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 – 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!
Canada must go on offensive and take moral high ground by demanding the USA to spell their stand on 70 years grandmothers and other dual-citizens in that situation, who have been living in their native country for decades and have little or no ties to the USA (except being a occasional tourist).
The USA is officially (i.e. in the view of public) taking high ground using homeland tax-cheats, but in fact (i.e. in private hidden from public view) most people affected and targeting the dual-citizens for penalties. The USA and IRS are doing everything to avoid the situation of dual-citizens by providing lip service (but not giving any concrete assurances) even after US ambassador to Canada admitting that it is irresponsible and unreasonable.
It is a prerogative of each nation to protect its tax-payers and citizens from unreasonable searches and penalties from domestic and foreign agencies.
Canada and other nations must demand official stand of the USA on their citizens (who don’t owe any taxes to the IRS), before signing IGA. By publicly stating their stand as precondition to sign a IGA, each country can take a moral high ground and put IRS to spell their stand on unreasonable threats on penalties. This will force the IRS to offer a good-faith method for brining dual-citizens into compliance (by just collecting back-taxes and interest, if they owe any taxes). Also each government must force the IRS to recognize various tax-differed savings plans, which is essential for their citizens (if they don’t want to be drain to the nation in the old age).
These are all reasonable requests and even a dictator or a bully can’t deny such reasonable conditions, when they are made in the glare of the public view and scrutiny. One way to do this is by giving written assuring the USA to help catch tax-cheats, if the USA don’t impose any FBAR or other such penalties on Canadian citizens, except taxes and interest for unintentional mistakes. No one want to cheat IRS, when they don’t owe any taxes due to local high taxes.
Notice that Minister Flaherty had a chance to tell the Canadian public about FATCA herehttp://www.cbc.ca/thehouse/2012/12/15/most-overlooked-political-stories-of-2012/
and deliberately chose not to. He had a built in audience to enlighten about a draconian and far reaching imposition of US made law – to be forced onto > 1 Million Canadian citizens, residents and families. And he chose to remain silent, and to let it be deliberately and willfully buried on an obscure Dept. of Finance webpage http://www.fin.gc.ca/treaties-conventions/notices/unitedstates-etatsunis-eng.asp
And where are the Liberals? And the NDP?
The Greens sent someone to the FATCA forum in Toronto. Where were the other parties?
We see in horror movies that a rogue agent tries to exploit loopholes or enforce unintended consequences of a law. In spite clear warnings from many sources (e.g. Miss Nina Olson and US Ambassador to the Canada), Mr. Doug Shulman’s myopic focus on dual-citizens who are ignorant of FBAR law and owe no taxes and threatening with maximum possible penalties under FBAR law, looks like such an horror movie. Let’s hope new IRS commissioner to be appointed would stick to intent and spirit of FBAR law.
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