A Brocker recently received this letter from her MP with regard to the IGA.
Dear xoxo
I shared your concerns about the U.S. Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act
(FATCA). I am thrilled to report that on February 5, 2014, Canada and the
United States signed an inter-governmental agreement under the longstanding
Canada-U.S. Tax Convention. This agreement brings a series of lengthy
negotiations to a conclusion which, I believe, will be of great benefit to
dual citizens and Americans living in Canada.
A number of constituents contacted me with their concerns during the
negotiation-process. As a New York-licensed lawyer who practiced
international law prior to entering public life, I took the initiative
among Government Caucus members to contact and consolidate information from
a circle of top US lawyers and accountants. I contacted them in an attempt
to provide our Finance Minister, the Honourable Jim Flaherty, with their
insights as people who advise Canadians with IRS reporting obligations. I
believe – especially after this announcement – that Minister Flaherty took
our concerns forward effectively.
Among other things, I also arranged for prominent U.S. tax attorney Mark
Matthews to come to Ottawa on May 30, 2012 to brief Caucus members
concerning these matters. Mr. Matthews not only works with Canadians who
have U.S. tax problems, but he also served previously as Deputy
Commissioner at the IRS.
As you know, the underlying objective of FATCA is to combat tax evasion.
However, the Canadian Government was concerned that FATCA would impose
significant compliance obligations on Canadian financial institutions, and
raise significant privacy concerns for Canadians. Canada is not a tax
this legislation are honest, hardworking and law-abiding citizens who have
dutifully paid their Canadian taxes.
FATCA would require non-U.S. financial institutions to report to the U.S.
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) accounts held by U.S. taxpayers. A key
would compel Canadian financial institutions to report on account holders
who are U.S. residents and U.S. citizens (including U.S. citizens who are
residents or citizens of Canada) directly to the IRS – thus potentially
violating Canadian privacy laws.
Under the agreement on February 5, financial institutions in Canada will
not report any information directly to the IRS. Rather, relevant
information on Canadian accounts held by U.S. residents and U.S. citizens
(including U.S. citizens who are residents or citizens of Canada) will be
reported to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). The CRA will then exchange the
information with the IRS through existing provisions and safeguards of the
Canada-U.S. Tax Convention. This is consistent with Canada’s privacy laws.
There are a number of exemptions you should know about. Registered
Retirement Savings Plans, Registered Retirement Income Funds, Registered
Disability Savings Plans, and Tax-Free Savings Accounts will not be
reported to the IRS. In addition, smaller deposit-taking institutions –
such as credit unions – with assets of less than $175 million will be
exempt from FATCA.
The 30 percent FATCA withholding tax will not apply to clients of
Canadian financial institutions, and can apply to a Canadian financial
institution only if the financial institution is in significant and
long-term non-compliance with its obligations under the agreement.
I encourage you to seek advice on your specific circumstances from an
independent tax advisory with appropriate experience.
With best regards,
John Weston, M.P.
That is astounding… No wonder these MP fools sign up. Look who they consult with to find the truth! They truly believe their own bullshit that the IGA “will be of great benefit to dual citizens and Americans living in Canada.” They think they got something special. Go figure. Got to hand it to the FATCAnatics who have pulled the wool over their eyes and they see what they want to see.
He’s a Conservative. He will not break ranks with caucus.
Step 1 in the Canadian Charter Challenge completed in six days, not 21: http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2014/03/06/cccf-step-one-complete/
Hard work ahead in our fight against this.
It is more than obvious our Canadian government representatives who have not listened to us as they listened the local CANADIAN FOREIGN FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS.
A big step for our self-worth in this fight. We will stand up for what’s right to the end.
That, for me, includes free speech in speaking up on what I feel is wrong for me, for my son (who has a ‘mental incapacity’ and is ENTRAPPED into US citizenship and all that requires for no benefit to him — and never asked for or any claim): http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2014/03/04/an-historic-day-help-canada-stand-up-to-the-american-bully-donate-now-to-the-canadian-charter-challenge-fund-2/comment-page-14/#comment-1183571.
It is for all those US Persons in Canada and abroad who have no voice! Their government representatives should be standing up for them. If they will not, we will continue to try. I’m 70 years old, but I ain’t dead yet.
So much for sitting down, shutting up and being polite so you won’t be noticed and, oh my, may not have the US come after you even more. Or your own government.
@ Badger @ Someone
Would you please take on the education of John Weston? Not that he-who-talks-to-foreigners and trembling Canadian bank CEOs to get FATCA guidance will ever acknowledge the error of his ways but this letter is outrageous and needs redress.
Re: “Among other things, I also arranged for prominent U.S. tax attorney Mark
Matthews to come to Ottawa on May 30, 2012 to brief Caucus members
concerning these matters. Mr. Matthews not only works with Canadians who
have U.S. tax problems, but he also served previously as Deputy
Commissioner at the IRS.”
Wow. Talk about inviting the fox into the chicken coop — to explain to the chickens how participation in KFC protects their interests.
@em
mr. weston is my m.p. and has now stopped responding to any of my e mails. it only took 8 of them to get a first response to my FATCA questions of him. i doubt he wants to ever hear the word FATCA again but he has made his bed and now has to lie in it.
in my last e mail after he announced he will be standing for his position in the 2015 election i congratulated him on that decision and then informed him that because of his FATCA stance i would do whatever i could to see that he did not get re elected in 2015.
This guy doesn’t get it. We don’t want the IRS getting our data. We want dual citizens to be treated equally. ‘Benefit’ there is no benefit to any Canadian. The US let’s the 30% withholding pass by holding a gun to the head of the Canadian Gov’t – tosh.
@ Jim Jatras
“Wow. Talk about inviting the fox into the chicken coop — to explain to the chickens how participation in KFC protects their interests.”
Perfect metaphor!
John Weston is my M.P. as well. his office is in complete disarray. He will toe the party line all the way. Strategic voting required next time with a donation to E may as well. Donations are the only thing any politician pays attention to.
@ mettleman
Well I’m going to send him a copy of the James Jatras article in the Star and I will begin my e-mail with: You are not my MP and I am so grateful for that. You should be too because I would be working hard against your reelection if I were in your riding ….
P.S. A contribution to the Green Party (E May ) only costs you 25% because of the tax credit.
Yes, Em. We should all know what we are grateful for!!! Mr. Weston should be grateful you are not in his constituency. Although it is not too late for some of these MPs to stand up for their constituents — not what they are told to say and do!
@calgary411 you must be under the assumption that our MP’s actually can think for themselves and not just tow the party line. 🙂
up until this issue i really never gave federal politics much of a thought. after this issue and the lack of responses from mr weston i have changed my mind about federal politics and will be doing what ever i can to ensure he is not re elected in this riding.
I didn’t know where to put this item so I am sorry if its in the wrong spot.
http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=TopStory&title=Waivers-to-be-sought-from-expats-given-US-tax-law&id=84384
So I guess this answers my question on how a country can figure out who is who…. So is this a preview of what is to come for all countries including Canada…. sigh
First of all,
Regarding the appearance of Mark Matthews:
Is this one and the same? http://www.capdale.com/mmatthews
What’s with all the US lawyers from the same firm Caplin and Drysdale?
MP Weston doesn’t mention that two other Caplin and Drysdale lawyers appeared before the Finance Committee, including (current President) Scot D. Michel http://www.capdale.com/smichel
Ex. see testimony here:
“9:35 a.m.
President, Caplin & Drysdale
Scott D. Michel
“That particular strategy, at least in the U.S., has been trumped by this Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. And believe me, I’m not a proponent of this legislation. I think it’s incredibly burdensome in many respects. But the U.S. Congress came up with a way that they hope will prevent Americans from being able to hide their accounts.
Basically, the legislation says that any bank anywhere in the world that wants to invest in the United States for any purpose on behalf of any client must enter into an agreement with the Internal Revenue Service. In effect, they must promise to disclose the names of all of their American account holders on an annual basis, and they must implement procedures to make sure that they are identifying all their American account holders.
That is one step. I think to some extent it’s an excessive step, but that’s a step that the U.S. Congress has decided to take.”
http://openparliament.ca/committees/finance/40-3/57/scott-d-michel-13/
There is much more;
http://openparliament.ca/committees/finance/40-3/57/scott-d-michel-8/
http://openparliament.ca/search/?q=Witness%3A+%22165402%22
http://openparliament.ca/committees/finance/40-3/57/scott-d-michel-1/
http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=4937782&Language=E&Mode=1
and also, ‘as an individual’ yet another Caplin and Drysdale lawyer David Rosenbloom;
“H. David Rosenbloom. I am a tax attorney and a professor of tax law. My area of specialization is international, or cross-border, taxation. I am a member of Caplin and Drysdale, a U.S. law firm. I am also director of the international tax program at New York University School of Law. In the late 1970s, I was the international tax counsel in the United States treasury department. In that capacity, I was the chief U.S. negotiator of the 1980 income tax convention between Canada and the United States.”
http://openparliament.ca/committees/finance/41-1/129/h-david-rosenbloom-1/
There are interesting bits in the testimonies:
http://openparliament.ca/committees/finance/41-1/129/h-david-rosenbloom-1/?page=11
Finance Committee on June 17th, 2013
Evidence of meeting #129 for Finance in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was tax.
A recording is available from Parliament.
12:20 p.m.
Caplin and Drysdale, New York University, School of Law, As an Individual
H. David Rosenbloom”
“..I don’t think you can look to treaties as a primary tool in the fight against tax evasion, because the function of a tax treaty is basically to relieve taxation. In the United States it’s a constitutional matter that you can’t use a treaty to increase taxation. To look to a treaty to solve the problem, at least at the corporate level, I think is just looking in the wrong place.
As I indicated in my statement, I am also really skeptical about whether the exchange of information provisions in the treaties—which I don’t object to in principle—are capable of addressing the problem of mass evasion at the individual level, and certainly not at the corporate level. I don’t think that problem at the corporate level is an absence of information; I think it’s a failure throughout the world to adopt coordinated rules to address the problem. Frankly I have real doubts as to whether there’s political will anywhere to take the measures that are necessary.
So my general feeling is that looking to the treaties to solve this problem is just not looking in the right place.”
http://openparliament.ca/search
/?q=Caplin+and+Drysdale,+New+York+University,+School+of+Law,+As+an+Individual+H.+David+Rosenbloom
I haven’t found anything mentioning Mark Matthews on the openparliament.ca site, but if he appeared in the Conservative caucus I don’t think there would be public minutes about what was said.
I just popped in, saw this thread, and will work on an answer to MP Weston later.
@ badger
Go for it and thank you! Pitch perfect and very fast researching there … as usual.
@all, stop calling yourself Dual. There is no nationality called Dual.
In Canada you are CANADIAN.
If you travel to Germany on a Canadian Passport you are CANADIAN.
If anything you are CANADIAN with lingering or residual us nationality that is non-effective in your place of residence. If you were to seek employment in your homeland and show a US Passport with no visa, you will not get a job, you will be viewed as an illegal migrant!!
A sole US Citizen living in Canada is protected by the USA, a CANADIAN with residual us nationality has no protection from the us government.
Does that make sense?
Can you all sense the importance of the words? Especially in light of the current situation.
That e-mail from John Weston reads like some sick theatre of the absurd.
I took a look at his website — and he has the unmitigated gall to have this in his bio:
“John is a passionate advocate for human rights and has spoken in the House, at home, and abroad to urge action against oppression.”
What a joke!
I think @George makes a very good point. The terms we use when speaking on this issue, not necessarily to each other but to others, is really key. I think many Canadians not caught up in this have a hard time connecting to it because they think it is happening to those “Americans” or “dual citizens” over there, not Canadians like them. If you are a dual citizen in Canada, you are Canadian. In the context of this issue, you are a Canadian who is also a “U.S. person” or something along those lines.
(Unfortunately I am a lowly permanent resident still waiting for my card, but I still refer to myself as Canadian, having lived here 40 years. Oh, the audacity! 🙂 )
@ pacifica77
JW got a piece of my mind today. Borrowed some bits from here and there but the major portion of the piece was mine. Wait until he gets Badger’s e-mail. That out to put the whole thing together for him about how “thrilled — NOT” we are about his being “thrilled” about the IGA.
Conservative firebrand Ted Cruz launches political convention with crowd-pleasing demand to abolish the IRS
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2574773/We-need-abolish-IRS-Conservative-firebrand-Ted-Cruz-launches-political-convention-direct-assault-U-S-tax-authority.html
“If you travel to Germany on a Canadian Passport you are CANADIAN.”
Well, I think they are called a LOWENBRAU but I could be wrong. I phoned and asked my German neighbor and he thinks they are called Paulaners.
Is this next for Canada? I think this is coming to Canada and every US Person must have their restaurant bill audited to make sure they pay the Obamascare tax and declare the meal as a possession on their TDF forms and to make sure that the highest number of pizza slices eaten is meticulously listed
Obamacare Surcharge Appearing on Restaurant Bills Across the Country..see video
http://www.infowars.com/obamacare-surcharge-appearing-on-restaurant-bills-across-the-country/
American’s wallets begin feeling the employer mandate sting
Adan Salazar
Infowars.com
March 6, 2014
The small business mandate doesn’t go into effect until 2015, but restaurants across the country are already passing the extra costs associated with having to offer healthcare to their employees on to consumers.
Political Backlash Over Privacy Could Come As Tax Evasion Reform (FATCA) Speeds Up
http://www.ibtimes.com/political-backlash-over-privacy-could-come-tax-evasion-reform-fatca-speeds-1557585
wren; words are very important and I think its vital in public communication that we coney that the US Personhood is NOT wanted. When you call yourself Dual there is an air and pretense to it.
Earlier I had wrote an interesting term that I discovered called “clinging nationality.”
You MUST be asking your MPs for help because you have a problem and thats “clinging nationality.” Its like gum on your shoe.
Canadian citizenship is EASY to get rid of, you fill out a form, pay $100 and mail it in. Therefor anything beyond that is clinging and hard to get rid of.
The Master Nationality Act;
“Commonly known as the “Master Nationality Rule”, the practical effect of this
Article is that where a person is a national of, for example, two States (A and B), and
is in the territory of State A, then State B has no right to claim that person as its
national or to intervene on that person’s behalf. ”
http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/policyandlaw/nationalityinstructions/nisec2gensec/dualnationality?view=Binary
US State Department 7 Fam 080
“When a U.S. citizen is in the other country of their dual nationality, that country has a predominant claim on the person.”
AND the clincher;
“It is a generally recognized rule, often regarded as a rule of international law,
that when a person who is a dual national is residing in either of the countries
of nationality, the person owes paramount allegiance to that country, and that
country has the right to assert its claim without interference from the other
country.”
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/86563.pdf
Remember your US Nationality is “clinging nationality” because of the impediments placed which makes it difficult to renounce in violation of the Expatriation Act 1868.
You are not a Dual US/Canada.
You are a Canadian Citizen who happens to have “clinging nationality” with the US. I have noticed now in multiple pubs this term of clinging nationality where it is difficult or impossible to get rid of a nationality.