Liberty and justice for all United States persons abroad

The Isaac Brock Society

Posted on by Posted in Issues regarding US persons abroad 22 Comments

Here is a list of international Certifying Acceptance Agents for the IRS.  In particular the IRS site mentions some of the big FATCA compliance firms:

National / International CPA Firms *

Deloitte and Touche, LLP
Ernst & Young LLP
KPMG LLP
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
BDO

For a list of Canadian IRS agents, see this list.

Comment: The IRS agents in our midst are operating an illegitimate business

No free country in the world actually allows the agents of the revenue service of a foreign country operate within its borders. To do so would be to admit the loss of sovereignty. But certifying agents of the IRS are doing work for the IRS.

This is similar to the tax collection system in the Roman Empire. Tax collectors were actually independent operators who had a quota.  Whatever they collect above and beyond the quota, they were able to keep as a profit for their efforts. The Bible has the famous story of Zacchaeus, who had cheated and stolen from people, but when he came to Jesus, promised to give half of his money to the poor and to pay back four-fold what he had extorted from his clients. But many other Roman tax collectors never repented, and they were despised by the people. At the time of the outbreak of Jewish War in AD 66, these tax collectors suffered a grim fate with all the other Roman collaborators.

I have spoken to people who have used the cross-border tax industry in Canada and their experience with it. Here are some of the examples of how these cross-border specialists are actually IRS agents in our midst:

  1. They use the fear tactics of the IRS against their clients. For example, they use the fear of FATCA to tell their clients that the IRS will eventually catch up to them.
  2. They assume that the client is a US citizen.  Whether this is out of absolute ignorance of international law and US immigration law, I cannot say. The first question one must ask is if one is really a US citizen. No one should send any money to the IRS without knowing it, but the IRS agents in our midst are vultures who will tell you that you cannot hide.
  3. They have been regularly responsible for bringing their clients into the make-believe land where you have no rights called “OVDP”, saying it is the best option for people who want to avoid financial ruin, when in fact, financial ruin is assured for many who enter the program. But this has led to the destruction of their clients, much to the greater felicity of the criminal agency called the IRS.
  4. The IRS agents in our midst may never tell you to disobey US law or the rules of the IRS. Since we are in the jurisdiction of Canada, the laws of the United States are not enforceable here. Why should anyone here obey them? But you will never hear that from an IRS agent in our midst. Yet the Canadian government has said it will not collect for the IRS from a Canadian citizen nor will it collect FBAR fines.

These cross-border firms are not legitimate businesses in Canada or other countries. Once we win the lawsuit, our next task will be to lobby Ottawa to ban firms whose occupation is to collect taxes from law-abiding Canadian taxpayers.

We can see an example of an illegitimate business in Dicken’s Oliver Twist: Fagin provides housing and food for a merry band of child pickpockets. He keeps the larger portion of their hard-earned profits. The IRS is Fagin. The pickpockets are the cross-border accountants. If the IRS may not have any of their employees operate in Canada freely, then why do we allow these certifying acceptance IRS agents operate in Canada?

A note to the media:  Stop using these IRS agents as the main source for your stories. When you do so, you become purveyors of IRS propaganda and free advertisers for the illegitimate business of the IRS agents in our midst. It is journalistic laziness.

22 thoughts on “The IRS agents in our midst”

  1. Believe it or not the IRS has offices in London, Frankfurt, Paris and Beijing in US Embassies.

    http://www.irs.gov/uac/Contact-My-Local-Office-Internationally

    I can’t think of any other country with their Tax Authority staff working overseas in their embassies.

    Even if ex-pats had any intention to start filing, 4 offices with a few staff is woefully inadequate.

    So you’re left with Homelanders who don’t know their New Jersey from Jersey in the Channel Islands who only work US hours on the telephone. Is someone in Australia really going to stay up all night for the IRS? I wouldn’t.

  2. The embassy is a diplomatic station, so whatever happens inside those edifices is the business of the sending country. However, the Agents in our midst operate with impunity outside such diplomatic stations: there’s one only about 2 km from my house.

  3. Just to clarify what an acceptance agent is the following is how its described on the IRS website:

    An Acceptance Agent is a person or an entity (business or organization) who, pursuant to a written agreement with the IRS, is authorized to assist individuals and other foreign persons who do not qualify for a Social Security Number but who still need a Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) to process a Form 1040 and other tax schedules. The Acceptance Agent facilitates the application process by reviewing the necessary documents and forwarding the completed forms to IRS.

  6. Perhaps Eritrea would be interested now that Canada has sent their consular officer packing. I can become an acceptance agent for the Eritrean revenue service, and inform Canadians of Eritrean origin, just what will happen to their families if they don’t pay their expat tax.

  8. I look around in every European town I am in, and I see a PWC and KPMG building in each one of them. I’ve noticed them in small cities. They are always in a modern (expensive) building. And they are noticeably growing. Many of their top leaders are on a sabbatical “working for Obama Barack”, or he is working for them.

  9. Meanwhile, the IRS itself is busily shepherding the children of US citizens born abroad into the US tax system by telling them that they are taxpayers by descent:

    U.S. Citizens by Birth or through a U.S. Citizen Parent
    Amendment XIV, Section 1, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution directs that all persons born in the United States are U.S. citizens. This is the case regardless of the tax or immigration status of a person’s parents.
    Furthermore, a person born outside the United States may also be a U.S. citizen at birth if at least one parent is a U.S. citizen and has lived in the United States for a period of time. The United States Citizenship and Immigration (USCIS) Web page on Citizenship Through Parents contains more detailed information for persons born outside the United States to a U.S. citizen parent or parents.

    http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/U.S.-Citizens-by-Birth-or-through-a-U.S.-Citizen-Parent

  10. US Immigration doesn’t seem to be aware of US citizenship imposed on children born “abroad” who have American parents, My daughter married an American and is now living in the US. Just after their marriage they went to Immigration to apply for her residence visa, and then her Green Card. They asked her the birth place of her parents, but on hearing that we were both born in the US they did not tell her that she was already an American citizen, or even ask her questions to verify her US citizenship status. They just processed the applications for residence, and then for her Green Card, which she has for the next 5 years; then she must apply again.
    I’m glad she didn’t get labelled, particularly since even if she wanted to be a US citizen (she doesn’t), when she was born – in Canada – we had been naturalized Canadian citizens for a couple of years, and at that time that meant that we were NOT Americans any oore. Then with the US Supreme Court reimposition of citizenship, she might have been considered an American by descent, but if our CLN applications are approved, they will show that we weren’t US citizens at the time of her birth, so Immigration might decide that she didn’t qualify as a tainted American after all. But I still wonder about insisting on applications for a Green Card for someone who has listed their parents’ US birthplaces.
    Our other children are lying low, hoping to escape detection, and the child living in Canada won’t have taxes or fines collected for the IRS.

  11. To quote from at article: “Yet the Canadian government has said it will not collect for the IRS from a Canadian citizen nor will it collect FBAR fines.”

    This is only an administrative decision by the Canadian government not an actual law. Who’s to say what they would do in the future if the U.S. starts to insist on the CRA collection of U.S. taxes and fines. My guess is that Harper and his cronies would fold like a cheap suit. They are allowing U.S. police to operate in Canada at present. They are selling out Canadian sovereignty with the various trade agreements done in secret. There is no courage to stand up to the U.S. bully by the Harper government. What a disgrace!

  13. I don’t know where to put this, but I think we perhaps should make a differentiation between taxes and whatever this is. No citizens of any country in the world would pay taxes to their government if their money didn’t work for them. They pay taxes so that the government can create services for them, roads healthcare etc. Expats get no services from America. All the nonsense about how they will save you if you are caught in another country is untrue because they send you a bill for it- on TOP of the taxes you pay. Thats like paying for healthcare and having to pay for your operation on top of that. Same goes for the wonderful education they “offer”. Only that education costs a fortune and is not a gift. I say that expats are not paying “taxes” at all, because if they were paying taxes, then they would be getting something for their money. So what is it then? Because “taxes” it is not.

  14. @Polly. Re: “whatever this is”. Sounds like tribute to me!

    Re: being “saved if you are caught in another country”. We don’t need or want the the “protection” of the US. The US version of “protection” is actually more akin to a mob extortion scheme and thus what we really need is protection FROM the US.

    We are Canadian citizens and and presumably already have such “black helicopter” protection from our own Canadian government. What we need (and are now forced to demand via legal action, unfortunately) is protection FROM the predations of the US government including the IRS. So far our Canadian government has failed miserably in this regard but I am hopeful the courts will make it crystal clear what the government’s primary duty is.

    In a sense, we are “caught in another country” and the IRS is the very real threat we face. Time for the Government of Canada to do its job.

  15. @maz57, Heidi

    I really can’t wait until ACA Global Foundation releases the CBT vs RBT debate video that was held in Toronto on May 2nd as there was discussion around just what exactly is provided to us with our taxes. I recall that Mr Kirsch (a proponent of CBT) was quite shocked and appalled when he discovered that our tax dollars do not cover the cost of evacuation, and that the USG expects us to reimburse them for the costs. Another homelander myth dispelled, and evidence that what we pay is pretty much tribute.

  17. This is the last post regarding the May 2nd Symposium:

    American Citizens Abroad Global Foundation announces results from the first symposium on U.S. Tax Reform for Americans living and working overseas
    May 24, 2014 5:08 PM | Anonymous

    Entitled “21st Century Taxation of Americans Abroad: Citizenship-based taxation vs. Residence-based taxation,” the symposium was held on Friday, May 2, 2014 in Toronto, Canada at St Michael’s College where an audience of over 70 participants attended to hear tax, law, banking and finance professionals debate on the tax treatment of overseas Americans. The issue of how to tax Americans living and working overseas is gaining attention as Congress grapples with the challenges facing overseas Americans.

    Marylouise Serrato, Executive Director of ACA, Inc. opened the conference on behalf of the Board of ACA Global Foundation. The morning debate was between two distinguished academics who have recently published groundbreaking papers on the issue of taxation of Americans abroad. Professor Michael Kirsch of Notre Dame University defended citizenship-based taxation (CBT) and Dr. Bernard Schneider, Teaching Fellow at Queen Mary University of London School of Law,recommended residence-based taxation (RBT). Professor Kirsch highlighted the community aspects of American citizenship as a basis for taxation whereas Dr. Schneider focused on the need for the law to adapt to the composition of Americans abroad and the realities faced by long-term overseas residents. The audience was highly engaged during the Q & A session that followed the formal debate.

    The afternoon session looked at the impact of current CBT policies on Americans abroad. Phil Hodgen, of Hodgen Law Group PC presented the legal point of view. David Kuenzi of Thun Financial Investments and Charles Cullen III of RBC Dominion Securities Inc. reviewed some of the restrictions by US law on investments of Americans abroad. Jim Yager, representing the American Chamber of Commerce, presented the issues from the businessperson’s point of view and reviewed the range of US fiscal reporting requirements for both individuals and businesses. “Significant research and education is needed to bring these issues to the attention of the American public and Congress,” stated Jackie Bugnion in her closing remarks as she encouraged Americans abroad to support ACA Global Foundation through donations, which are tax deductible in the U.S.

    For more information on the conference and on ACA Global Foundation’s work, please visit the ACA Global Foundation website at: http://www.acaglobalfoundation.org or contact us at info@acaglobalfoundation.org.

    which I shall use to ask when and if the video will be made available to persons who were unable to travel to Toronto to attend.

  19. On August 9th Stephen Kish wrote:

    This is the disappointing news I recently received about the conference video, which I posted on another Brock thread. I have no idea when the video will be released.

    “The word I received from ACAGF a few days ago (THREE full months after the conference) is that the tape is still being edited. A date for completion was not provided.

    Just to clarify again, ACA Global Foundation (NOT ACA) put on the debate.

    As “Academic Host” of the event I do feel some responsibility for the delay, and have pushed ACA GF as much as I can.”

  20. HINT! if you want to see who is really behind this, look at BILL C-31, ANNEX II.
    NON-REPORTING CANADIAN FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND PRODUCTS, II. Exempt Beneficial Owners.
    The following Entities shall be treated as Non-Reporting Canadian Financial Institutions and as exempt beneficial owners for the purposes of sections 1471 and 1472 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code:
    A. Central Bank
    1. The Bank of Canada.

    One might find some US Indica if searching thoroughly enough at these central banks( The Bank of Canada, Federal Reserve Bank, Et All.), which are of course not part of any government, but are privately owned by a few families in the world.

    http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&DocId=6495200&File=4&Col=2

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