Review Previous Isaac Brock Society Post and Comments re Boris Johnson, Mayor of London
and then listen to this current interview of Mayor Johnson’s feelings about his own US citizenship (he renewed that US passport in 2012):
The Diane Rehm Show – Interview with Boris Johnson, November 13, 2014, which begs someone to contact him again regarding our existence and his possible assistance in the cause as he is one of them there “Accidentals” having apparently left the US when he was five years old. This will best be a job for someone who can get through the layers of bureaucracy to actually reach and communicate with Mr. Johnson.
@murdo Douglas
I got done by the dying mother/passport sting as well. I guess there’s no reason to ask how low they can go. To use a personal tragedy to force me into obtaining a document that would give them justification to kidnap me and hold me for ransom doesn’t seem like the American ideal that they profess. I have been an Australian for just over 20 years, and exclusively so. Now I’m told that I’m an American because of this passport that they told me I must have to visit there (even though I had been traveling there for years on my Aussie passport). I guess that means that because I got this passport in 2013 that they can go back to 1994 and say I didn’t mean the oath I took to Australia. And of course it means that my life spent as a non American is now subject to taxation as one. I couldn’t file if I wanted to, without having to make up numbers. And over the years I have sold several primary residences that were not subject to tax here. I want these criminals out of my life, but to renunciate I would have to acknowledge that I had been a U.S. person over the last 20 years, which I don’t believe is true, so that would mean that I would have to lie under oath and give them something else to use against me. They got this worked out pretty well, and the volume of incidents like yours or mine suggest that none of it is by accident.
@murdo Douglas
I got hit by the same scam. It seems pointless to ask how low they can go. In 2013 I went over to help my mother organise her affairs and move into more appropriate accomodation. I was told that I better have a US passport if I wanted to enter again. I didn’t know they would use the possession of that document as justification to kidnap and hold me for ransom. I have been exclusively Australian for over 20 years. Now they say that doesn’t count because I did what they told me and acquired a U.S. passport, which seemed the only way to see my mother again before she died.
Sorry, repeating myself, didn’t think the first comment went through.
@Blaze – Interestingly I was speaking to some Harvard Thai students and they didn’t realize their king was born in Mt Auburn Hospital just down the road from Harvard Square. There’s a plaque inside the hospital about his birth.
The king would be an excellent allie to this cause because he is an intelligent and fair man. The royal family in Thailand is revered more than any other royals that I know of in the world. Even if you overthrew the government in a military coup, you would still have to go before the king and ask if it was OK. Unfortunately he is quite old and not at all well so he can’t be of much help. The U.S. really wouldn’t dare to try to extort money from him.
Thank you for your post on Boris Johnson, Calgary411. It gave me a moment of hope that they might have made an overreach that would be harmful to them. It also made me feel not quite so stupid that the mayor of London had fallen for the same passport scam that I did. Sadly though, my cynicism has taken over, and I would be quite surprised if they didn’t offer him a pass as long as he keeps his mouth shut about it. I hope I’m wrong.
Hopefully I can save some of you a bit of time by pointing out that the juicy part of the interview runs between 36:55 and about 39:20 of the interview. It took me a lot of time to find this.
I was most impressed with his answer to the question of if he’d pay the capital gains on his residence in the UK to which he emphatically says “NO!” followed by some stupid commentary by the interviewer, who’s tone of voice (to me) suggested that he should pay.
He would be a great ally.
@Blaze
It is all so shameful.
@Polly: The reason I believe they will give Boris a pass is because of past practices.
Penny Pritzker, Hyatt heiress who is worth $1.5 billion, neglected to report $80 million income to IRS due to a “clerical error.” She did eventually report it–on the eve of her hearings to be Secretary of Commerce.
Her punishment? She was appointed Secretary of Commerce the next day–with the full support of both Dems and Repugs.
Hey, $80 million is just pocket change to Penny.
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/05/27/prit-m27.html
There was also tax cheat Timothy Geithner who was appointed Secretary of Treasury after his “careless” and “avoidable” mistakes of failing to report income to IRS.
http://online.wsj.com/articles/SB123258571706004547
The current Secretary of Treasury Jack Lew “didn’t know” he had $56,000 in the Cayman Islands in the very building Obama called the “largest tax scam in the world.”
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/340615/lew-i-didnt-know-my-money-was-invested-cayman-islands-andrew-stiles
Hmmm. I know exactly how much money I have in the Cayman Islands–or anywhere except in my neighbourhood bank where I have been a customer for 33 years!
Yet, the US wants to FATCA those accounts as “offshore.” My bank agrees. I am in the process of transferring all my accounts to a credit union that has made it clear they have no interest in knowing where I was born.
I don’t see any indication Pritzker, Geithner or Lew were made to pay any massive penalties for failure to report. Yet they want to FATCA honest, law-abiding citizens of other countries.
Again, I predict both the IRS and UK banks will ignore BJ’s US place of birth. I still hope he will join in the FATCA fight.
Anyone know how to contact Sweden’s Princess Madeleine. She is now a “US person” because she is living in New York with her American husband. Her baby daughter, Princess Leonore is a U.S. citizen because she was born in New York.
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/340615/lew-i-didnt-know-my-money-was-invested-cayman-islands-andrew-stiles
Will IRS FATCA Princess Madeleine for her accounts in Sweden? My prediction is No.
@Blaze, “Again, I predict both the IRS and UK banks will ignore BJ’s US place of birth. I still hope he will join in the FATCA fight.”
To bring attention to FATCA, his US Citizenship needs to be brought into the fight for the 2015 election when he is likely to run as MP.
@Blaze
That is something for Bopp to sort out!
ProudAussie,
The hypocrisy noted of the *US passport SCAM* we need to watch and record. We ALL hope we can be proven wrong in the hypocrisy of what we are witnessing.
Thanks for relating here your experience!
@Calgary411
I hope I’m wrong too. Maybe I’m just being a little paranoid. But then again, one of my favourite philosophers (Freewheeling Franklin) has said “Just because your paranoid, doesn’t mean people aren’t out to get you”
I am quite troubled by shear volume of people who have had passports imposed on them, only to find out later about all the bad things that come with it. In the governments opinion, it makes me an American and therefore a target. In my opinion, I’m still an Australian who used a U.S. passport because I had to. If they wish to indict me for improper use of a passport, I can see that, and I obviously should have been paying greater attention. But I do not accept that the mere possession of that document makes me into one of their possessions. And I do not accept that some petty bureaucrat can change the last twenty years of my life with the stroke of a pen, just because there might be a buck in it.
Reaching out to Boris Johnson….
Seriously, if you live in or around London consider having several custom party balloons printed with catchy anti-FATCA and “2nd class British Citizen born in the USA” type messages – a big bunch of colorful balloons – with cheeky slogans
Have them delivered to his office (balloon-o-gram style) along with a lovely, warm and sincere letter commiserating on his new 2nd class British Citizenship under the UK FATCA IGA,,, and inviting him to join in the struggle.
Alert the press by sending the same “balloon-o-gram” to their offices as well.
I like your suggestion, Wondering! Especially as Boris Johnson HAS BEEN vocal about his situation.
Vocal is an understatement. He said, on air, that he does not intend to pay the capital gains tax that the IRS feel that they are owed. I would say that he is at least somewhat committed.
@ Calgary,
Re:
I can’t shed much light on it, because passport use in a relinquishment case is iffy, but I am aware of some people who did get a relinquishment-based CLN despite passport use, as they explained they had done so due to misinformation/misunderstanding/bullying.
These cases weren’t simply approved by accident, because I know that in four of them, the consulate official sought guidance from DC on the matter. Of those four, three resulted in CLNs and one didn’t — everyone’s circumstances are a bit different and their files in their entirety are of course different, but it seems obvious that there was some evaluation made, not an out-of-hand rejection (or acceptance, for that matter).
I made a list of links to Brockers’ passport-use-after-relinquishing-act reports in this comment(June 1st at 7:13 pm)
The whole situation seems definitely unfair because DHS was telling people, who self-identified as citizens of a non-US country, that they had to get a US passport to enter the US next time. It seems to me that if DHS had told people that next time you have to have a US passport OR a certificate of loss of nationality (which most people have never even heard until recently), that would be fair. But it seems all they’ve been telling people is that they had to get a US passport – which understandably caused a lot of confusion, and basically trapping some people in a citizenship they didn’t think they had and didn’t want.
If it was all that important to the US they should have all of their border agents ask that travellers state their nationalities, and those who self-identify as American or have a US birthplace should not be permitted to enter the US without a US passport or a CLN, or at least warn them that the next time they try to enter without either, they will be turned away. These half-measures are ridiculous.
Thanks Pacifica777.
I had never heard of a CLN when I was taken aside at LAX, nor did anyone even hint of the existence of such a thing. I only knew two things. One, that I would need to return to the U.S. before long. And two, when visiting the U.S., if a man behind a desk, wearing a badge, tells you to jump, the only appropriate question is “How high?”.
After my OMG moment and subsequent education on the subject, I thought that a CLN would be very desirable even though I don’t think I technically required one as I relinquished in 1994. I emailed the Melbourne consulate for an appointment and didn’t hear back. After three weeks I tried again and got a reply that said I should talk to Sydney. I emailed them and heard straight back, they said it would require two interviews, and the first could be done by phone because of the distance. Later in the day they requested some details which I sent shortly thereafter. No more than 10 minutes later they called out of the blue, and an Aussie working there told me my request for an interview had been rejected because I held a U.S. passport. Now, you and I both know that that is not legal, and I am entitled to an interview, but apparently they’re allowed to make up the law as they go along. I explained my situation and that I had only ever used the passport once because of my late mother. Also that I had been entering the U.S. on my Australian passport for the preceding eight years. I mentioned that I hadn’t lived in the U.S. since 1980, hadn’t voted since 1976, had no business, bank accounts, address ect. and had given away land I owned there. He didn’t care, his mind was made up. Thanks to you guys I knew I had a right to an interview so I insisted. He didn’t like being questioned but said he would ask the vice counsel. Maybe 20 minutes later she phoned back, also without warning, and her message was that I better renounce because my relinquishment would be rejected. She repeated that message more than a few times before I pointed out that I really couldn’t do that because I would have to be a U.S. citizen to renounce and I didn’t believe that I was one. This would have put me in the position of swearing an oath that I knew was untrue. It would also put me at the total mercy of the IRS for the 20 years that I had been an Australian and didn’t concern myself with the ever changing tax laws. Anyhow, despite her warnings I insisted that I wished to relinquish and eventually she relented and said she would get her assistant to send me an email so I could make an appointment. I recieved the standard email from my initial contact three days later. Only in the subject heading he had written the word FALSE. This was either a slip up, or demonstration of his absolute power over me. I knew at this point that my application would be sent to Washington along with a recommendation that it be denied. I was still determined to go through the motions and hope someone would show compassion because of my extreme situation. However, after reading murdo douglas(s) post. I pretty much lost all faith in that approach.
Pacifica,
Thanks for the weighing in. As usual, the fine comment I could not give on this subject.
Boris Johnson’s Terrible, Horrible, Very Bad Day…As An American.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2014/11/18/mayor-boris-johnsons-terrible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-day-as-an-american/
I suspect Robert Wood first became aware of Johnson’s statement as a result of Bubblebustin’s comment on I Am Canada Hear Me Roar article.
It may not be quite so easy for the IRS to give Boris a pass now.
Mr. Wood suggests Boris’s next book should be about the plight of Americans abroad.
Thanks for this link, Blaze.
We will want to follow this story to see what the terms *equality* and *hypocrisy* mean…
@George – There’s a way to raise this to Boris direct. If perhaps 5,000 to 10,000 A5 sized flyers were printed (Vistaprint will do 10,000 for about £350 + VAT for colour). If a brightly coloured A5 flyer printed only in BW, the cost would probably be only about 50% – 60% of that.
A team of 25 working 8 hours could probably put them through the mail flap in one afternoon (assuming each person does 50 per hour).
Perhaps the message could be something like this –
Try not to annoy Boris but some sort of message appealing for Boris to get involved in a campaign to win back dual citizen’s financial rights
It’s likely to get some UK media attention (let nationals, local, TV, Radio) about FATCA’s discrimination and how it places a burden on UK/EU citizens others don’t have to bear. It’s better to send a message appealing for help than just try to cut down FATCA as evil. At the end of the day if resident citizens are exempted from FATCA than effectively the clock has been turned back in many ways. Someone needs to write a Highway Code for FATCA what the banks can and cannot do.
Also highlight the Canadian lawsuit and that the same should happen in the UK because FATCA was never properly debated.
I’ve listened to the Boris Johnson’s interview several times, and it’s not clear whether that he’s already sold his house in the UK or not. In any case, should he wish to renounce, being a dual at birth he’d be exempt from the exit tax, provided he certifies 5 years of tax compliance.
We need more details about his state of compliance, and if he is, how he got that way.