[We now have a NEW POST taking us up to February 1, 2015. This post will be retired from service.]
THE AUTUMN 2014 UPDATE
Dear Donors,
Together, we reached our goal of $100,000 to pay the November 1 legal bill 11 days ahead of schedule!
Thank you Canadian donors from coast to coast and our friends from around the world for your generosity, support and determination — and especially for not being afraid.
The name of our non-profit corporation is the “Alliance for the Defence of Canadian Sovereignty.”
We were very deliberate in including in our name the word “sovereignty”, which forms a cornerstone of our Claims against the Government of Canada.
Canada and dozens of other countries throughout the world gave into a bully because their “leaders” were afraid of harm caused by a trading “partner” — and they gave their sovereignties away.
Help us convince by example the Leaders and Governments of all countries worldwide that they should return their sovereignties back to their Peoples.
Please continue to support our lawsuit.
“Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.” (Helen Keller)
— Plaintiffs Ginny and Gwen, and the ADCS-ADSC team
Chers donateurs,
Ensemble, nous avons atteint notre but d’amasser 100 000 $ pour payer notre facture légale du 1er novembre 11 jours d’avance !
Un gros merci à vous, donateurs canadiens, et à nos amis de tous les coins du monde pour votre grande générosité, soutien et détermination. Et surtout pour votre courage.
Le nom de notre organisme sans but lucratif est « l’Alliance pour la défense de la souveraineté canadienne ».
Nous avons choisi délibérément le mot « souveraineté » puisqu’il constitue la base fondamentale de nos revendications envers le gouvernement du Canada.
Le Canada et des dizaines d’autres pays se sont pliés devant l’intimidation des États-Unis parce que leurs « leaders » ont eu peur des menaces de notre « partenaire » commercial. Ils ont donc vendu leur souveraineté à rabais.
Aidez-nous à convaincre les dirigeants et les gouvernements de tous ces pays qu’ils se doivent de remettre leur souveraineté à leurs peuples.
S’il vous plaît, continuez à soutenir notre cause.
« Seuls, nous pouvons faire si peu. Ensemble, nous pouvons faire beaucoup. » (Helen Keller)
— Ginny, Gwen et toute l’équipe de l’ADCS-ADSC
DONATE to www.adcs-adsc.ca (ADSC en français).
I’m getting ready to turn up the heat, to pop more corn. We need to expand. We need to explode. We need to donate more and More and MORE!
Thanks — love your words, cornoffthecob!
Here’s communication from John Richardson, Co-Chair of ADCS-ADSC, Alliance for Canadian Sovereignty. He / we agree: http://adcsovereignty.wordpress.com/2014/10/01/from-the-desk-of-john-richardson/
We’re approaching an
importantCRITICAL deadline, and what you say is perfect:Even sounds like a good fundraising opportunity: selling some popcorn (off the cob) to help raise money to donate more and More and MORE!, along with http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2014/09/30/social-media-toolkit/.
The only way forward is to support this ADCS legal challenge to thwart the enablement of FATCA in Canada – and prevent the US from gaining any further assistance with its extraterritorial colonization. It is clear in this TIGTA report that it and the IRS and Treasury will continue to try and make the entire globe pay tribute to the US – no matter how absurd, unjust or difficult that might be:
Read this post by @Wow
http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/expat_tax/comment-page-87/#comment-3205962
and read the entire report by TIGTA that the post refers to
‘The Internal Revenue Service Needs to Enhance Its International Collection Efforts’
September 12, 2014
Reference Number: 2014-30-054′
http://www.treasury.gov/tigta/auditreports/2014reports/201430054fr.html#value
Particularly read and note sections about the intent to pursue better – ie. direct access to the Dept. of Homeland Security database in order to attempt to detain those entering the US whose names have been added to the TECS, and the description of the ‘Customs Hold’ as an enforcement tool;
“Customs Hold
A notification to the DHS that, according to the IRS records, a taxpayer owes Federal taxes. If the taxpayer should return to the United States or Commonwealth Territories and has not yet paid the total amount due, he or she could be interviewed by a Customs and Border Protection Officer at the time of entry. The IRS will then be advised of the taxpayer’s arrival and will be provided with information enabling it to contact the taxpayer regarding payment of his or her outstanding tax liability.”
What is one of the IRS stated goals re ‘International Collection”?;
“….Collection Field function management developed an International Collection Strategy document in June 2012 to support the international vision:
To ensure payment compliance among all persons subject to U.S. tax laws and treaties through the fair and equitable application of these laws, as well as providing education to our customers to promote future compliance.”
What is one of the big problems they are grappling with in terms of international taxpayers?
“……The IRS faces many unique challenges in collecting taxes from international taxpayers, such as difficulities in locating taxpayers in a foreign country, complexity of international tax law and tax treaty issues, language barriers, and the absence of international toll-free telephone services. Moreover, the IRS does not have reliable statistics on the rate of noncompliance of these taxpayers with their U.S. tax obligations.”……
So, in that quote, TIGTA, and the IRS again acknowledge that though they are using the hammer of FATCA against the whole globe – they don’t even have “…reliable statistics on the rate of noncompliance of these taxpayers with their U.S. tax obligations”.
and,
“…Most IRS policies generally do not account for the differences between international and domestic taxpayers. An example is that the timeliness guidelines for working international cases are the same as for working domestic cases. As a general rule, international cases are more complex than domestic cases because they can involve treaty limitations on what an international revenue officer can and cannot do in a foreign country to contact the taxpayers, obtain tax returns, and collect the taxes due. Without sufficient policies and procedures, international revenue officers may not be providing the international taxpayer with fair and equitable application of the tax laws…
They also note the possibility that:
“……Taxpayers who have become compliant to be unnecessarily delayed by Customs and Border Protection Officers because they were not properly deleted from the TECS.”
and note re lack of training and knowledge re international tax issues, treaties, etc.;
“……According to the group managers and internal revenue officers interviewed, this can be problematic because international revenue officers are required to know international tax and treaty laws, which can make determining the correct tax liability more difficult. In addition, some managers expressed concern that the investigative tools available to international revenue officers are often limited, and locating taxpayers living abroad can be more involved and time consuming than locating domestic taxpayers. There are risks of inequitable treatment of international taxpayers and violating tax treaties if the international revenue officers are not provided adequate training on international issues.”
Donate now. There is no justice otherwise.
So from the IRS they admit to this?
“Without sufficient policies and procedures, international revenue officers may not be providing the international taxpayer with fair and equitable application of the tax laws…” thats pretty damning.
Pingback: It’s confirmed! Homelander Security to protect Homeland from #Americansabroad | U.S. Persons Abroad – Members of a Unique Tax, Form and Penalty Club
Since banks around the world are actively having everyone sign away their privacy rights unwittingly with new ‘terms and conditions’ and if you don’t respond in 30 – 60 days, you’ve consented, winning this lawsuit is even more important.
In future the US will include ‘freezing accounts’ in their FATCA regulations. Remember FATCA data includes your account number. So to move from ‘Customs Hold’ to the US demanding any Canadian citizen’s account be ‘frozen’ is a short step away.
Picture this someone going to their ATM machine one day to withdraw a $100 and a message appears on the screen you must contact the bank concerning your account.
While behind the scenes the IRS dubbed you a delinquent US Taxpayer and by freezing your Canadian account is trying to starve you into submission. Is that right?
That’s the future if something isn’t done.
I’m a single mom of 2 kids. My oldest is special needs with serious medical issues. I don’t work because she is full time care. I barely scrape by on CTB and a little child support.
I would love to get the rdsp going for her but I can’t because of reporting requirements. I can’t afford to pay tax on money my government (Canada) would be contributing via grants. This law will create a disabled adult who is poverty stricken.
I can’t afford much but I donated 25 dollars. I hope it helps!
Momof2,
Your contribution will help and is very much appreciated. How I wish that we had more donors with deeper pockets than yours.
You should absolutely be able to save for your child with the RDSP that Finance Minister Flaherty helped set up to provide for Canadians with disabilities. Shame should go to the Conservative government who has given the US access to your child’s and every other such Canadian child’s future by way of taxing the Registered Disability Savings Plan (and Registered Education Savings Plan) grants and bonds that the Canadian taxpayer helps provide. I do hold an RDSP for my adult son who is defined by the US as a US citizen (although he was never registered with the US, never lived in the US, never had any benefit from the US). A person with a ‘mental incapacity’ as a “Canadian disability eligible for savings in the Canadian RDSP” is actually ENTRAPPED as he/she cannot renounce his/her US-defined US citizenship because he/she would not understand the concept of “citizenship” and must not have influence from anyone in making such a decision.
This is the way the Conservative government has allowed the US to steal from Canada’s treasury. I paid US taxes of $3,661 because of the RDSP that I hold for my Canadian-born son — this from an earlier comment, which is part of the UN Human Rights Complaint:
Our children, including those like yours who are deprived of being able to save in an RDSP or an RESP, are part of the segment of persons who are so affected by the ever widening gap in the cost of freedom from US citizenship: http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2014/09/22/the-widening-gap-for-the-cost-of-freedom-from-us-citizenship-and-us-tax-compliance/. Thank you once again for your generous contribution!
Mom of 2. Thanks for your support . Every bit helps and perhaps you will encourage others to donate.
As to a RDSP: You say you can’t start one because of reporting requirements. RDSPs are exempt from reporting by our banks. I realize that if you started one you are supposed to report it but as Dan once said ‘ only tell them what they already know’ To put it another way, there is little need to comply with these unjust foreign regulations.
As to our RDSP’s (and other stated Canadian investments) and the IGA signed with the US saying they are exempt from reporting from our banks, the Conservative government seems to speak with a forked tongue. On one hand they say that *US citizens who happen to reside in Canada* have always had the obligation to file US tax returns and on the other hand say they are exempt from reporting by our banks. Just what is it they are telling us to do? Are they giving us (US citizens who happen to reside in Canada) permission for us not to put these on US tax returns? I just don’t comprehend their signals. Are they telling us all to be tax resisters as I seem to be?
@Calgary411
I think it’s called “playing both sides against the middle”. I hope they get squished.
The questions is can the banks freeze your account, freeze your funds, if you refuse to provide any information regarding fatca????
Interesting article by the Wall Street Journal. I don’t know if everyone has read the article. It’s entitled “IRS Faulted on Tax Collect From Expats”. They haven’t received many comments yet. I plan on commenting.
Do you have a link, Ann#1? TIA!
http://blogs.wsj.com/totalreturn/2014/10/01/irs-faulted-on-tax-collection-from-expats/
Since my kids dad is only Canadian, no US connection other than me, I’ve decided to ask him to open a rdsp account for her. Not ideal as his income is high enough there won’t be much for grants but what other option do I have. She was never registered in the US. What they don’t know…well you know what I mean. I don’t really get this system. She wasn’t born in the US, doesn’t have an understanding of what the US even is. How can they claim her like property. Kind of sounds like slavery to me.
Because she wasn’t born there wouldn’t she have to choose to pledge allegence or understand the rights of a us citizen? If she doesn’t understand what that means and can’t do that wouldn’t that be an expatriating act? What would be an expatriating act for her? Wouldn’t simply being born here in Canada and not registering be an expatriating act?
This all is so confusing and in my opinion abusive. I haven’t been able to work since I moved here. Because of my daughter’s disability I’ve come to terms with us never living in the US…mostly because of health care. However I do have family which I would like to be able to visit. And before I married and moved here I worked for a school district for 20 years so I have retirement coming in a few years. That’s going to be another can of worms I bet. But ill need it…right now my income is so low I don’t even meet the minimum required to file. So I haven’t. ..don’t have to worry about fbar I have nothing. And never was on the ex’s accounts.
I wonder when I do have to start filing, because I haven’t had to the last 14 years, will I get a big red flag and put through IRS hell….
That is exactly what you should do right now to start an RDSP. Once your daughter is old enough, she will be eligible for both bonds and grants because the RDSP will then be based on her income. I’m also glad for you that your daughter was born in Canada and never registered in the US. Perhaps one day your ADCS-ADSC donation will have helped the lawsuit that gives her the same rights as any other Canadian.
If you worked in the US for 20 years, you will also have US social security coming to you, which is reported on your Canadian income tax return. I am not sure about the US work pension. I know there is something about that somewhere back on Brock. I’ll check when I get back from a medical appointment that I must leave for.
Your daughter would likely gain US citizenship through you as you lived in the US for the requisite number of years after the age of 14, but you want to make sure of that before you do anything else. Unfortunately, your daughter would likely be entrapped as my son if her disability is a ‘mental incapacity’ and she would not understand the concept of “citizenship”. In that case, a parent, a guardian or a trustee does not have the right to renounce on her behalf, even with a court order.
[[Your daughter would likely gain US citizenship through you as you lived in the US for the requisite number of years after the age of 14, but you want to make sure of that before you do anything else. Unfortunately, your daughter would likely be entrapped as my son if her disability is a ‘mental incapacity’ and she would not understand the concept of “citizenship”. In that case, a parent, a guardian or a trustee does not have the right to renounce on her behalf, even with a court order.
Under AFROYIM V. RUSK if you took the naturalization oath to Canada INTENDING to lose USA citizenship then you lost USA citizenship, but that had to be your intent on that day and not years later or previously. US Dept. of State policy is, if you apply for a US Passport and it comes up that you took that oath, they simply ASK you if you intended to lose USA citizenship. If you reply in the negative then they go ahead and issue the USA passport. If you reply in the affirmative, then they don’t. Have an immigration lawyer look at my bright idea: Take your Canadian passport to the USA consulate to apply for some type of visa. Now, _IF_ they spot your USA birthplace and ask the same question, then if you reply in the affirmative and they issue you the visa, then there is a permanent record that you said you intended to lose USA citizenship, and a permanent record of the USA Government acknowledging that you were no longer a USA citizen or they wouldn’t have issued you a visa for which only non-USA-citizens are eligible. If you renounce, then you are sort of admitting that you are still a USA citizen when you applied to renounce, and, like HIV, you can pass that on to your child if you were not cured when she was born.
She was born before I got my Canadian citizenship. Also a couple years ago I got my us passport renewed, I got told by a nasty border agent that I had to travel on a us passport. He noticed my birthplace on my Canadian passport. He was not nice at all. I was going to visit family.
No one said a thing about my being Canadian.
I did it via mail.
A lot of people got succered by one of those A-hole US border tough guy guards that like to flex their USA muscle to us little Canadians. You can cross on ANY passport as long as it is legal. That does not confirm you accept US citizenship, it is merely a piece of paper you were FORCED to get.
can the banks freeze your account, freeze your funds, if you refuse to provide any information regarding fatca????
Bead girl. No they can’t .
DukeOfDevon, they can’t YET.
Wtf is that supposed to mean? There is an agreement in place between Canada & US that specifically states accounts cannot be closed or frozen . If you had US ‘indicia’ and refused to supply more info, your account info could be given to CRA and then to IRS. This might or might not be a problem .
@Duke of Devon
I think what WhiteKat is saying is… for now… there is an agreement… how do we know a little later… US decides on a whim to change everything to get what they think they are owed… Or whatever they think they can do & our own gov’t just bends over backwards for them… u know… they are bffs