Here are what look to be a few specific red flags streaming in the wake of Canada’s new FATCA bomb (pdf):
6.4.b (p. 18)
Three-year window. By 1 Jan 2017 specified US persons in Canada can expect that they will be required to provide US TIN to Canadian financial institution. (How long does it currently take to get a TIN/SSN if you feel you need to do that?)
I.C (p. 19)
Canadian financial institutions can elect to follow U.S. Treasury regulations rather than FATCA agreement “to establish whether an account is a US Reportable Account.” This trapdoor means these regulations also need to be examined for what they would allow Canadian banks to do to US persons. [See also VI.F below]
II.B.3 (p. 21)
“The Reporting Canadian Financial Institution must treat the account unless it elects …” Canadian financial institutions are given carte blanche to treat suspected US persons as a mass and to make no further effort to verify validity of indicia. See also II.D.5.b (p. 25) and II.E.4 (p. 26)
II.B.4 (p. 21-22)
Getting out of US-person jail requires that Canadian financial institution maintain record of three distinct discriminatory pieces of data. These should also be maintained on Eritreans for the benefit of Eritrea? Etc.
II.B.4.a.3.b (p. 22)
Here’s the gotcha for accidental US persons who have not relinquished/renounced.
II.C.1 (p. 23)
Point of interest. Canadian financial institution has two years to review pre-existing lower value accounts ($50,000 to $1 M).
VI.C.1 (p. 36)
“Each holder of jointly held Financial Account shall be attributed the entire balance” The joint account gotcha. So what if all the funds actually originate from a non-US person? They all get reported as belonging to the US-person.
VI.D.1 and VI.D.2
Documentary evidence for individual. No requirement beyond what any Canadian resident would normally provide in present circumstances?
VI.F
Private personal data can be extracted by Canadian financial institutions from third parties under alternative elected under I.C? [see above]
So many traps there. The spousal joint account one is just breath taking. As are the privacy violations, the third party sharing…our banks electing to follow Treasury rules.
Lovely collection of Roman numerals and numbers, plus upper and lower case letters. Must have been fun finding all those gotchas, eh?
USX. Thanks for keeping this discussion going. I’ve added the link to the IGA pdf for the benefit of readers.
Does 6.4 contradict
Copying from a PDF is a pain especially when you run no scripts
article 4 number 4
“Notwithstanding paragraph 3 of this Article, with respect to each Reportable Account that
is maintained by a Reporting Financial Institution as of June 30,
2014, and subject to paragraph 4 of Article 6 of this Agreement
, the Parties are not required to obtain and include in the exchanged information the
Canadian TIN or the U.S. TIN, as applicable, of any relevant person if such taxpayer identifying number is
not in the records of the Reporting Financial Institution. In such a case, the Parties shall obtain and include in the exchanged information the date of birth of the relevant person, if the Reporting Financial
Institution has such date of birth in its records.” page 12
Is filling a false w8 ben, especially when there is some doubt you are still subject to US person hood, subject to extradition to US. If Canadian court will not enforce USA tax rule will it enforce perjury question in this case? I will never cross US border. Someone who threw out a Green Card 35 years ago. I was told Green card was no good the year I left. I actually received Green card at old US address year after I left. It was forwarded to Canada. I have always filled Canadian taxes.
Need your help mate. You are good with words…
See this comment.
http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2014/02/06/poisoning-the-well-incompetence-in-the-canadian-media/comment-page-1/#comment-1074971
@Goerge3rd
If you have no doubt that you are not a USP then why should saying so be false? No need to speculate about how a foreign govt. views your status. That’s their problem.