Update
These seminars will include discussion and analysis of the IRS “relaxed opportunities” for people to come into compliance.
“If only I had known known about these rules earlier …
This session will focus on the problems of investing and retirement planning for U.S. citizens abroad in general. It will operate as both:
– a “heads up” for young adults; and
– possible solutions for those already mired in the process
Who: John Richardson, B.A., L.L.B., J.D – CitizenshipSolutions.ca
Where: Downtown Vancouver, 1010 Richards Street Richards & Nelson, Gallery Condo Building, Amenity Room, Entrance at REAR of BLDG on lane. Metered parking on street or lot at Richards & Smithe. Canada Line – Yaletown stop. Expo & Millenium lines – Granville Station.
When: Sunday, June 22 11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Admission: $20 individual or $40 for a family of up to four people (to cover costs)
Hope to see you and your families on June 22. Spread the word!
Will John Richardson be offering another session for adults?
I live in Vancouver but will be in Raleigh NC in 35C thunderstorms next Wed-Sun (even Toronto is not that bad). My kids should attend but even if I at home, they would refuse. An issue is how can parents get them to realize the gravity of the situation? My kids know but they do not care, they do not have much savings and of course never think of retirement.
@Earl,
The information is most definitely applicable to everybody. The key is to to get ALL to understand the problems. The difference is that:
1. Young adults have the chance to take preventative action so that they can avoid the problems.
2. Older people must learn how to deal with the problems that have already been created.
@kermitzii
I suspect that your kids feel they are too young–and in particular don’t have enough money yet–to make a decision to renounce that then becomes difficult to reverse. And I suspect your kids are right about that.
Don’t get me wrong–it is a great time to get them information. But not the right time to make a decision.
I would recommend a careful, and open minded, reading of the following link:
http://renounceuscitizenship.wordpress.com/2012/08/21/letter-of-a-canadian-businessman-to-his-dual-u-s-canada-citizen-son-on-the-occasion-of-his-high-school-graduation/
Note that this father doesn’t recommend that his son renounce until some time before the end of his undergraduate years. Note also the father’s own career path. He did his MBA at Stanford and they were in the USA until the son was 4. Note that an MBA only takes 2 years–implying that he didn’t JUST do his MBA in the USA and immediately return home. He started his post-MBA career in the USA and only later did his career bring him home. No Canadian in the USA should count on their career bringing them back to Canada. I would say most don’t return–I didn’t and I spent quite a bit of time networking for opportunities in Canada. I get the sense that this father is quite a successful man but I wonder if he would have been quite as successful if he hadn’t had those 4 (or more) years in the USA to get his career going.
Don’t get me wrong–I do think that in most cases these days it isn’t wise to maintain US citizenship indefinitely while living outside the USA. But I think the time to renounce is when you settle into adult responsibilities and it becomes clear that those adult responsibilities are going to leave one outside of the USA indefinitely. For example, this father talks about his son meeting a young Canadian lady who might not want to be under the scrutiny of the IRS. It’s a valid point but IMHO there’s a smart order of events here. First you meet the Canadian lady, then you get serious about marriage, then you get serious about renunciation. Doing things in the other order–renouncing because of how it might affect a future Canadian lady–is putting the cart before the horse IMHO. What happens if he meets an American lady, for example? Until you see how your life is taking shape renouncing US citizenship is an unwise move IMHO.
Question for John Richardson (or anyone) about the following statement on CitizenshipSolutions.ca:
“Denunciation is the key word: many cases are brought to the attention of the IRS by disgruntled, scorned women and angry business competitors.”
Is this statement true at the present time? Not that it might not be true in the future–but it is written in the present tense–is this happening in significant numbers already?
The usual scenario seems to involve someone “voluntarily” getting into “compliance” with the IRS because the threat of eventual disclosure by the CRA under FATCA would result in even worse penalties if the person doesn’t act “voluntarily”. But it is the threat of future disclosure by the CRA–not current disclosure by the “scorned women” or “business competitors”–that initiates the action.
It seems very unlikely that–especially in the case of business competitors–they would know enough both about a specific competitor’s personal past as an “accidental American” and about FATCA to take action in this way. Something doesn’t add up about the above claim. Not to say that it might not come to be true in the future once FATCA becomes better known but it is hard to believe it is currently true.
@Dash
I don’t know the answer to your question specifically with regard to ciizenshipsolutions site.
However, you may be amused to hear that in my tax class on Tuesday night, our instructor (who was a former CRA investigations officer) not only told several stories regarding “denunciations,” he also described how CRA routinely would use stories in the newspaper as starting points for investigating people who were not reporting income realized through illegal gains!
@Mizmoon
There are no accidents.
I think that there will be many people with their lives ahead of them who will hold on to their US citizenships in the hope that they might one day benefit from it, for example through employment opportunities in the US. I see many people finding themselves unprepared for retirement because they kept this option open their entire lives.
bubblebustin,
Those who are holding on to their US citizenships that it may one day benefit them, need to research to determine if that is indeed their best ace in the hole for employment opportunity. I hope they can be convinced (by the media?) to look into what they envision as their futures and how they will best save for their retirements. The decision is, of course, theirs to make but it must be made with the full realization of their yearly responsibilities that go along with holding onto that US citizenship. (Some may think they are correctly fulfilling those US citizenship-based taxation and reporting requirements. As we know, it might be a good idea for them to re-evaluate that assumption.)