Editors note: The Progressive Canadian Party has now sent out its official press release. Let’s pull out the stops for this event–show the media and our politicians that they must not tolerate FATCA. Email your MPs and the media. Use your facebook and twitter accounts. And above all, show up for the meeting if at all possible. Speakers will include Jim Jatras of Squire Sanders and Professor Allison Christians, H. Heward Stikeman Chair in Tax Law at the McGill University Faculty of Law. One fringe benefit will be that you can meet other brockers in the area (including Petros–yes, I will be participating). Thanks to everyone in advance.
__________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
A Fact Finding Forum on US Tax Grab in Canada
“The American government is attempting to tax permanent residents of Canada whom they deem to be U.S. citizens.” said Sinclair Stevens, Leader of the Progressive Canadian Party. “This contravenes Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms and must be challenged.”
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) was signed into law by President Obama on March 18th, 2010. Originally to come into effect the 1st of January, 2013, it has been postponed one year. Briefly, it attempts to catch ‘U.S. persons’ (which includes, by their definition, a very large number of Canadian citizens) living abroad who are not paying income tax to the U.S.A. It by-passes the usual inter-governmental agreements and imposes the reporting of income and personal information on financial institutions in all other countries directly to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service … and that for no remuneration.
“Financial institutions which refuse to cooperate in this gathering of personal financial information are threatened with an enormous penalty – a 30% with-holding tax on all income on investments coming from the US to their clients. Can you spell ‘extortion’?” Stevens continued, “This expands the impact of FATCA from just ‘US persons’ living here to all Canadians who have investments in the US and may well force Canadian banks to increase their banking charges for all their clients.”
“In addition, to recouping unpaid income tax back several years it imposes very large penalties for non-reporting on such deemed ‘U.S. persons’.” Mr. Stevens added.
Finance Canada has posted a notice on their website soliciting comments on FATCA. The Progressive Canadian Party (PC Party on the ballot) will be making a submission.
So that the submission can be as complete as possible the PC Party is convening a fact finding forum at the University of Toronto on Saturday afternoon, December 15th – doors open at 10:00 for an 11:00am start. (see directions below). We have invited ‘expert witnesses’ from the legal and financial fields to provide further details on this international “extortion” attempt and to discuss suggestions from the audience for possible corrective actions including legislation.
“All Canadians, even those who have only a bank account, should be concerned and are invited to attend and participate in the discussions with our ‘expert witnesses’, Mr. Stevens said. “The press are particularly welcome and should see this as a convenient opportunity to get comment from both experts and concerned Canadians.”
Further information on the forum, including the speakers who have accepted our invitation, will be available shortly on our website http://progressivecanadian.ca/ .
The forum will be held in Room VC115 of Victoria College, 91* Charles Street West,
[*accessed via a one-way street between 89 (Burwash Hall) and 93 (Isabel Bader Theatre) – drop off only].
For both parking and travelling by subway the target is Museum Station on Queen’s Park. Parking is accessed on southbound Queen’s Park just after the subway station. After parking you should cross Queen’s Park via the subway station. On exiting the station you will be facing Emmanuel College and will have to go around either end to Victoria College which is exactly behind it.
*Calgary411
Part of me wishes that I can go back in time and be one of them again, ignorant of all these issues, just living my life and raising my girls. Disbelief is the reaction I got from a lot of people I’ve told about this. First they squint their eyes and look at you sideways, like your nuts or something. Then they say “come on, really?” “But that doesn’t apply to me because I’m a Canadian citizen”. Later I wonder if they’ve taken the first step and entered “FBAR” into a google search.
@renounce
thnx
I just thought of a good idea. Since Canadian media has not been able to
publish articles that are accurate and easy to understand in regards to the
FBAR requirements/penalites/and upcoming FATCA legislation, would someone with
exceptional knowledge and English skill type up a small paper regarding these
subjects?
I wish to print it out and distribute it throughout my community.
@Marie,
Once you’ve had your OMG Moment, you are no longer a virgin!
But, hopefully, you have planted a seed of doubt in some minds.
@Marie
A flyer in your neighbourhood is a great thought, but how do you convey such a complex issue is such a short form? Without going into detail and explaining the intricacies of such a complex issue, one can sound like a conspiracy theorist (as many here can attest to).
I know of a flyer that would get the attention of ostriches out there (and perhaps of a few unwanted Canadians too):
EARN EXTRA MONEY!
BECOME A BOUNTY HUNTER FOR THE IRS!
The Canadian Government is in the process of negotiating an agreement with the United States that will require all Canadian banks to turn their American customers over to the IRS. Why should the banks get richer and have all the fun when you too could enjoy the thrill of the chase and make extra cash by turning your American* friends and family over to the IRS for not filing US taxes? For more information, call the IRS “Whistleblower Program”.
*”Americans” for US tax purposes include, but are not limited to: individuals born in the US, US green card holders, persons born in Canada with at least one US parent, some snowbirds. Consult the Canadian Bankers Association website for more details.
Excellent bubblebustin and Marie.
The best way to get anyone’s attention is to involve their pocketbook — that would certainly get their interest and they can seek further information!
@Em and Calgary, Thanks. Appreciate your comments.
@usxcanada – Congratulations!
@Marie and Hippocampe- very glad to hear you coming. Am trying to think of a way we can identify ourselves to each other without any fear of being “outed.” For me, I don’t care but I realize it’s not the same for everyone.
@Deckard,
Am especially glad to hear you’re coming all that way and will record the program. Outstanding!
After the meeting, any Brockers who attend should hit a pub with me and Deckard. If this is added incentive to come, then by all means tell me your Brock identity when you come.
Minister Flaherty is meeting provincial and territorial Finance Ministers on Dec 17:
http://www.fin.gc.ca/notices-avis12/2012-12-13-eng.asp
@nobledreamer
Thanks for the shout-out. I had a great time visiting Petros the last time I was in Toronto on a business trip last May and I’m looking forward to it again. The only down-side will be having to pick all the cat hair off my clothes again 😉
bubblebustin,
Thanks for the information and incentive.
My email has gone to Alberta President of Treasury Board and Minister of Finance, Honourable Doug Horner
and
Alberta Associate Minister of Finance, Honourable Kyle Fawcett
with copies to Federal Finance Minister James Flaherty and my MP Michelle Rempel.
From Jatras email…
REMINDER! TOMORROW, SATURDAY DEC. 15!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: 905-853-8949
FATCA Fact Finding Forum – Should Canada Allow US Tax laws to extend into Canada?
Should Canada be governed by Canadians or by the US?
The Progressive Canadian Party has organized a “Fact Finding Forum” on FATCA. The purpose is to educate the media about FATCA – the most dangerous US law that nobody has ever heard of!
When: Saturday December 15, 2012 – 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Where: University of Toronto – Victoria College – VC 115
Media Contact: 905-853-8949
Speakers include:
– The Honourable Sinclair, Progressive Canadian Party Leader, former MP and Cabinet Minister
– Dorian Baxter, Progressive Canadian Party President
– Professor Allison Christians, H. Heward Stikeman Chair in Tax Law, McGill University Faculty
– James George Jatras, Washington, DC; former U.S. Senate staffer and diplomat – http://www.repealfatca.com
– Peter Dunn – Ph.D. Cambridge University – Founding member of the Isaac Brock Society
– Representative of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association
This is why you must attend!
CANADA—TORONTO—The Government of Canada is considering signing an agreement with the US government which would force Canadian financial institutions to provide the IRS the personal financial information of tens of thousands of Canadian citizens with connections to the US. In addition to being in violation of Canada’s privacy laws, (and possibly in violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights), this will cost these institutions each tens of millions of dollars in compliance fees — BILLIONS of dollars in the aggregate. These higher administrative costs are sure to be passed on to all Canadians.
Once identified, these Canadians will be forced to pay huge taxes/fines to the IRS for the simple act of owning Canadian mutual funds or investing in TFSAs. Further crippling and life altering fines (in some cases 50% of the value of the bank account) will be imposed on Canadians for failing to identify normal day-to-day bank accounts to the IRS.
How can this be? The US is attempting to impose its new FATCA (“Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act”) law on Canadian banks lawfully doing business in Canada.
Behind the move is the motivation to force compliance with domestic US tax laws, on persons believed by the IRS to be US/Canada dual citizens and lawful residents of Canada. It is believed that 3% (one million) of the population are dual citizens residing in Canada. FATCA also affects their immediate relatives (spouses and children). Dark days loom ahead for this part of the Canadian population if FATCA is implemented. Implementation of FATCA will have a crippling effect on the financial futures of those Canadians that the IRS deems to be US persons.
The effects will include:
• being unable to invest in normal retirement plans like TFSAs and Canadian mutual funds;
• not receiving the intended benefits of some Company pension plans
• being forced to report each and every bit of their financial information directly to the IRS
• being forced to file annual information returns to the IRS at a cost of thousands (and in some cases tens of thousands) of dollars per return
To compound the unfairness the IRS, will NOT allow delinquent filers to come into compliance without the threat of life altering and draconian penalties! This has created a climate of fear and panic where Canadians worry they will have to turn their life savings over to the IRS.
FATCA is an attempt to force the Canadian banks and government to do the work of the IRS. It is a clear affront to the sovereignty of Canada.
The Progressive Canadian Party has organized a “Fact Finding Forum” on FATCA. The purpose is to educate the media about FATCA – the most dangerous US law that nobody has ever heard of!
Come one! Come all! Stand on guard for Canadian sovereignty!
@hippocampe I submitted the following to my local newspapers. You’re welcome to use it if you wish.
The next time you open a bank account or buy a mutual fund, you’ll probably be asked “Are you a U.S. Person?”
Perhaps you were born in the United States, or one of your parents was. Maybe you worked in the States for a while, but never gave back your green card. Or maybe you even just spend four months a year in Arizona or Florida. If any of these apply, the United States considers you a “U.S. Person” who is required to file income taxes with the IRS each year. If so, you’re in good company; about one million other Canadians are in your situation too.
So why are the banks asking this question? It’s because of a recent U.S. law called the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or “FATCA”. FATCA was originally intended to help the IRS find untaxed money hidden in offshore accounts, but its implications are much wider.
FATCA attempts to force every financial institution in the world to search its records to identify accounts of U.S. Persons, and then to report to the IRS each year the account numbers, the balances, and the total deposits and withdrawals. FATCA requires this reporting regardless of any privacy or discrimination laws in the country where the account is held.
Under FATCA, should a foreign financial institution (like your local bank) fail to comply with this demand for information, the United States will deduct 30% of any payments made from anywhere in the U.S. to that bank or to its clients. This deduction applies not only to income, dividend or capital gain payments, but also confiscates 30% of returned principal as well.
Yes, you read that correctly. FATCA confiscates 30% of any money flowing out of the U.S. to a bank and its customers if the bank fails to turn over your private account information to the IRS.
Keep in mind that we’re talking about money in accounts held in Canadian banks, by Canadian citizens or landed immigrants, resident in Canada, on which taxes have already been paid to the Canadian government. But the U.S. doesn’t care about this. If you’re a U.S. Person, the IRS considers your accounts “offshore”, and considers any money in them to be illegal obtained, unless you file with the IRS.
Our Minister of Finance has said, “Canada is not a tax haven. No one moves to Canada to escape taxes”, yet U.S. persons here are treated by the U.S. as tax cheats, even though in most cases (due to various tax credits), they don’t owe any tax even if they do file.
Obviously, releasing private banking information to anyone, especially a foreign state, violates all sorts of laws in Canada. This has put the banks in a pretty tight spot — either they stand up to the IRS and get nailed with a 30% “deduction” on everything coming out of the States, or they roll over, give up your private information, and get prosecuted here.
Actually, the U.S. Treasury seems to know this won’t fly, so it’s trying an end-run — it’s right now negotiating an agreement that would require the Canadian government to pass laws forcing the banks to give the information to the Canadian government, which would then pass it on to the IRS. Minister Flaherty has said that he hopes to finalize the agreement by the end of the year.
To put it bluntly, the U.S. government is pushing the Canadian government to create two classes of Canadian citizens and residents. The first class: those who have a right to private banking information, and a right to not be discriminated against because of their national origin. The second class: Canadian citizens and permanent residents who are also U.S. Persons, who would lose these rights.
What’s worse is that even the selection of the people for the second class (in other words, who is a “U.S. Person”) is made in a foreign capital, not by our elected representatives in Ottawa.
Yes, the Government of Canada could probably pass laws making this discrimination legal, but it would remain highly offensive to Canadian values to discriminate against Canadian citizens and permanent residents based solely on their national origin.
All you have to do is substitute China, Syria, or Iran for the United States to see the implications. Once Canada has thrown its dual Canadian/U.S. citizens under the bus, how can it say “no” when China comes calling?
The Canadian government must tell the Americans that while we fully support the fight against offshore tax evasion, we will not sacrifice the hard-won Charter rights of our citizens and residents.
Canadian laws should be made in Canada, and the Canadian government needs to stand up and protect Canada from this incursion by a foreign power.
Excellent account, David Querbach, of what is happening, put into words that “may be” (how could they not be!) understandable to the average Canadian, both USP and non-USP, and the values they may think Canada stands for and upholds.
@ David Querbach
Considering the complexities involved with the FATCA fiasco your newspaper submission is amazingly clear cut and easy to understand. I have an idea of how it could be used (a long shot to get public attention) so if I included “with the permission of David Querbach” would it be okay with you if I quoted it verbatim? This would not involve any government agency in case that would be of concern to you.
@calgary411
Thank you for your kind words.
@em
IBS has been a great help and comfort in my own situation, both as a source of information and as a meeting place. I hesitated to contribute for some time since I feared that commenting might draw unwanted attention and even retribution.
In the end, I couldn’t bring myself to post anonymously. I finally decided that I must take seriously the liberties that our forebears fought and died to protect, and stand up to be counted. If I, as a Canadian citizen, am too afraid to give my considered and thoughtful opinion on how my government should react to this incursion, then those sacrifices were in vain.
You may indeed quote me, and quote me by name, anywhere you think it will help.
@David Querbach
It is encouraging for me to think there are others like you out there that are reading here, but not commenting but still receiving help and comfort in their situation. Sometimes it feels like we are just talking to ourselves, but keep it up when hearing from someone like you.
Thanks so much for stepping out of anonymity and contributing such a well written post. I think I might borrow from it too, as we all learn from each others way of expressing what we see, but wonder why no one else seems to care.
best regards
@David Querbach
Thanks for the go-ahead. Everything is worth a try and if anything comes of my idea I’ll post it on this thread. No promises — I’ve had most of my letters and e-mails ignored (too many of us have I’m afraid) but having your well positioned argument as a back-up might make a difference this time. Hope so anyway.
David;
I echo the welcome and appreciation expressed by Just Me and Em and calgary411. It is heartening to know that others are listening and benefiting here. Another reason, and reminder that we must keep going.
And what a feeling of validation experienced, through having this forum happen – with such informed and articulate speakers, to confirm what we have been saying here. That is another invaluable happening. We are not paranoid, we are not imagining things. We are not overreacting or overstating the threat posed to us and our families, and Canada, by US arrogance, greed and lack of any discernible ethics or limits to how it will use its powers – to prey on those it claims as citizens, and our children.
Thank you so much, to the participants and the organizers of the fact finding forum – I truly believe that this continues building on the efforts of those from the Expat forum, and the founders of IBS, and all the readers and commenters here.
And I hope that it poses a challenge to Jim Flaherty – to decide to be true to the statements made in the press last fall, and not to decide that some 1 million and more, Canadians, and their families are disposable – in exchange for whatever inducement the US is offering. Prime Minister Harper – is obviously willing to sacrifice duals in Canada and anyone else here that the US decides it owns. Harper is willing to sell > 1 million Canadian families to the IRS. That’s a lot of voters.
Unlike the situation we face vis a vis the US government, here we are voters and residents. Losing, or being threatened with losing our legal savings and property, is a pretty motivational force. In keeping public silence on FATCA, and extraterritorial US taxation in side Canada, our government is actively colluding with the IRS to confiscate our legal bank savings, and remit them to a foreign government. Basically, the Harper government is actively betraying Canada and all Canadians – willing to impose a US made law, and elevate it above the Canadian Constitution and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Unforgiveable.
@ David
Thanks for your submission in response to my request. I will use it for local newspapers and distribute it mailboxes. I attended the FATCA information session at U of T with the realization that Canada and it’s financial system are under attack. Definitely, it is the weakening of our country. The meeting was truly a wake-up call. I initially was concerned for myself and my family but now I fear Canada’s fate. Politicians and the media must no longer take this subject lightly.
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