Northernstar emailed Justin Trudeau in July 2013 regarding her concerns about FATCA. Today she received the following email in response:
Dear XXXXXXX,
Thank you for taking the time to write to me with your concerns regarding the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).
Despite its good intentions, the unfortunate consequence of FATCA is that Americans who hold dual citizenship still fall under its authority, and it requires access to their financial information through their banks. As a result of FATCA, there has been a surge in US citizenship renunciations over the past few years, and this trend continues to grow.
I share your concerns about personal privacy, an issue that is increasingly important to all Canadians. The Conservative government’s efforts to protect the personal privacy of Canadians have been inadequate. The implications of having Canadian banks report directly to a foreign government agency are troublesome. The Liberal Party of Canada will continue to press the government on this issue, and demand a closer examination of FATCA’s effects.
Thank you once again for writing to me and taking the time to share your concerns with me. It is through such exchanges of ideas and opinions that I can best represent not only my constituents, but all Canadians.
Sincerely,
Justin P. J. Trudeau
Member of Parliament for Papineau
Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada
Offline, a friend of Isaac Brock Society says:
It is one thing for the USA to say to individuals across the planet: if you have status under our law you must follow all of our laws no matter where you are. It is another thing entirely for Canada as a nation to voluntarily, with no compensation except the conditional promise of removal of a threat of economic sanctions, assist the United States in globally rounding people up to force them to comply with its patently untenable and unjustifiable position. Such assistance fundamentally conflicts with a universally recognized (and far more just) jurisdictional claim based on actual residence, which Canada practices along with the rest of the world.
@ Bubblebustin
Exactly. Why would anyone place their neck in a noose and wait (possibly for years) for a bankrupt foreign government, prone to change its legislation in a heartbeat, to make a determination of willful or non-willful? There are 70,000 pages of US tax code and they have made 5,000 changes to it in the past decade. There is no trust in THAT government.
@Bubblebustin, Yes I recall hearing about the deduction, but big deal, what is that going to save you, maybe 15%. I am talking about zero cost, (like moving expenses – i think) where it is a complete write-off on your taxes. In other words, instead of giving say 20K in taxes to the Canadian government, if it costs you 15K to become compliant, then you give 5K (20K – 15K) to the Canadian government in taxes.
What really bugs me about the mindset that ‘US persons’ are under the authority of the US, regardless where they live, is that this argument (which is obviously BS to begin with) is being used to target people who have done nothing wrong! At least if we had done something like killed a fellow Canadian, and US wants to punish us with the death penalty (as opposed to life in prison in Canada), I might not feel that sorry for myself. But this is one unjustified refusal to follow international norms (legal jurisdiction outside of geographical and economic boundaries) followed by another (citizenship based taxation).
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They are already saying that EVERYONE is willful!
@ Bubblebustin. Re your Jan. 31. 8:19 a.m. post. “Is Nancy Pelosi daft”?
Yes!!!
@ All. Re: Certainty you are done with the US forever.
1. You will never know whether or not you are compliant with the IRS.
2. You will never be able to predict what new obnoxious legislation Congress might come up with.
3. That new legislation may well be retroactive. (They’ve done it before and they’ll do it again.)
4. Who would have ever thought that people who were told thirty years ago that they were giving up their US citizenship by becoming Canadians would have that US citizenship unilaterally restored? Who would have ever thought Congress could come up with something as stupid as FATCA?
5. Therefore certainty will never be possible.
If you watch the Daily Show video, she at times seems dotty.
Ahhh, yes. Nancy Pelosi. Definitely a moonbat is she. :^)
@maz57
I’ve learned long ago in life that there is no such thing as certainty. But to accept it, and to live with it? It is not always easy for anyone to do. I know I will be quite happy to have a CLN in hand once I’m able to eventually get the relinquishment done, but no doubt, the US can choose to invalidate those CLNs at anytime if they’re so inclined.
@WhiteKat
“What really bugs me about the mindset that ‘US persons’ are under the authority of the US, regardless where they live, is that this argument (which is obviously BS to begin with) is being used to target people who have done nothing wrong!”
I’m hearing you loud and clear. That is why I’m itching to do away with my own US personhood issue. I just don’t find the option of statelessness to be very appealing if I were to take care of it now, and I also suspect that I’ll have resistance in that effort if I had no other nationality to fall back on. I also don’t like the idea of paying $450 just to have a bureaucrat decide whether to approve my renunciation or not. Relinquishment is appealing to me because I can just make the statement of my expatriating, and I can tell them that I knew what my intentions are when I chose to become Canadian, I can also add to the file that I believe dual nationality in my personal situation to be an absurdity, and that was a factor in my decision to relinquish. I’m not compelled to make any political statement with them, and I’m really just shooting for amicability, and to not be memorable in the end
I certainly don’t derive pleasure from poking the beast, though I still do it out of disgust. I just find the country to be a disappointment, and that it has fallen far from it’s ideals.
@WhiteKat
One other thing…..
We can do everything right in parting ways with the US, and if they’re so inclined, they can still find fault somewhere. From what I’ve read in maz57’s experience, and he can chime in if I’m incorrect, that when he did everything right, got compliant, and then renounced, he was STILL sent a bill from the IRS anyway.
Essentially, we may be damned if we do, and damned if we don’t, and if doing the right thing might not even make a difference, the best I can hope for is to be lucky, and the only choice I can make is to choose not to live in fear.
So, if someone chooses to renounce and be non-compliant, I’m not going to pass any judgement on that person. It is his/her decision. I’ll wish that person all the best, and I hope he understands the consequences. I’m not going to make the claim that it’s the right option, but it might be the right moral choice for those that are truly offended and disgusted with seeing their tax dollars go to a hopelessly corrupt government.
Just like the American rebels knew what would happen to them in the Revolutionary War if they were to lose, so the loyalists also knew what would happen to them if the rebels won.
Think BIG y’all!!! Gawd I’m sick of this discussion. Can anybody suggest to me whom to approach to start the ball rolling in the discussion as to how to get all non-US countries together who understand they are being bullied into the following….
Before the “FATCA” deadline, we all agree that in our own countries we will apply 30% tax against the purchase of ANY US investment. If we start now, everyone has plenty of opportunity to sell before the US imposed deadline. Remove CBT and all is forgiven. My NJ brother in law has it right with his statement that “right now, the children are in charge of this country.”
If the US is still so stupid as to not wake up at this point, well, we deserve what we get. How can I get this ball rolling??? Suggestions?
Our countries don’t seem to have anyone to stand up to The Bully.
@Pierre D., We’re here, with you bro. And you are on the winning team!
http://samuelclemmons.wordpress.com/2014/02/01/treasury-gives-rogue-governments-unlimited-authority-to-pulverize-us-persons-with-fatca-as-an-excuse/
I read this earlier today. It was a very good piece (you can tell from the URL) but now all I get is a “404 Not Found” message. Anyone else having trouble accessing this? Could Samuel Clemmons have decided to take it down?
@Em
I clicked on home in left top corner and got into the blog.
I get that also, Em (and I read it earlier). Perhaps it is being updated.
@ northernstar
Yes I know the blog is still there but that particular entry isn’t. Oh well, as calgary411 suggests, he may be updating it. I just don’t like it when something disappears. Makes me question whether or not I actually saw it.
@Pierre D
Republicans Overseas are trying to be the force in uniting all nations against FATCA, by making a direct plea to every embassy in DC not to enter any IGA’s.
http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2014/01/24/reuters-republican-party-backs-fatca-repeal-resolution/comment-page-1/
or their Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/republicansoverseas
Sure Americans are subject to American law wherever in the world they are, however, CBT (as played out under FACTA) is not in compliance with the U.S. Constitution. FACTA attempts to create a new class of U.S. citizen, i.e. “U.S. Person” and require that class of citizen to be taxed under the same weight as a resident U.S. citizen–while not providing equal financial supports or services to the non-resident American. The 13th Amendment to the Constitution defines U.S. citizenship. The Constitution would have to be amended in order to create a second class of U.S. citizen. No sitting U.S. government can create a second class of U.S. citizen by making policy. The fact that the Canadian government has blessed this kind of action by entering into an IGA with the U.S. government to enforce a law that applies only to non-resident Americans is a strong indicator that our own government here in Canada may attempt to pull the same fast one on Canadians.