How #FATCA media attacks tens of thousands of innocents, including kids.
The 1st FATCAt, Swedish Princess Leonore, was born in 2012. She should yearly report herself to US police agency FINCEN-The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, due to her assumed extensive joint assets stored in the tax haven Sweden.
This is a hot topic. The King of Sweden never talks to the press about family matters. That’s why we here at the Rag (where we don’t print anything that doesn’t already offend ourselves”) are so happy to have been granted exclusive interview rights with the King of Sweden–to get down to the bottom of this.
Q: “We hear that your son-in-law is a FATCAt American, is that true?”
A: “I won’t comment about anything said about anybody that my daughter married”
Q: “Let’s talk about your grand children, then–is it true that they are FATCAts too?”
A: “I understand that you ask pointed questions. We have between 50,000 and 100,000 people living in our country whom USA calls “US persons for tax purposes”. In Swedish, we call all of our residents “the little people”, although that is sort of said lovingly tongue-in-cheek. My first grandaughter is automatically a US citizen, and there is nothing to be done about that until she is 18 and can make her own decision” ” My next grandchild is due this summer.”…. “We understand that the Swedish media, the German media, and pretty much every media in the Milky Way now assumes that US citizens and US persons are all FATCAt tax cheats” “That’s what the media does–it joins up with civil governments to paint the picture that the politicians want, so they can get elected. Back when the monarchy ran things, that wasn’t needed”
Q: “Doesn’t that bother you?”
A: “Of course it does……every single one of those persons is a resident of my kingdom. They all pay Swedish taxes. We even expect them to pay a tax on their tv. They should all be assumed to have done what they should have done, unless of course they actually didn’t. All of those things are in our constitution. We call it ‘Grundlagen’, or ground rules or basic law”
Q: “But what about all of those Americans in USA that are sending their money to Sweden–in order to avoid taxation?” ….
A> Read it all here> https://bancdelasteroideb612.wordpress.com/2015/01/26/the-2nd-royal-fatca-t-tax-evader-to-be-born-in-stockholm-this-summer-4/
Shows just what a royal pain FATCA is.
It’s all the hilarious truth, an obscene US joke – that our (our other than US) governments need to be let in on.
Great piece of *JOURNALISM*, I’d say! Thanks for an example of what journalism SHOULD AND COULD BE.
It is obscene that Fatca supporters think it is ok to confiscate monies from the wealthy expats abroad. They justify it and legalise it with the notion that it wont hurt them too much and they wont get any sympathy either.
But extortion remains extortion, doesn’t it?
I love the “interview”–great independent reporting from the asteroid!
I started tweeting about this last night. Hopefully some North American news outlets will pick up on the story too. Pretty rich that the Swedish royals are getting swept up in the FATCA net. “Exceptional” diplomacy by the U.S. govt!
Related, satire from the tax haven of Sweden:
The Diary of Aunt Fran — in hiding from #FATCA
https://fbariswrong.wordpress.com/2015/01/26/diary-of-aunt-fran-in-hiding-from-fatca/
Enjoyed this satire, and the Diary of Aunt Fran.
@bubblebustin,
the play on words – re FATCA being a royal pain is too funny! Would make a good headline over an article listing all the royals around the world who the US considers ‘US taxable persons’ solely because of a US birthplace. And a great post title here at IBS.
Yes, badger, just how many royalty are affected by FATCA? And of those who are, how many will ever surface as being “victims” of such? Will there be fairness in the treatment of royals vs minnows? Boris Johnson, although not royalty, is assumed to have never received preferential treatment in that he, by his own accord determined he had a tax liability with the US, HOWEVER, since his decision to square himself with the IRS, has he been cut a better deal somehow? That I would personally like to know, you know because of the fact that similarly situated taxpayers should be treated similarly.
@JC
Nice post, but unfortunately all too true. It might even downplay the problem. I remember reading about one grandmother who was living in that notorious tax haven known as Sweden under the pretense that she had married a Swede decades earlier. She immediately turned herself in to the authorities at the first chance. Unfortunately, her Swedish retirement was set up in a way that she had ended up with huge numbers of accounts (something like one year) and got absolutely soaked.
The king of Thailand is a U.S. person. Do we assume he will pay his U.S. Taxes? or will we have to put a lein on his Kingdom.
The sons of Sadam Hussain were U.S. persons, but our soldiers killed them, have we gone after the billions they stored in Switzerland?
Oh, the deposes president of Egypt Morsi’s sons are also U.S. People will we be able to get our share of their assets?
and the many others in the Royal families around the world who brought their wives here for birthing who now have children who will inherit large fortunes, can we get our share of their inheritance? Just wondering.
The children of foreign diplomats born in the US do not become US persons at birth. This probably also applies to children of royalty if they are born on US soil. I don’t know whether it applies to children of foreign embassy employees, but would imagine it does. I know someone who has this situation and despite having been born in and living in the US for over 15 years, this person was not a US citizen.
Maybe. Maybe not. It’s all a question that needs expensive lawyers to answer.
The Child is Chris Oneil’s. He’s not a diplomat.
They are all princesses of provinces and Madde is only 2nd in line. Does USA recognize those titles?
Prince Harry? Prince Andrew? Duchess of this and Duchess of that?
Mayor of London?
I hope that Sweden has to pay a bucket load of money to find out. Then they know at the top level what it is that they are dealing with.
@bubblebustin,
re; “….similarly situated taxpayers should be treated similarly…..”
We already know that they are not treated similarly – courtesy of the very instructive story of Timmy Turbotax Geithner. Despite his numerous US tax failings – over a period of years http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB123187503629378119 , and despite his related education and work experience, he paid no penalty, and he was named and confirmed as US Treasury Secretary http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB123258571706004547 – and went on to threaten, and torment those with fewer assets and NO US economic connections.http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB123198429552584175 http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/03/03/geithner-touts-tackling-tax-evaders-failing-pay-taxes/ http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB123258571706004547
And, just to be non-partisan, there is the failure of Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan and his wife to report substantial trust income; http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/ryan-releases-tax-returns-for-last-two-years-bm6hj2b-166584486.html http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2012/09/23/ryans-amended-returns-offer-more-questions-than-answers/ .
And the result?
Royals and the politically connected who are useful to US interests ( ex. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmud_Karzai http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/14/AR2010101407927.html http://www.thenational.ae/business/property/a-karzai-in-a-storm-of-controversy ) will get a different treatment.
@badger
Great research. Yes the irony that someone would spend a few dollars on a tax processing program would fare better for tax evasion than someone who didn’t even know about the requirement to file is forced to spend thousands on professional fees just to prove they don’t owe any taxes.