Canadians, give your FATCA briefs to Finance Committee
Blaze / Lynne Swanson posts:
Canadians: Make your voices heard at Finance Committee. Give the Committee your briefs!
In preparing my own brief for testifying next week, I learned all Canadians can submit briefs to the Finance Committee–not just those of us who will testify.
Here is what the Clerk of the Finance Committee replied to me when I asked:
Anyone can submit a brief on Bill C-31. While there is no set date it would be best to get it into us at FINA@parl.gc.ca as soon as possible so we can have the briefs translated and distributed to the Members of the Committee before the begin Clause-by-Clause.
Here are the government’s Guidelines for Preparing Briefs: . The Clerk of the Finance Committee has advised briefs must be limited to five pages.
I know many of you already made submissions to Finance Canada in 2012 and again when the IGA was announced. However, those submissions are not being shared with the Finance Committee or with Parliament.
So, if you want those making the decisions to know what you have to say: Give them your briefs.
This should be in your own words. Many of you will be able to adapt the submission you already made.
I have two suggestions:
1. Emphasize you are Canadian!
2. If you support the proposed amendment, include it in your brief.
“Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act or the Agreement, for all purposes related to the implementation of this Act and the Agreement, “US Person” and “Specified US Person” shall not include any person who is a Canadian citizen or legal permanent resident who is ordinarily resident in Canada.”
There is no deadline for this, but clearly, the sooner the better. It may be submitted in either English or French and will be translated. If you speak both languages, you could submit in both.
Tell them what you think. Give Finance Committee your briefs!
Also send your brief to the members of the list of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance, updated here:
http://www.parl.gc.ca/CommitteeBusiness/CommitteeMembership.aspx
Chair:
james.rajotte@parl.gc.ca
Members:
scott.brison@parl.gc.ca;
nathan.cullen@parl.gc.ca;
Mark.Adler@parl.gc.ca;
mike.allen@parl.gc.ca;
Guy.Caron@parl.gc.ca;
gerald.keddy@parl.gc.ca;
Murray.Rankin@parl.gc.ca;
andrew.saxton@parl.gc.ca;
dave.vankesteren@parl.gc.ca
i’d like to give the tories my dirty briefs.
I will also add that the briefs and submission are being publically posted at the following link:
http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=6526468&Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=41&Ses=2
Additionally notification of next Tuesday’s hearing has now been formally posted
http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=6578535&Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=41&Ses=2
Looks like Lynne and Allison will be on separate panels. Have no idea who Max Reed of New York City is?
Perhaps???? http://www.whitecase.com/mreed/#.U2uiSaIvnQM
and: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/max-reed/9/35/631
Well, that is what they seem to be asking for. Perhaps they need to be more specific.
Is there a limit to how long these submissions can be?
The shorter the better. People stop reading after 1 page. Especially if the points are repetitive.
My bad, didn’t see the guidelines. Good suggestion, KalC.
Done. Three pages (including cover page).
There is actually a submission by Kathryn Brock there. I couldn’t help but wonder if Sir Isaac Brock was one of her ancestors. If so, he would be proud. I’m delighted to see Allison Christians and Arthur Cockfield will be testifying, as well as Lynne Swanson. I sent the names of 6 people to all of the Senators on their committee (individual e-mails) and I got 3 out of 6 on my wish list on the House of Commons committee. Go figure! So I know this had nothing to do with my e-mails to the senators but I’m still delighted. And completely by accident my FINA “brief” (seems too foo-foo a term for my contribution) was not over 5 pages. Now this Max Reed — that should be interesting. One thing’s for sure there are still not enough FATCA fluent, FATCA affected individuals testifying. I’m like Oliver (no, not Joe) — “Please sir, I want some more.”
@Groucho LOL
@Em, to be sure this Kathryn Brock must be one of Sir Isaac’s descendants.
According to Tim’s link, there are around 9 submissions concerning the IGA of a total of maybe 39. A lot of people are concerned about trademarks legislation, it seems. Little less than 25% seems pretty good for us, but you’d think that they’re would be more interest/concerns about Bill C-31 than that…
Absolutely, if we want to be heard we have to speak up and this is another opportunity.
Mine, submitted a while ago and before I knew about the five pages limit, is too long. I should provide a summary I guess. There is just too much I want to say.
Yay, just got confirmation that mine will be translated and distributed to the committee members 🙂
The Trademark Team submitted the same brief about 30 times. Can’t see that that will be as effective as our individual contributions on the FATCA IGA. Wonder if our “briefs” will go over the 5 page limit when translated into French, even if we kept them under in English? 🙂
@Tim: Here’s an article written by Max Reed. Essentially come into compliance before the FATCA time bomb goes off.
http://www.canadianlawyermag.com/4621/The-ticking-time-bomb-of-tax-liability-for-Americans-in-Canada.html
He is also co-author of Tax Guide for Americans in Canada.
http://www.carswell.com/product-detail/a-tax-guide-for-american-citizens-in-canada/?site=carswellhp
@BB: Hopefully, those numbers for briefs on the IGA will go up. People weren’t making them because they didn’t know about them, Finance Canada is hiding the over 400 pages of submissions we made after the IGA was signed. My request for copies through Access to Information will not be filled until after the panel.
Looking at the panel, it is clear it is essential I be the voice of Canadians.
There is one person missing from the list that I was certain would be on it. I know as recently as two days ago, Murray Rankin`s office was still trying to get that person on the panel.
And here’s a “twist” from Oliver (no, not Joe): “Please Brockers, we want some more briefs.”
I did not know that the e-mail I sent a few weeks ago would be posted as a brief.
That is different than the brief I sent for my appearing on the panel. Some, but not all of the information, is the same.
I didn’t know at first who Max Reed was but Allison knows him and says he “is up and coming.” I thought originally he lived in Montreal not New York that’s why I was a bit unsure as to who he was
Is it me, or have other noticed that most of the submissions are EXACTLY the same…it looks like someone uploaded the same document into multiple pdfs.
Ha,ha, Em! Good question. Wordy language that French is! Francophones should get another half-page to make it fair.
@All, I read that Isaac Brock never married, and thus has no official direct descendants. Rumour has it he might have had a child with a woman though, but of course that child would not have had the Brock name.
Some more thought exercises:
Suppose that of the one million “US Persons”, only 500,000 have any assets or revenue to be concerned with. If each of those were required to spend $2,000 per year in accountant fees just to satisfy US filing requirements that they are not now spending because ignoring the US or ignorant of its rules (pre FATCA and Canada sending their data to the IRS), then $1 billion per year is being siphoned out of the pockets of ordinary Canadians as a direct result of FATCA.
Now suppose that those 500,000 all have $50,000 in claimed fines and penalties waiting for them were Canada to send their data to the IRS for undeclared “foreign” TSFA’s, RRSP’s and chequing accounts. The number is conservative since only about 5% of US Persons in Canada have declared anything, and most people will have 4 or 5 accounts per year x minimum $10,000 per year in penalties. I stick to $50,000 just to make life simple and assuming all kinds of leniency and clemency from the IRS. That’s another $25 billion sucked out of Canada. To put that in context – Canada’s federal debt is about $675 billion. Let’s say that those 500,000 recently sucked-dry dual citizens, disgusted with their treatment seek to renounce and take arm’s against a sea of troubles and, by opposing end them. If just half of their number (250,00) are covered expatriates with an average net wealth of $2 million and an average tax of 30% of that figure – say an average exit tax of a further $500,000. Now we are at $275 billion. The point is that just FBAR penalties and exit taxes with what I would argue are some pretty conservative assumptions threaten to siphon almost $300 billion out of Canada or enough to repay half of OUR national debt in one go. Now CRA won’t help in collecting, but they don’t seem to hesitate in holding out the pen and assisting in the demanding. When a country with the resources of the US starts to demand money, they have “persuasive” resources at their disposal. Their intrepidity in enacting FATCA is exhbiit 1. Let’s say they only collect half – that’s around $150 billion. Hardly chump change for Canada. It would pay for a few Keystone pipelines.
A question for Mr. Ernewein – has anyone at Finance calculated the cost to the Canadian economy were the US even THIS minimally successful in converting the gold mine of data Canada is promising to hand over to them?
His answer of course is that Canada is NOT going to hand over that information as he knows darned well that such a looting of Canada’s resources and economy would be crippling. Canada won’t hand it over because it intends to implement FATCA and the IGA in such a way as to hand over only the data of the sleepy and ill-advised who are not clever enough to have switched banks and ensured no FI had any record of their citizenship on file. Would he be straight enough with Parliament to just say that and answer why we are passing a law that punishes the unsophisticated and honest? If that is their goal, why not exclude Canadians from the IGA (or amend our privacy laws to prohibit banks from tracking data on our national origin?). I doubt we’ll get an answer to any of these questions any time soon.