Cross-posted from ADCS-ADSC blog
First, congratulations are in order. Once again your donations have allowed the Alliance For The Defence of Canadian Sovereignty to achieve your funding goals. The third $100,000 cheque is on its way to your lawyer. There are some (mainly in the compliance industry) who had hoped for a failure of funding. You have not been deterred. Your funding of this lawsuit has been an “island of positive hope” in a “sea of negativity”. You have also sent a message that your lawsuit will not fail because of a lack of funding. Congratulations!
I want to reemphasize that your funding goals have been achieved because you have focused on what YOU want to achieve. You have not focused on the obstacles or on your detractors. We are in a marathon and not a sprint. We need to stay focused on OUR GOALS. We must not focus on those who want us to fail.
Your FATCA lawsuit is historic and is setting an example for people in other countries. I predict that organized opposition to FATCA will begin in Europe. Organized opposition to FATCA is essential. But, we cannot let our focus on FATCA obscure the need to bring an end to U.S. citizenship-based (AKA “place of birth”) taxation. After all:
FATCA is the tool to enforce U.S. citizenship-based “place of birth taxation”. Therefore, a separate goal is to bring an end to “place of birth” taxation. Think of how unfair it is to levy taxes on people based on their “place of birth” (and this is going on the 21st century).
“It’s unjust. It’s inhumane. I never chose where I was born!”
Meanwhile, back in the Homeland …
In previous posts, I have drawn attention to the fact that tax reform is under serious consideration. It is necessary. It is going to happen. I have noted that Senator Orrin Hatch is now the Chair of the Senate Finance Committee and that the “tax reform train is leaving the station“. I remind you that an earlier report by the Republican wing of the Senate Finance Committee stated that Americans abroad should be taxed according to the principles of “residence based taxation”. On January 25, 2013 Senator Hatch in a speech at the Brookings Institution stated that U.S. corporations should be subjected to “territorial taxation”. How could the environment be better than this? To date, Americans abroad feel they have not been heard. To date, Americans abroad feel they have been victimized by Homeland politicians who neither understand nor care about the difficulties they face. Senator Hatch has divided the Senate Finance Committee into various sub-committees.
Update: @GOPSenFinance Forms Tax Reform Working Groups http://t.co/TxK2sBeemf – #Americansabroad get chance to educate @SenSchumer
— Citizenship Lawyer (@ExpatriationLaw) January 17, 2015
The great news is that the sub-committee includes some of the Homeland politicians who are in the greatest need of our educational guidance!
We must commit ourselves to the goal, of ensuring that the reality of “U.S. Citizenship Abroad” is understood in the legislative process. We must take the positive and affirmative steps of educating the Senate Finance Committee. Our goal is to guide the Committee to recommend “residence-based taxation for DNA American citizens abroad. There are some who believe that this is NOT an achievable goal. There are some who say that the U.S. will NEVER abandon “citizenship-based taxation”. They can think what they want. They can say what they want. They can attempt to discourage you if they want. Their only purpose is to distract you from achieving your goals. You achieved your ADCS funding goals by focusing on YOUR objectives and not thinking about your detractors. Similarly, to persuade the the U.S. to move to “residence-based taxation” you must focus on YOUR objective and not worry about the detractors.
As the great American industrialist Henry Ford was fond of saying:
Likes the quote: "Whether you think you can, or you think you can't–you're right." http://t.co/vwOaVCoLXy via @goodreads
— Citizenship Lawyer (@ExpatriationLaw) January 26, 2015
As was expressed in the following comment at the Isaac Brock Society:
We have nothing to lose by trying to influence the Committee. I don’t know about you but if corporations manage to get RBT and we do nothing, I for one, would feel miserable and regretful for not having tried to get the same for us, our kids, and future generations.
The opportunity is there! The situation is urgent. As the recent interview by Keith Redmond indicates, U.S. citizens abroad are being forced to renounce their citizenship! For those who haven’t heard Mr. Redmond’s interview, I highly recommend that you listen to it here:
Next steps, moving forward, educational outreach to the Senate Finance Committee …
Why do I have the sinking feeling that we’re going to be forgotten once again? This speech by Sen. Hatch is strictly about tax relief for corporations. Does he mean a territorial taxation system across the boards or just territorial taxation for corporations? Everything I read here seems to point to the latter. I am very happy that Sen. Hatch is bringing up the subject but he carefully qualifies what he is talking about by the use of such as phrases as “reforming our business tax system” and “What we mean by a territorial tax system is not taxing foreign-source business income ….” . Well, what about *our* pension income and *our* mutual fund earnings and *our* income from “foreign” health benefits, registered savings funds, etc., etc.? Are we the proverbial chopped liver?
That’s exactly why we must make the case directly. Nobody will do it for us. Our goal is to provide evidence to the Senate Finance Committee. We must demonstrate the harm that the complete “citizenship-based taxation” regime is inflicting on Americans abroad. Our goal is to provide evidence that the harm inflicted on Americans abroad is forcing them to renounce their U.S. citizenship. If we achieve this educational goal, we have set the stage for Congress to legislate appropriate changes. If, after having made our very best case, and provided our very best educational efforts, Congress does not make the required changes, we will seek relief in the U.S. courts. (In fact, work on this initiative has already begun.) I repeat, we WILL be seeking relief in the U.S. courts.
How you can and MUST help …
I do not believe that that Congress is either malicious or vindictive. I do believe that they are ignorant and have been seduced by the “Myth Of The American Abroad”. The opposite of the truth is NOT the lie. The opposite of the truth is the “Myth”. Therefore, we must dispel the myths. We can achieve this only if you are willing to share your story. We can achieve this only if you can convey your pain, your fear, your terror, and how the policies of the U.S. Government have destroyed the lives of you and your families. They must understand that people are being forced to renounce their U.S. citizenship to protect themselves and their families from the tyranny of the U.S. government. The deadline is February 14, 2015.
February 14, 2014 – You are invited to come to Toronto, Canada, where …
There will be a forum where you will be invited to speak directly to the Senate Finance Committee. You will have the opportunity to appear on camera. You will have the opportunity to describe in detail how difficult it is to both comply with the U.S. laws governing U.S. citizens abroad and have any kind of life. In other words, our goal is to create a number of video testimonials. (For those who are fearful of revealing your identities arrangements will be made so that your faces are obscured.) Each video testimonial will be paired with a written statement. We strongly urge you to participate in this. At the very least, Congress must understand that people are forced to renounce their U.S. citizenship as a defensive measure.
To put it simply: Congress must understand how the community of U.S. citizens abroad (the best ambassadors that America could ever have) is being destroyed. This is not about tax compliance. It’s not about accountants and lawyers. It’s not about academics. It’s not about partisan politics. It’s not about class warfare. It’s certainly not about tax evasion and offshore accounts. It’s not about a bunch of theoretical garbage. It’s about people.
It’s about people with real lives, who are trying to exercise their constitutional liberties to pursue happiness in the form they desire. Instead they are being forced to renounce (either formally or informally) their U.S. citizenship. It’s about the right of people to live normal lives. It’s about being able to “live as a U.S. citizen abroad”.
If you don’t’ want to appear on video or if you don’t want to come to Toronto, you can prepare your own video testimonial and forward it to us. If you don’t want to appear on on video, we still want your written statements.
Please do NOT assume that your contribution doesn’t matter! Your contribution does matter!
Everybody matters. Therefore everybody has an obligation to contribute! Don’t get me wrong. I don’t mean “equal contribution”. I do mean that I want you to do what you can! We need your story. There are (apparently) 7.6 million Americans abroad. That’s a population bigger than many U.S. states. The votes of Americans abroad are believed to have made George Bush president in 2000. You can make a difference.
What about all the previous submissions that have been made?
We will also be organizing all previous submissions made to the House Ways and Means Committee. Many of these submissions have been discussed here.
Dr. Kish and I have made earlier submissions to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee on Citizenship-based taxation (discussed here). We expect to update these submissions (with appropriate revisions).
Harvesting comments on various internet posts …
Some people have invested considerable time in posting “educational comments” on various blogs (especially Robert Wood’s blog). I suggest that the comments of some of the most prolific commenters should be organized and included. In many cases, the comments on the blog posts are actually better than the posts. If you are one of those commenters, we need you! We need you to organize your comments by theme. We need you to help identify who are the consistently best commenters. Those comments need to be organized and become part of the record.
We need your logistical help and support …
As you can see, we are embarking on a big project. We need your stories. We need your support. We need your positive energy. We need your logistical help. If you are willing to help us please let us know. What I need to impress on you is that we have approximately 2 weeks to accomplish this! Contact us directly if you are willing to help. We will be providing additional information in the next few days and will be asking for specific help with specific tasks. In the same way that the Senate Finance Committee has its “sub committees”, we will have our “sub committees”.
Some closing thoughts motivated by President Obama …
On January 20, 2015 President Obama delivered his annual “State of the HOMELAND Union Address“. It was full of the usual platitudes. But, there was one comment that (at least for me) really confirmed the difficulties of “U.S. Citizenship Abroad”.
The President explained:
Seven years ago, Rebekah and Ben Erler of Minneapolis were newlyweds. (Laughter.) She waited tables. He worked construction. Their first child, Jack, was on the way. They were young and in love in America. And it doesn’t get much better than that.
Our goal is to ensure that in a future “State of the Union Address” a future president will say:
“They were young and love AS AMERICANS. And it doesn’t get much better than that.”|
Keep your focus. Keep your faith. Keep your enthusiasm. Believe in our goal. This is about YOU. It is NOT about them!
P.S. In my first post on the Alliance blog, I reminded you that:
But, when it comes to opposing injustice, the simple truth is that:
Some people make things happen.
Some people watch things happen.
Some people ask “What happened”?
You are in a position to “make things happen”.
How many *Accidental Americans* knew anything about applying for the draft? I, on behalf of my Canadian-born and raised son, knew nothing about this — it was NOT on my radar as I didn’t even realize that my Canadian-born son would be considered a *US citizen*. I do know from reading, NOW, that even those with some *mental incapacity* must register for the US draft, with the help of someone. That same person, though, could not have the help of someone in renouncing an automatically-obtained US-defined US citizenship.
@Calgary
Are you kidding? That is unbelievable. I recently read, with regard to immigrants to the US with the incapacity to form intent, that the oath is waived and yet, they still become citizens. One would think they could extend the same to your son and all the others in this same catch-22.
Gosh, it never occured to me to tell my son to register for the draft and I had registered him as a birth abroad. He had a passport when he was younger (one of the 5 year ones which we just never renewed). He visited my family in the US. But he was never “American.” And in spite of being at the beginning of his career in a field where jobs are much more available than in Canada, he made the decision to renounce. Because he knew this was his home.
@Dash
There you go again. You wrote:
“If you’ve renounced and draw attention to that fact, no US Senator in their right mind is going to perceive you as having “skin in the game”. You can’t vote and you can’t donate to their reelection campaign.”
I have family members in the same situation, they are all contemplating renouncing. I also have family members in the Homeland who are appalled about the situation. They will NOT be voting for Democrats any longer. So if your Senator “friend’ is a Democrat, please do pass that on to her. Moreover, I am contributing to the ADSC-ADCS lawsuit as well as the BOPP Lawsuit.
I can trace my ancestry back to the Revolutionary War. Can you? I have skin in the game as long as the blood in my veins is American, is yours?
You also wrote:
“I spent some quality time with a senior US Senator just two weeks ago. She’s already focused on her 2016 reelection campaign. I have “skin in the game” because I vote and I’ve indirectly (through my employer) donated to her. If you are renouncing and draw attention to the fact, you are exposing the weakest card in your hand. Terrible poker strategy.”
If you are voting for Democrats, you are voting against expats — Terrible poker strategy if you think Democrats can conjure up any votes here.
way back when in 1980 i took the oath of canadian citzenship it was with the intent of protecting myself if america were to reintroduce the draft.
this was during the time of the iran hostage crisis and president carter was toying with the idea of brining the draft back.
something i knew i wanted no part of.
i even more so today i want no part of america!!!!
Where do we send our written statements? Can they be signed “name withheld”? I believe the Ways and Means Committee required people’s real names, am I right?
From a very early comment from me (my son was 37 then; he is now almost 41). Whether or not there is NOW a draft and whether or not, penalties would be implemented for not registering, indeed the US selective service registration requirement is there:
*Now a dead link. Try this: https://www.sss.gov/fswho.htm
Whether or not the penalty still applies, I don’t know — it is not referred to in the new link.
http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/defenseandsecurity/a/draftreg.htm
A previous comment from “Anne Frank”,
@MuzzledNoMore
We envision presenting this as one large package. There is power in numbers. So please send to me:
nobledreamer16 at gmail dot com
Of course, anyone is free to send on their own. I don’t know yet, where to send. I am not aware that the SFC has asked for submissions. Also, I do not know if they will/will not accept without real name. If you send it to us, we will find a way to include it without your real name.
Speaking about Register for the Draft, when my son when to the US to get a SS Number in order to file back taxes to renounce, he was asked at least 3 times if he had registered for the draft, he was stunned. He said No and they asked him again, are you sure you did not Register for the Draft, he said NO. Then she went on and ask other questions and then she would come back and ask again Did you Register for the Draft, he said NO you have asked me that several times. He said she just Shook her head and made a face like she was disgusted that he had not registered.
I don’t know if this is relevant, but I’d like to suggest avoiding the term “expat”. It usually refers to people sent by their companies to work abroad temporarily, for whom the FEIE was intended, and not the best example of a nonresident for RBT. The full word “expatriate” is even worse, because in US law it means someone who renounced/relinquished US citizenship, not a US citizen living abroad. Also, people are usually not sympathetic to “expats” as they are seen as wealthy (indeed, people who use the FEIE have an average income higher than residents of any US state). Finally, it seems to me that “expat” is nothing but a fancy word for “migrant” or “immigrant”, but only used to refer to immigrants from developed countries or those of a higher social/economic status.
The technical term to refer to people affected by CBT is “nonresident citizen”. It’s not a single word, but it correctly includes those abroad on temporary assignments, those who migrated permanently, and those who never migrated and have always been citizens of the country where they live but are also US citizens by descent. If you want a single word, I suggest “immigrant”, “emigrant” or “migrant”. It doesn’t include citizens by descent but it’s better than “expat”. “Legal immigrant” is also good and has a very positive connotation in the US. Or just use the common “Americans abroad”.
I also refrain from mentioning “working abroad” beacuse this excludes a lot of people: children, students, retirees, spouses who don’t work, those unemployed, those who can’t work because of a disability, and those who live from renting or investing. Emphasizing work could result in a mere expansion of the FEIE instead of RBT.
To clarify, I meant using these terms when communicating with Congress.
I also avoid using “overseas” because technically it excludes Canada and Mexico.
@Shadow Raider
I agree, “expat” is an informal word (slang) which can be interpreted in various ways. “Non-resident citizen” is more technically correct, particularly for dealing with legal interpretations.
Thanks for these suggestions for terminology in communications with the Senate Finance Committee, Shadow Raider. What you point out makes good sense.
Is there a word to describe a person who is willful, non-compliant (no FBARs ever filed), recalcitrant (will not sign any “W” forms), criminal (according to U.S. tax law), all-Canadian but formerly a GC holder (no official confirmation though)? There are so many people who don’t fit into any neat slot and are extremely difficult to describe. I fully support this initiative and would dearly love to help but I think my particular muddled situation would be a liability to the effort. It’s bad enough that I’m now a liability to my formerly American husband who has a CLN. I’m certain Schumer and his ilk would never understand or have any empathy for likes of me.
Embee…..you’ve just described me perfectly. I also was wondering if I had anything to add to this discussion that would have a positive influence. I’d like to say that if I knew what I know now, there’s no way in the world I would have married an American citizen, but proving any damage so far (other than emotional, wasted LCUs) beyond limiting myself in so many investment ways would be difficult. I’m quite convinced the worst is yet to come for my wife and me.
This might seem off topic but some of you might want to comment at the following blog.
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2015/01/tax-haven-usa-vortex-shaped-hole-global-financial-transparency.html
@ PierreD
Perhaps “non” describes us: non-compliant, non-resident and non-citizen (from the U.S. point of view) but still subject to U.S. tax tyranny and threatened by the FATCA witch hunt. And of course, persona non grata to the Canadian government and our local banks.
@EmBee,
That’s a good one: US Nons!
Thanks everyone, for your ideas on how to state things and so on. In order to be ready on time it would be very good if we could keep our focus on;
1) written statements that can be sent to me for submission to the SFC
*I will post a list (later this evening) of conditions that could be included as a basis for writing, if helpful
*I would appreciate any suggestions as to where to find comments outside of Brock
2) those who can, come to Toronto on Feb 28 for video/written statements (or even just to attend the forum)
As there are various opinions being offered concerning renunciation, the post clearly states this:
“Our goal is to provide evidence that the harm inflicted on Americans abroad is forcing them to renounce their U.S. citizenship. If we achieve this educational goal, we have set the stage for Congress to legislate appropriate changes. If, after having made our very best case, and provided our very best educational efforts, Congress does not make the required changes, we will seek relief in the U.S. courts. (In fact, work on this initiative has already begun.) I repeat, we WILL be seeking relief in the U.S. courts.”
@ FromTheWilderness
Nons r us! Nous sommes nons! Just say no to nons! Send in the nons! Nons get nothing but grief! There could be lots of nons slogans but sadly nons remain nons until something is done to break through the U.S. intransigence about adopting RBT.
Why don’t we just refer to ourselves as “US subjects”, as a subject is defined as “a person who is under the dominion or rule of a sovereign.”
I’d think most of us would agree that the US doesn’t consider any of us to be of value other than to pay US taxes.
@Bubblebustin,
US subjects, that’s about what they consider us — there to be subjugated.
The irony is that UK, which still has a category of people called “British subjects” does not tax them, which may have something to do with what happened when they tried taxing some “British subjects” back in 1776.
The US government is so F#&%ing drunk on power that they really believe they can do whatever the H%ll they want and everybody is just going to bend over and take it.
That is why I renounced. Because I refuse to take it any longer.
End of rant, at least for the moment.
I think we need a ‘Comment HERE if you are ANGRY and need to vent’ post.
Chuck Schumer’s myth of FATCATS making a bunch of cash in the US and leaving the country exposed — They do NOT need to renounce US citizenship, they just move to PUERTO RICO!
Meanwhile, the US continues its FATCA Search and Destroy mission across the rest of the planet hunting down and smoking out everyone else with “indicia” of possible US personhood.
And if they don’t like Puerto Rico, they can move to the US Virgin Islands for another sweetheart deal, get this, a 90% reduction in corporate and personal income taxes! Good for them, but bad for every other deemed US person living in another country.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/janetnovack/2015/01/27/puerto-rico-expands-tax-haven-deal-for-americans-to-its-own-emigrants/
http://www.newsweek.com/2014/09/19/made-america-offshore-tax-haven-269135.html
Am I the only way who sent in a submission to the Ways and Means Committee, but can no longer find it on the list?