CBC News: US FATCA Law Catches Unsuspecting Canadians in Its Crosshairs
Update January 16, 2014: Comments to this CBC News article are now closed.
I have sent a thank you to CBC reporters who interviewed me.
From: caroltapanila
Sent: Thursday, January 16, 2014 9:03 AM
To: Amber Hildebrandt, CBC ; James Fitz-Morris
Cc: Prime Minister Stephen Harper ; Kevin.Shoom@fin.gc.ca ; Michelle.Rempel@parl.gc.ca ; Kevin.Shoom@fin.gc.ca
Subject: Another thank you for the awareness you’ve provided the Canadian public…
Amber and James,
I see that comments are closed for the CBC News article with so many comments. I thank the commenters who supported me and the persons who tried to answer questions and educate on what is happening with US FATCA law coming across our border. I hope that many now realize it is the US’s citizenship-based taxation that makes it possible for the US to leech funds from US Persons in Canada, their Canadian government and each Canadian taxpayer.
More and more will be underlined the absurdity and the unfairness of all of this but that will not be resolution. Some (like my for my son and others whose “foreign” identification will not show a US place of birth, MAY HE FORGIVE ME FOR HAVING SOLD HIM OUT, although his “foreign financial accounts” are identified in the Foreign Bank Account Reports that I’ve “complied with” and sent to the US). It will be that some can be more easily nabbed and put through the wringer of the injustice of FATCA combined with US citizenship-taxation than others. None of this will be equitable and none of it should be as US Person “ignorance” allows criminalization by the US.
With the coverage you have interviewed us for and CBC has provided, I hope that more in Canada have learned of the powerful club the US has with its citizenship-based taxation – and, in my family’s case, that a smaller segment ARE ENTRAPPED, no two ways about that. The US could do something about this. It appears they will not. I’m not holding my breath. And, I am in despair that the other governments of the world can not show some strength and solidarity in saying NO to FATCA that reaps so much collateral damage for their own people.
As has been said by others, and I agree, in regard to the “streamlined compliance”:
But why the hell SHOULD anyone have to? And if they don’t for whatever reason – whether they don’t qualify, or they don’t hear about until its too late, or they don’t want to – then all bets are off, and IRS can penalize them to their hearts content. Finance Minister Flaherty has expressed approval (given blessing to?) the Streamlined program.; this presumes that Canadians with a US status SHOULD make all efforts to become compliant with USA’s immoral citizenship based taxation laws.
I will support all US Persons in whatever choices they have to make for themselves and their families. Yes, we all have to make our own choices. We still hold out some hope that our Canadian government will say no to FATCA. We still want to know from our government if ALL Canadians have the same rights, no matter where they were born, their discrimination by “nationality”.
Even the thought of the US being able to tax gains in our very Canadian personal residence sales that Canada does not makes me want to scream.
So, again, I want to thank Gwen for helping get the CBC coverage better rolling and you two for so respectfully interviewing me. Because of you, there are others in Canada now aware and starting their own research so they can eventually make decisions for themselves and their own families. US Persons in Canada and around the world are so scattered. It is unfortunate that we are not one big US Person group that could go out in solidarity to express the outrage we feel about yet more US collateral damage, this time us!
We have all have a hurt of this betrayal that in no way will ever be erased. It is helping me to have spoken out.
Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for the opportunity.
Carol Tapanila
PS: I would love the opportunity to reach the person who commented about her, in this instance profoundly disabled son, who will be affected. Above all, I am glad that I reached her in this story but I am unable to tell her that – unless she was able to sift through the many comments to see my tardy reply to her.
********
My comment in 1800 words or less to those commenters who believe we and others like my family and my son should be turned over to the US IRS:
Carol Tapanila
I DID NOT know my child was a US citizen. Not a problem if the US taxed based on residence as all the other countries of the world (except Eritrea, condemned for their same).
The US criminalizes my ignorance. Many will be considered ‘mentally incompetent’ — also dementia or brain injury. My son cannot renounce US citizenship because of mental incapacity and I cannot do so on his behalf. No amount of money from my retirement savings to pay a US tax lawyer makes it possible. Seems entrapment unless US DOS tells me otherwise. From my Washington, DC immigration/nationality lawyer:
DOS persons have “sympathy” for such cases. However, the developmentally disabled person will have to have FULL understanding of what he’s doing; if any question of lack of comprehension and grasping meaning and importance of ramifications, they could NOT approve such a case. From DOS point of view, US citizenship is precious and they have therefore established fundamental requirements for “compelling reason”. Even though there is the risk that a person’s financial resources could run out before his/her life was over, they will never approve a renunciation for financial / economic reasons. DOS has NEVER had such a renunciation case approved due to “compelling circumstances”. I could sue – persons he talked with at DOS are SURE no one would ever win such a case as the courts view the discretionary action that DOS has would take precedence.
There should be an ‘opt in’ to US citizenship, not an ‘opt out’.
Do ALL Canadians have the same rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms or to be waived for ‘US Persons’ Canadians, 2nd-class Canadians by virtue of ‘so-called’ US citizenship? Canadian taxpayer money turned over to the US.
Way to go Carol! Check out all the empathetic comments!
Btw, I am the anonymous Ottawa woman also mentioned in the article.
I’m so damn proud of you!
Actually, some of the comments are really off the mark. We need some mosquitoes over there quick!
I read this article early today as well as all of the related articles below it and I was SO HAPPY to see CBC covering this! Good job CBC!
Carol, thank you for having the courage to do this important interview.
Thanks Carol and Whitekat for your bravery, and that God we still have an independent CBC with the balls to cover this story and publicize it. This is going to make things a lot more difficult for Flaherty to sign anything with the Americans about FATCA, I hope.
I’ve taken advantage of my newly-won first-name correspondence with Tom Mulcair (over the US TAS’ footnoting of Murray Rankin’s excellent letter to Flaherty in the latest TAS report to Congress) to call his and Rankin’s attention to this story and coverage, if they weren’t already aware of it. (They weren’t aware of that footnote, as is pretty clear in Mulcair’s grateful email to me signed “Tom” a few hours after I sent him the link.)
Maybe a few of you out there in Tory and Liberal (and NDP) ridings might like to take this excellent opportunity to forward the story link to your own MPs, with appropriate cover remarks.
So, with the TAS, US Chamber of Commerce, and Republican National Committee dumping all over FATCA, and now with CBC News finally giving good coverage to the story in Canada, where is the FATCA train headed now? Especially in the Great White North, Strong and Free (I hope, in spite of Harper).
Way to go, Calgary411! Very proud of you! You came across as indignant, outraged, and primarily concerned for your son – just the right tone to get people to actually understand this guillotine we’re living under! Right on!
Kittens and puppies under attack by FATCA – it’s just what we needed. Thank you Carol, Whitekat and CBC!
Fantastic. Thank you, calgary411 and WhiteKat.
congrats to you calgary411 and whitekat for getting our story out in the major media.
after reading many of the 500 plus comments i am a bit dismayed at the “anti” expat comments some were making but upon reflection i think it may just be ingnorance of the situation.
i mean after all if it were simple we would just renounce our citzenship and go on with our lives right?
@mettleman
With the number of times the word “denounced” is used, you may be right.
@bubblebustin
sorry i just assumed that “denounced” was a redneck term for renounce 🙂
I have been commenting nonstop to the annoyingly ignorant comments of fellow Canadians, and suddenly everything froze. It looks like ALL the comments have been deleted.
On the whole a very good article …. I have added a zillion comments though I have not seen any make it out of moderation yet.
@ WhiteKat
I made my way through all the comments, stopped to make one along the way and now when I go to the article there are no comments at all and I can’t even log in again. What is going on? Did the CBC site just get overwhelmed?
@Em,
Maybe I was commenting too much…..LOL. I just noticed, the comments seem to be back now.
Keep swarming, mosquitoes!
@ calgary411
You showed tremendous courage to have done this interview with the CBC. There is no greater love than a mother for her child. You are awe inspiring. If the CBC gets its comment section up again I’ll be in there with the rest of our Brockskeeters to buzz around some of the misinformed commenters (nothing ad hominem, just kindly corrective, of course).
Carol, Outstanding! Really fine article and you just nailed the interview. Hats off to you – you are one courageous woman. Brava.
Calgary411: you do a great job of showing Mr. Harper that he must reject FATCA if only to protect your son; he has no choice in the matter. But there are a million other alleged US persons in Canada who need the government’s protection. That’s a million reasons to reject FATCA.
But there are 35 million reasons: This is not Canada’s law, and it does not represent the will of 35 million people in Canada.
The prospect that a child born in Canada to a US citizen is a US citizen is going to cause mass hysteria. The fact is, the USG has never been clear to whether one has to ‘opt in’ to US citizenship in these cases. Perhaps as a result of your efforts, Carol, the State Department will develop a clear policy on this issue.
The danger here is that there will be those who assume they are now US citizens and will now put themselves in the line of fire.
Nice one, 411! I sent the article to everyone I know and posted in on FB.
@Calgary411, Fantastic, What a great job! Love it!
The ‘sounds of silence’ have ended in Canada. Congratulations on the dogged attempt to get some sunlight shined on the absurdity.
I loved how the story end… That point should resonant!
“I want my hard-earned Canadian money that I’ve saved to go to my children, not to the U.S. or some compliance tax lawyers year after year after year after year.”
Those NOT born in the U.S. must NOT accept that they are U.S. citizens.
For the U.S. to force citizenship on somebody born outside their borders is to assume that U.S. law applies outside the territorial jurisdiction of the United States.
The U.S. is perfectly free to state that they will grant citizenship to those born outside, but it can’t force unwanted U.S. ctizenship on them.