminating to see any justification made for the breach of a non-US business or quasi-government body’s accounts – which they have no jurisdiction over. So, if the non-US employer refused to allow a disclosure, then would the IRS position be that the US ‘person’ must never take employment in such a post? There must have been some discussion of various common scenarios when the regulations were drawn up.
Given how very ‘overbroad’ the FBAR describes which accounts and assets must be reported – there must be many organizations in Canada and elsewhere in the world, where in the performance of work duties, someone that the US deems to have signatory reporting requirements is not filing FBARs for those non-personal accounts, but where filing the FBARs would be in direct conflict with their fiduciary duties to their non-US employer/and or clients. There are lots of roles in which employees must hold the ability to sign or co-sign on accounts – even very small ones, and so the likelihood is that there are lots of people in violation globally. Does anyone think that the Canadian government, or a Canadian bank, etc. or other non-US organization would actively give someone consent to disclose their non-personal Canadian account #s and balances to the US? It would be nice if a Canadian government body or other non-US organization in the world would stand up and say that they would not under any circumstances allow such a disclosure to take place – thus forcing the US to acknowledge that the ‘foreign’ account reporting under FBARs is unworkable, arrogant and ‘overbroad’ – and serving no such practical purpose as described below;
The purpose of the FBARs as described here:
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=148849,00.html
“The FBAR is required because foreign financial institutions may not be
subject to the same reporting requirements as domestic financial
institutions. The FBAR is a tool to help the United States government
identify persons who may be using foreign financial accounts to
circumvent United States law. Investigators use FBARs to help identify
or trace funds used for illicit purposes or to identify unreported
income maintained or generated abroad.”
This page http://www.irs.gov/taxpros/article/0,,id=250746,00.html refers to an interesting commentary entitled:
‘The Filing Requirements for the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (“FBAR”) are Confusing and Extremely Overbroad’
@Badger, Mark: There are also public sector employees who were born in the U.S. with signing authority for government funds and budgets in other countries where they are now citizens. I was one of them before I retired. There is no way my employer would have allowed IRS access to that information. Neither would the Canadian government or any provincial or municipal government.
Then, of course, there are all the charitable organizations to consider.
A former colleague, who is a Finance Manager, was on vacation in Washington,D.C. last month. I told her to show those American politicians and bureaucrats how a government should be run. We are far from perfect in Canada, but we’re much better than the U.S. in delivering public services and value for money.
Go Badgers! The model for this comes from the 3520/8938 series of forms and instructions”Note. The fact that a foreign country would impose penalties for disclosing the required information is not reasonable cause. (for non-report).”
Is there any one Brocker who has social media copywrite experience who could write a facebook post which is intended to go viral? For example (this from an engineer) Mentioning the CEO’s & CFO’s of apple versus the minnows, referring to the OVDP, and some catchy phrase such as getting a kiss from your favorite USA expatriate for reposting? One, specific, well-written post, reviewed by an editor-type person prior to any jump start by all of us who are ready to act yesterday? The call to action must be positive to the end goal–to end FATCA (rather than to take down any political person or CEO). Any Brocker would be willing to post and repost such a great text onwards.