Remember all those infuriating comments to articles over the last couple years, where we tried to respond and explain to the ‘homelanders’ that ‘US slaves’ (err I mean ‘US persons’) living outside the USA, are not the tax evading, rich expats that the IRS, and the US media, often make make us out to be.
Well, here is another one, and judging by the misinformed comments, it desperately needs some Brockers to set the message straight, once again – yes I know it is getting very old! And just when we are getting a lot of positive media attention.
Thanks to JustMe for posting the link to this article. I thought it deserved a post of its own, and hope some articulate Brockers will respond to the dumba$$ comments (34 last time I checked).
IRS top cop says the agency is too hard on offshore tax dodgers
http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2014/01/09/irs-offshore-accounts/?goback=%2Egmr_3694878#%21
@Joe, @Swisspinoy, and @Watcher, I wonder if former US citizens could thus wind up having to file 1040-NRs if they were, for example, to inherit a share of a US property from their parents (as will probably be my case). I gather that I’d thus have to file and pay any capital gains if I were to subsequently sell off my percentage to my siblings.
@monalisa1776, I’m in the process right now of selling land that I inherited from my mother, so I’ll learn soon enough how that works.
Speaking as someone that had to resort to going to a food bank in order to deal with these hard financial times as of late, I can’t think of a more insulting spit in the face, than to be referred to as a rich tax dodger, simply for living outside the USA.
My apologies for sounding indignant, but I guess this is supposed to be the price for living overseas, or whatever MarkTele said in the comments section of the article. Never mind asking myself the question as to ‘why as an American, that I should be paying a higher price than any other American’, simply because I reside in Canada, as that doesn’t fit with their exceptionalist bullshit.
Oh well. One more year before I can apply for Canadian citizenship. Have to keep my eye on the prize after all. That, and to take care of my wife. My US citizenship is just a problem to be solved.
@mjh49783
I don’t know if any of those we’ve stood toe-to-toe with have responded to any of our comments, which is fairly unusual.
I’m nobody’s “slave,” tax-cow or otherwise.
Growing up in a Police State has prepared me well to expatriate and kick the dust of the USSA off my heals. I’ll be documenting my 13,200 mile road-trip from the Great Lakes to Chile this year, and taxes are NOT the primary reason for my exodus. I’ve already figured out how to achieve zero taxable income while still in the USSA.
I’ll provide updates on my progress here and at http://7thpillar.wordpress.com/ for those interested in reclaiming their Inalienable Rights.
@Alex Z, Chile Sounds like the best place to be these days.
mL. Once again you are not getting good advice. In the US, it is the estate, not the recipient that pays the death duties.
Let us suppose you and your sibs inherit 1 million from your parents. suppose the capital gain is 500 k. The estate pays any taxes (capital gains, estate taxes, whatever. The exemption for estate taxes is 5 million plus. The after tax residue is divided and you get your share ‘after tax’
No income is attributed to you and no tax filings are needed.
I just replied to one of the indignant homelanders as follows. (It’s not posted yet. Let’s hope….)
“Yes, and if YOUR return is filed late, YOUR penalty is based as a percentage of the amount overdue – a fair situation which builds confidence and trust….
This is because YOU can bank in the US, so you aren’t threatened by the FBAR, or Form 3520. You can sleep at night with assurance of being treated fairly. I’m glad for you…
However, for the average citizen living overseas, or the first generation immigrant to the US, both of whom have perfectly legitimate reasons for having overseas accounts, a single day of lateness in filing the FBAR, even when zero tax is due, and even if one has no income and owns nothing and simply has signature power over a sick parent’s account can result in tens of thousands of dollars in penalty. Bizarrely, too, the FBAR penalties are arranged in such a way that the richest pay a lower percentage penalty than the poorest!
Thus the FBAR penalty has nothing at all to do with unpaid tax. It’s in no way proportionate to what’s owing, and applies even if nothing is owing at all.
It’s understandable that homelanders hearing of such enormous penalties assume there must have been an enormous crime. This assumption is natural enough. In the old days it was a case of “They drowned the woman, so she must have been a witch!” Now it is “they fined her massive penalties, so she must have been a massive tax cheat!”
The sad reality is that with the FBAR, the amount of penalties is unrelated to any tax owing. The real analogy for the present situation is “If we make the robbery so outlandish, everyone will assume it’s the victim’s fault…!” And, who is the robber? Who is the victim? I leave it to your thoughts – but next time you are accosted by a robber, you may understand how it feels to be a victim of the FBAR…”
@KalC, you’re misreading the issue. Monalisa questions whether, if she inherits (part of) a home from parents and then later sells it, whether she would be liable for US capital gains tax on the gain from when inherited to when sold. The answer is yes, though this is clearly much less damaging than estate tax on the full value would be, and with plenty of ways to mitigate or eliminate (at its simplest, just sell straight after inheriting).
Ok we agree. Sell on inheriting. No further gain, no further tax filing.
@bubblebustin
Good question. Either they have nothing intelligent to say, or else they just don’t care. Either way, I can’t let it bother me. Life is too short.
@mjh49783,
Every now and then, I exchange thoughts with an expat racist. An expat racist is an individual who hates expats to hate expats. There aren’t many of these, but they exist. More common are the nationality racists like the anti-Canadians or anti-Swiss. Yet, they are also in the tiny minority. Most of the expat critical comments are made by individuals thinking that they are posting in favor of the expat middle class without knowing that there is an expat middle class. So, they attack those that they never wanted to attack simply because they do not know better and have been fed too much government propaganda.
@KalC: No further gain, no further tax filing.
Not quite. Even if there’s no gain, or even if a loss, a realtor will withhold 10% of the sales proceeds for tax (can be mitigated with form 8288-B). Then a 1040nr and a long wait to get the balance back.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Investment_in_Real_Property_Tax_Act
(As a side note, FIRPTA is yet another example of a the US govt unilaterally overriding tax treaties. What an untrustworthy bunch congress is. Why any country enters into an ‘agreement’ with the US is beyond me.)
This is not related to this thread, but maybe interesting anyway. There’s an article today about how great it is that Pakistan is implementing FATCA: http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-9-226257-Fatca-is-here!
I commented something along the lines that “let’s hope Congress had the foresight to realize that a list of American citizens and Green Card holders living in Pakistan might be dangerous in the wrong hands”. Of course, my comment didn’t make it past the moderation, but I thought maybe you folks might have a try at commenting too.
Back to the subject article of this thread:
abe calgary411 • 19 minutes ago
I hate Canadians like you. Im sure id you ever cross the border and your all smiles. Your country exists at he pleasure of the USA. Just shut up and say thank you, ehh.
this is not a myth. One more point for Robert:
http://7thspace.com/headlines/450560/usdoj_court_rejects_banking_associationsand8217_challenge_to_regulations_addressing_offshore_tax_avoidance.html
maybe it is time to take those reciprocal Model 1 IGAs with more earnestness?
http://www.trust.org/item/20140122120533-1nwms
It took 2 attempts but finally my comment came out of moderation at this site which has posted the Patrick Temple-West version of FATCA. He thinks the RNC proposal to repeal FATCA is all about stealing some “overseas” votes from the Dems. BTW, why would anyone care about “overseas” votes which don’t amount to a hill of beans because they are scattered across 50 states? You get a hint at which way the writer wants to twist the issue when he uses the fingers-curling-into-fists words “tax dodgers” in the first paragraph.
@Em, when I used to be a US citizen, politicians told me that they didn’t care about my vote. What Patrick Temple is doing is what members of the demorepublican party do best, and that is to advocate voting for “the lesser evil”. It’s a hopeless blame-game.
@ SwissPinoy
It’s more than just a “game”. It goes much deeper. The rep-dem divide is a carefully constructed agenda to keep Americans believing they have a democracy, which they do not, and to keep their focus off the real issues. The masters toss red herrings out constantly to keep some of the unknowingly enslaved masses in a distracted feeding frenzy. For the rest of the unknowingly enslaved masses there is the dummifying distraction of the entertainment industry which also includes the mainstream media. Meanwhile the masters steer the country towards their own goals which do not include any consideration for the well-being of anyone other than themselves. Canada is no better. You only have to look at the months the media spent covering a minor Senate scandal as opposed to the minutes devoted to FATCA which is about to affect a million plus Canadians and Canadian residents.