Don’t have time for much analysis or commentary on this article, but thought I would put it up quickly after Tim alerted me to it. Quick read tells me they sure have bought into the rhetoric of the FATCAnatics at Treasury. Have a read and make some educating comment as you wish to the NPR audience. A lot of misstatements of facts, like Switzerland, the world’s largest tax haven, Not a mention of who the real Tax Haven is, THE USA! Nothing about the unintended consequences or collateral damage.
Message: Congress Clamps Down, you better comply!
by SCOTT NEUMAN
In 2010, Congress passed the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA, that calls for overseas banks to begin full disclosure of U.S. account holders beginning next year. All along, Washington has been pursuing new bilateral treaties to share tax information.
“Countries are almost universally agreeing to exchange tax information,” says Shay, who like Brown is a former high-ranking Treasury official.
“The signal seems to be that it doesn’t matter where you move your money, we can still get you,” he says. “This signal is being heard not just in Switzerland, but in the Caribbean and the Far East.”
I would urge everyone to get over to this NPR article and contribute comments. There is so much misinformation there right now – it’s like the mirror image of the comments stream on the current Globe article, which has been an amazing win so far. As I said on another thread, it’s time once again for the Isaac Brock SWAT team to move into action!
*I think all Brocker comments might be being blocked in moderation. My telling Ian Leary that I wanted to send his son and daughter back from Toronto after the US invasion of Canada in a body bag didn’t probably help.
@Deckard
The Isaac Brock SWAT team – what a hoot, going right over. ;-P
@nobledreamer
SWAT = Sincere Words And Truth
😉
Hi all,
Just managed to successfully post at NPR a variation on the same information I posted yesterday on the Globe article. Here it is:
“Some comments have indicated that Canadians are leading the push-back against FATCA legislation, which is absolutely correct.
@Deckard,
That’s hilarious! I had trouble with that website. Wouldn’t stop rolling up or down and couldn’t click to get comment on. Hopeless ideas there eh?
GREAT comment!
@Nobledreamer…
Between 2 families visiting us currently, I have not had time to really figure out how to post. I am unable to get a comment box to come up, so I could not post something, so as an alternative, I have tweeted @ScottNeumanNPR the author instead.
@Deckard1138
Great comment. Thanks for posting it. I have been waiting for a long time for one story on FATCA out of NPR, and when it finally comes, I have been unable to get a comment to work for me. Of course, I figured it would only be from the perspective of the Compliance Complex narrative. However, we should work on Scott as he has overseas experience, just it was pre 2008 IRS offshore jihad, so he probably not in tune with what is really going on. It is disappointing that he decided to rely to much on the FATCAnactic ‘experts” I will reboot and try later tonight to see if I can get a comment up when everyone goes to bed around here.
PS, I see by the number of ‘thumbs up’ on certain comments, that this is a very bias crowd, but I guess I should not be surprised. What they believe about taxing Americans overseas is a reality check on any optimism that America will come to its senses. There are some terribly mis-informed readers who know nothing about the double taxation which does occur in-spite of the FEIE or the Foreign tax credit. They seem to believe it is a dollar for dollar thing, so what’s the problem. It is hard to give a tax seminar in a comment response to educate them. So it goes. Thanks for making the effort.
I remember that NPR is a site that requires that you accept cookies. (With Isaac Brock, I Believe that cookies allow your alias and email address to be remembered).
Try Tools–internet options–privacy–sites. Paste in the www address or write it in, then precess allow and ok.
@Deckard1138
Sincere Words And Truth team. Brilliant.
@Mark Twain…
You are making good comments on the NPR. I can not figure why this Disqus comment box does not come up for me, even though I am a registered user. Thanks for carrying the water for my failures to comment. You are doing a great job.
BTW, I have had some twitter exchanges with SCOTT NEUMAN Given his profile, maybe he will take an interest. I encourage others to reach out to him, as he is the FIRST journalist at NPR to even mention FATCA. Even if his only sources are the FATCA Compliance Complex right now, we should respectfully try to re-direct his attention to contra opinions about what this is all about, and maybe write about unintended consequences.
I might try to find his email address later today after family activities.
Below is a reply I made to a commenter on the article by Scott Neuman. As frustrating as it is, I feel I need to be a very small cog on a wheel, trying to get the truth out there.
Steven Lawrence writes
What is important to note is that while these depositors have been evading tax on their earnings, nearly all the money in these tax havens is the fruit of either previous tax evasion, organized crime or the haul of Third World dictators. Seize it ALL!
This will bring in a total of at least $30 trillion and put all governments, and their honest tax paying citizens on a solid footing. Who says that there is no future for hard working, honest people?
Jane Smith Steven replies…
I live in Canada, went to school only in Canada, worked only in Canada.. I was born in the USA to two Canadian parents who emigrated to the USA because of a job opportunity that my father was offered. Unfortunately a year after I was born, my parents separated, and I moved back to Canada with my mother where I have resided ever since.
All the income I ever earned was taxed here in Canada, at higher tax rates than in the USA.
Please explain how this makes me a tax evader?
The NPR site gives weird feedback–comments come, comments go. Not sure if they are gone permanently or if it is just their weird browser.
I hope to send persuasive letter to talk of the nation. They should be able to invite a rep from American Citizens abroad, as this report is a current event. Perhaps ACA could Contact them and invite themselves.
Anybody else wants to send comments and links to Nina Olsen or others, they are at:
talk@npr.org
@JustMe: I am able to log on to Disqus with Internet Explorer (IE) and have not been able to do so with my standard browser, Firefox. You might wish to try IE for this.
@Innocente
Thanks for that. I use google Chrome, so maybe I should switch and try IE. That is the only thing I have not tried.
I use ie. It worked terrible last night but it seems to be working this morning