It is also important to note that FATCA’s requirements are the same for all American taxpayers—expats are treated no differently. All citizens are required to comply with United States’ tax laws and FATCA is a tool to enforce them. Tax evaders should rightly worry that FATCA will reveal their illicit activities.
Mark J. Marzur, Assistant Secretary for tax policy, United States Treasury Department (emphasis mine)
FATCA hunts down “US taxpayers” as defined by US law, considers their legal activities in Canada carried out as Canadian citizens as illicit, and then tells these “US persons” that they should be rightly worried about their “illicit” activities. No, Mr. Assistant Secretary: You don’t have clue. You must go back to school and study international law: (1) The Master Nationality Rule says that every country has the right to consider their resident citizens as only their citizens and not the citizens of any other country; (2) the Dominant Nationalty Rule says that a so-called dual citizen has the right to protection of the country with which they they have the most ties; and (3) The Rule of State Nonresponsibility that a state has no right to protect a citizen–or steal from them–if they are currently inside a country in which they have citizenship. FATCA conforms to none of the international rules of dual citizenship.
By completely disregarding the international doctrines of dual citizenship, the United States is a rogue nation, forcing other countries to “out” instead of protecting their own citizens.
The above statement of the Assistant Secretary raises a serious moral issue. If US Treasury wishes to ignore international law, then it is the United States which is involved in the illicit activity, not innocent Canadians who live in Canada and carry out their activities under the protection of the Canadian government (or the citizens of any other country for that matter). The immoral SOBs are not the accidental Americans–people whose only failure was birth in the United States–but the United States for taxing them.
The end result of immoral activity by the United States is war. We now see wars around the globe that the United States has instigated: Syria, Libya, Iraq, Egypt, Ukraine, and Israel/Palestine. The US is funding terrorists and neo-nazis in these various countries and it is causing instability, war, and death. FATCA is an extension within the financial realm of US imperial policy. It is financial terrorism: Financial American Terrorism Contra All.
@Badger
It’s almost as though Mazur and Stack are trying to cover up the “ready, shoot, aim” policies of their current masters by pretending they’re the sheriffs who’ve come to clean up this messy town (world), when they can’t even clean up their own back yard. They should be embarrassed, but instead choose to taunt us.
@Polly, Publius
I guess for the same reason USC’s shouldn’t travel to Cuba.
Getting the whole world to sanction Russia is a declaration of war on Russia. And for what? Because Russia took Crimea back? How many countries did America invade? Does anybody ever apply sanctions on America? Its the same with all the arguments about Israel and the Palestinians. America took more and more land from the indians. Did anybody shout out then- oh this is inhuman and wrong? It just looks to me as if America can do whatever it wants and get away with it- but everybody else has to be held to some moral standards that America feels does not apply to themselves. I think much more is going on underneath the surface, and this fight against Russia has deeper relevance for USA. Maybe in the end, it all has to do with upholding the supremacy of the dollar. I dunno. But the double standard is anything but moral or of noble cause. I think its all about economics in the end, and trade.
What happened to European Banker’s comment?
Em and others — and especially European Banker.
There are two of us going through spam this morning (4300+ caught by the filter overnight when I came on this morning). We also put into spam what gets through the filter onto the site. One of us must have inadvertently deleted the European Banker comment from the regular stream.
If European Banker is reading, a thousand apologies. Could you possibly rewrite your comment for all to read.
Nothing to do with FATCA but in terms of another aspect RE “the land of the [NOT}”free, this is an interesting article:
http://m.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/07/the-leader-of-the-unfree-world/374348/
Whoa!
@ Calgary411
My thoughts exactly!!! We are not the only ones being punished……..
FATCA – Financial Apartheid Through Cloaked Approval
@Petros, I agree that the Master Nationality Rule is generally recognized as “international law” however Canada withdrew from The Hague Convention on Certain Questions Relating to the Conflict of Nationality Laws of 1930 upon which the Master Nationality Rule is based.
While those nationals of a signatory country should be well protected I think it leaves Canadian Citizens with clinging any nationality in a more difficult position.
Why did Canada withdraw?
I wonder of the withdrawal may have some value to those that were born before the withdrawal date. Why? If you were an accidental American, the fact that you returned to Canada and acquired a Canadian Passport would clearly indicate that you had “relinquished USness” with respect to Canadian Law.
Regardless I think lobbying needs to be done to resign the treaty as this will be an effective nail in the FATCA coffin.
Canada needs to define a Canadian Citizen as anyone with Canadian Citizenship residing in Canada regardless what any other country may claim. When/if thats the case, many problems would be moot.
The US’s tax evasion rates for their non-resident citizens is off the charts too, compared to other countries, courtesy of CBT.
I restored a comment by European banker to 6:00 am 26th July.
George, Canada has the right to protect all of its residents from US taxation (and for that matter anyone within the realm) regardless of their national origin and citizenship status; Charter of Rights and Freedoms article 15 says: “Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.”
“Every individual” includes everyone within the dominion of Canada, not just citizens.
That is the nature of sovereign country and anything less would be to accept the imperialism of the stronger countries, who go around like the Romans and take over countries and start taxing them.
So whether the Master Nationality rule is part of some convention to which Canada subscribes or doesn’t subscribes changes nothing. It is a axiom of international law that every nation has certain rights, especially the exclusive right to tax and the absolute right to protect, those within their realm. For a leader to abdicate that responsibility and mandate is capitulation and abdication.
If we focus therefore on “citizens of Canada” we are simply trying to apply the most obvious and egregious example of betrayal. Of course Canada has the right and the duty to protect her citizens. But these Charter rights extend to everyone who is within the borders of Canada.
If we take for example Eritrea: Both the permanent residents AND the citizens of Canada, who are of Eritrean national origin, have received the protection of the government of Canada from the extra-territorial taxation of Eritrea. While Canada cannot protect family members who remain in Eritrea, they have disallowed the taxation activities of Eritrea in Canada.
Not 2 km from house is a US Tax Services office of a carpet bagger service to help “US citizens” come into compliance with the IRS. This activity should be illegal in Canada and the office shut down. Otherwise, people of US national origin do not receive equal protection.
I wondered if you could that that, Petros. Thanks so very much!
Mazur and Stack should both be tarred and feathered.
Russia And India Begin Negotations To Use National Currencies In Settlements, Bypassing Dollar
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-07-31/russia-and-india-begin-negotations-use-national-currencies-settlements-bypassing-dol
The US dollar as the world’s reserve currency may soon be coming to an end. The weaponization of the dollar is blowing back.
It is terrorism by the US to treat all those outside the US as potential;
“…. terrorist organizations, money launderers, drug kingpins, weapons of mass destruction proliferators, and other national security threats…….” which is how FinCen characterizes the purpose of the BSA.
Those ordinary people deemed ‘taxable US persons’ living abroad, with lawful local accounts and savings held where they live and work and earn and save outside the US are subjected to the BSA though they have no economic connection with the US, and are entirely law abiding and compliance in the country of their residence and jurisdiction. They are forced under the BSA FBAR laws to report even non personal accts belonging to non-US employers, estates, community organizations, etc. if they have co-signatory powers -despite having no beneficial interest. It is not possible to live a normal life abroad without financial accts, and normal work and community roles, whereas a US resident is able to operate normally without restriction – because their accts are all US ones unless they go out of their way to hold one somewhere else. So the BSA has disproportionate effect on USPs abroad.
Mazur says; “…expats are treated no differently. All citizens are required to comply with United States’ tax laws and FATCA is a tool to enforce them. Tax evaders should rightly worry that FATCA will reveal their illicit activities….”.
FATCA is sometimes called the son of FBAR, and is designed to operate in concert with it. FATCA and FBAR does treat those abroad differently from US residents in that it treats us and all our local financial activities outside the US as potentially belonging to;
“…terrorist organizations, money launderers, drug kingpins, weapons of mass destruction proliferators, and other national security threats”.