Liberty and justice for all United States persons abroad

The Isaac Brock Society

Posted on by Posted in Issues regarding US persons abroad 145 Comments

The Globe and Mail reports that the players at the current G20, when not posturing about the coming US war on Syria, have agreed to share tax information.

Why?

Well, we know why. Tax cheats! They are everywhere.

One positive in the article is that it mentioned FATCA and the privacy concerns Canada has about it.

Check it out here.

145 thoughts on “G20 Nations Agree to Share Tax Info By 2015”

  1. Some people have been concerned that Flaherty did not re-iterate the previous stance of the CRA on assistance in collection. I have a couple of feelings on this. First this is an issues enshrined by law and treaty that can be only changed with the approval of the US Senate and Parliament. Second, Flaherty’s view may have been that depending on ones circumstances in life it might not be best to rely on the treaty provision. For example if you were a Canadian citizen who owed money to the IRS and wanted to move to France. Well France has an assistance in collection treaty with the US(that also exempts French citizens) but a Canadian living in France isn’t a French citizens(usually) so they could be subject to collection by the French tax authorities on behalf of the IRS for unpaid taxes while living in Canada.

    Again my feeling is Flaherty knows the IRS has ways around the assistance in collection restrictions. I would also venture a guess that a dual US French citizen exempt from IRS collection in France but moved to Canada would also be subject to the IRS by dint of not being a Canadian citizen. I guess the question is are you going to live the rest of your life in Canada. Flaherty probably doesn’t want people to be prisoners of living in Canada forever so he doesn’t want to encourage people especially those who are clear US citizens to simply blow off the IRS.

    I agree with Flaherty though it is not the job of Canada to help people fill out US tax forms and actually comply on a personal level.

  3. Nice find, Tim.

    Okay, I am missing something. Why is the IRS wanting info on life insurance? That’s not taxed in the US as far as I know. Or is that whole life policies rather than term?

  4. Awesome , great stuff…WhiteKat and Atticus , you rock.
    I read the Globe article…I am starting to hand out the IBS business cards after I ask a person I am talking to if they know an American person….I wrote”RE: FATCA , coming in 2014″…on the back.

    I read Calgary411’s comment on the Florida article. that too is so brave.
    I am so proud of you all.

  5. Tried a G&M comment — moderated again. 🙁 Hopefully it will get through later. For Brockers here it is …

    “Canadian banks have urged Ottawa to take on the reporting duties through the Canada Revenue Agency to ensure that privacy laws are respected when information is sent south of the border.”

    EXCUSE ME but how is privacy being respected when the sensitive and what should be private financial details of an individual are first passed to the CRA and then relayed to the IRS? Isn’t that just doubling down on the loss of privacy? Isn’t that just doubling the risk of the data being compromised either by a hacker or by a dishonest government employee with access? Canadian bankers who are just trying to cover their own butts need to give their heads a shake for such an illogical statement. This is not just a report of interest income; it’s the whole enchilada — bank name and address, bank account number, maximum balance in a year, transactions, everything! This breach of privacy discriminates against a particular sector of the Canadian population. US persons comprise 3% of Canada’s residents. Furthermore it’s not just the details of the US person living in Canada who will have his/her privacy rights withdrawn. This applies to anyone the US person has a financial tie to like a non-US spouse sharing a joint account, the company employing the US person if he/she has signing authority on a company account and even the volunteer organization where a US person might hold a treasurer’s position. Those same Canadian banks looking out for their own interests will pass along their billions of dollars in compliance costs to ALL Canadians so even if you don’t have any connection to a US person you will be compelled to pay for this FATCA fiasco with increased banking fees. (Unless the banks plan to specifically target their US tainted customers with these fees.)

    Kudos to the two protesters this reporter spoke to. We need more protests to bring attention to this particular manifestation of US hegemony. Uncle Sam has nothing but disdain for the sovereignty of other nations.

  6. Okay my G&M comment is through moderation but now I wish I could fix one of those sentences. 🙂 I miss the days when comments appeared instantly at G&M.

  7. One of our two First Protestors has a comment up now at G&M. It is so compelling that I just can’t imagine anyone not being able to empathize with her. I know empathy is being drained out of our psyches but there’s got to some left.

  8. @Yoga Girl,

    Per: http://www.bakertillygibraltar.gi/index.php/new-and-publications/articles/29-news-and-publications/articles/86-the-fatca-challenge

    When is an insurance company a “Financial Institution” as defined by FATCA?

    This depends mainly on whether its products and services bring it within the definition of a “Specified Insurance Company”. This in turn is defined as being “an insurance company (or the holding company of an insurance company) that issues, or is obligated to make payments with respect to, a Cash Value Insurance Contract or an Annuity Contract”.

    A “Cash Value Insurance Contract” is an insurance contract that has a Cash Value greater than $50,000, other than:

    An indemnity reinsurance contract between two insurance companies;
    Personal injury or sickness benefit or other benefit providing indemnification of an economic loss incurred on the occurrence of the event insured against;
    A refund to a policyholder of a premium for an insurance contract (other than under a life insurance contract) due to policy cancellation or termination, decrease in risk exposure during the effective period of the insurance contract, or arising from a redetermination of the premium due to correction of posting or other similar error;
    A policyholder dividend based upon the underwriting experience of the contract or group involved.

    An annuity contract means “a contract under which the issuer agrees to make payments for a period of time determined in whole or in part by reference to the life expectancy of one or more individuals. The term also includes a contract that is considered to be an Annuity Contract in accordance with the law, regulation, or practice of the jurisdiction in which the contract was issued, and under which the issuer agrees to make payments for a term of years.”

    So an insurance company that provides only general insurance or term life insurance will not be a “Financial Institution” for the purposes of FATCA, and will therefore not be required to carry out the procedures required for a “Financial Institution”. It will, of course, have to carry out procedures to ensure that it does not fall under the definition, and it may have to self-certify its status to banks and other institutions.

    Hmmm, would a Canadian RRIF (Canadian Registered Retirement Investment Fund) be considered an annuity contract? Perhaps it falls somewhere else. A RRSP can be converted to a RRIF or an annuity (or cashed in) …something that must happen at the latest by the end of the year in which the RRSP holder turns 71.

  9. Thanks, Calgary411. I thought as much. Interesting question about the RRIF though. Definitely needs to be clarified for those who decide to hang onto their USC status.

  10. Atticus and WhiteKat – I am proud of you. I was off line almost all of yesterday and find that I missed so much.

    Good for you two !

  11. Based on what Flaherty said yesterday, it is obvious that an IGA is going to be announced very soon.
    I urge all Brockers to think seriously about participating in a much larger protest now. Maybe we can take this offline to discuss particulars.

  12. Absolutely! Now is the time to mobilise. Heading it off at the pass would be much better than have it slip into law, come into effect, and have to take legal action later.

  13. White Kat thank you so much for this update. I am so late to this today. I got a great call last night from another Brocker and we brain stormed for HOURS. LOL, I’m not used to being up that late.

    @All, I want to thank YOU. Slogan suggestions, leaflet ideas were all really, really helpful..White Kat got those leaflets printed out and handing those out was a fantastic idea. I think we’d have been far less effective without the input here before we launched ourselves on Flaherty’s event. lol.

    I think when the crew who filmed us said “Congratulations” he meant “You two, mission accomplished. You got Flaherty’s attention and the attention of the media”

    I’m so encouraged meeting average Canadians on the ground from the police officer to the people who came to talk to us, to those who just gave us thumbs up going by. When Canadians can SEE US and HEAR US face to face they don’t like FATCA either. Thanks to all Brockers who helped give us ideas to take with us. You were all there in spirit. I told White Kat that I felt like we were out there everyone affected by this. I felt like we took you all with us and all your stories too. Time to do more.

    The government needs to see we aren’t content anymore to just sit at our computers. We’ll still do that but, we’re getting out and going face to face with our fellow citizens.

  15. White Kat, Atticus and everyone here, thank you. I have not renounced yet, I’ve been pushing this nightmare to the side due to other issues on my plate, but have been able to stay informed because of all of you. My story is just like White Kat, born “there” to Canadian parents. My siblings are Canadian. I am a Canadian. Period.
    I’m in the Vancouver area and I’m more than willing to help spread the word. I’ll be at a rally here, if that’s what decided or I can carry placards and help hand out info sheets to all those vehicles that line up each weekend at our three border crossings. I can get on a plane and stand with you in Ottawa. Just tell me when to be there.

  17. @CanadianGirl,

    Yes it sucks to have been born ‘there’. It is great that you are willing to travel from Vancouver to Ottawa to get your message across. Thank you!

  19. As an aside, for those in the homeland who want to try appealing to a US audience, or are lobbying US politicians, or who mean to retain US status, and just want easing of the rules, ex. RBT, you might make a t-shirt:
    “FATCA and FBARs put the blues into the Red, White and Blue. Ask me about it”

    For anyone looking to make t-shirts for protests here in Canada, maybe we should try to stencil our anti-FATCA slogans and logos onto solid red t-shirts to signify that we are Canadians – citizens and residents?

    Not sure how that would work if the hand saying NO is also red.

    If we add the phrase “FATCA: ask me about it”, we invite people into a dialogue?

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