After reading the completely unacceptable response to MP Ted Hsu’s order paper question (OPQ 816), WhiteKat decided to reach out, once again (in spite of previous communications being unsatisfying) and this time, write her story from the heart. Her MP, the Hon. John Baird is the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Department that provided this “response.”
I thought it deserved a thread of its own as this letter is a real gem.
WhiteKat:
“Its been awhile since I’ve emailed/mailed any government reps. I was inspired by a comment, written by Stephen Arvay on the Allison Christians post.”
If you have two to four hours to watch the “Stupid Bowl” coming up on Sunday, then you have a few hours per week to read, be informed and write your representatives. We must put the pressure on in volumes of letter, emails, faxes, phone calls!
“I hope lots of you do the same! Yes, the lawsuit is important, but we cannot stop our bitching either!”
“Here is my latest to my MP John Baird.”
I am writing to you about the FATCA IGA with the USA, that was signed by the Conservative government in Feb 2014.
I am very, very sad and totally disillusioned. I cannot believe I have lived in such an innocent state of unknowing for nearly 1/2 a century in that I thought Canada would protect ALL her citizens from foreign threats – not just a subset of them.
Apparently, I am a second class Canadian citizen. You really have no idea how horrible this feels unless it happens to you. It is a living nightmare that I stress about every single day. The last two Canada Days, I have found myself in tears. And if it can happen to me, it can happen to any Canadian.
I don’t remember the first 20 months or so of my life, which was spent in the USA while my Canadian parents lived there. I haven’t got an American bone in my body, but had the misfortune to be born on US soil. I’ve lived and worked only in Canada since moving back ‘home’ as a toddler.
Can you imagine the shock I went through just over two years ago, when I heard about FATCA and discovered that not only was I a delinquent US tax-filer, but was also required to report my Canadian accounts to the FINANCIAL CRIMES ENFORCEMENT NETWORK every year? And worse, my own country was going to shine a light on me so that the IRS would have knowledge of my existence, along with the private details of my bank accounts, most of which are held jointly with my 100% pure Canadian husband. He was not too pleased to say the least, and this has caused big rifts in our marriage.
Please help Mr Baird. I have done nothing wrong, unless to be born on US soil is a crime. How was I to know all these years, that USA was unique in the world with its byzantine ‘place of birth’ taxation laws? I have paid all taxes ever owed to the Canadian government and have been a law abiding citizen and productive member of Canadian society for over 50 years.
I am seriously stressing out, and at age 52 this is not good for my health. I have NO IDEA what to do. I cannot afford the financial costs to get into good standing with the IRS. I estimate 15-20K as I have lots of low-value Passive Foreign Income Corporations (i.e. Canadian mutual funds), several RESPS (one for each of my 3 children), several small RRSPS, and a TFSA (all considered foreign trusts).
Although I thought I was being a responsible parent and adult, saving for my children’s education and my retirement, I have in fact caused nothing but huge problems for myself and family.
I am scared to death of the penalties that IRS will assess for my not reporting my and my husband’s so-called ‘foreign accounts’ to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which is what will happen when my financial institution reports me to the CRA under FATCA.
Did you know that the penalties for not filing FBARS (FOREIGN bank account reports) for my CANADIAN accounts are 50% of the value of the account for each of the last 6 years (i.e. 300% of the value of the account)?
Will the Canadian government take care of my husband and me after we hand over our life savings to the US government?
I would love to renounce US citizenship, but this does not relieve me of past compliance requirements for US tax reporting and FBARs, and in fact puts a red X on me for the IRS. Not only that, but renunciation is expensive! In 2008 it was free. In 2010 it was $450, and in 2014 it was raised to an unbelievable $2,350 (US dollars). I believe Canada charges $100 to renounce Canadian citizenship and that it can be done by mail.
So basically, I am damned if I do, and damned if I don’t. There is NO painless way out of the mess I am in, yet I am just a decent person trying to live an average life. Why is this happening to me? Why is my government not protecting me? Why is it handing me over to the USA which will allow it to literally destroy me and my Canadian born spouse and children?
I don’t know which is worse – the threat of financial devastation from the USA simply for spending the first 20 months of my life there, or the horrible feeling that the ground I thought was beneath my feet all these decades was never really there! Sometimes, I think it is the latter – it is that soul destroying.
Please, is there someone in the Conservative party who actually cares about the millions of Canadians who are suffering like I and my family are, or is everyone just concerned about keeping their jobs and their pensions? I have truly lost faith in Canadian government.
Very sad second-class Canadian
Kxxxxxxx Pxxxx (name not withheld from Mr. Baird)
Nepean ON
We may not be able to kill off FATCA completely, however, we can still write the ‘rules of the road’ on how it’s implemented. Resident citizens of their own country should be exempted from FATCA. Full Stop.
The US Government has no moral right to that data.
Great letter WhiteKat. Thanks for reminding us that we need to continue to work on this FATCA mess. FBARS are the biggest atrocity. Although I feel this is an unjust law and so will never file an “information report”. The US and IRS use fear to attempt to keep us as financial slaves. Our Canadian bank accounts are none of their business. We can make the information inaccessible by going to credit unions which have limited FATCA reporting requirements while the lawsuit is pending.
I wonder if Mr. Baird will respond and what he might say to your insightful letter.
@WhiteKat
You speak from the heart for many of us. Thank you.
I don’t expect Baird or anyone else in the govt to respond. I certainly will never vote for them again.
None of our situations can be adequately addressed in “25 words or less” and that’s why I love to read heartfelt and beautifully expressed letters like WhiteKat’s. Yet I fear that MPs like Baird who is one of the most close-minded, ham-fisted, wrong-footed of the Cons (ranks up there with Harper) cannot and will not “get it”, not ever. However, it’s always good to know these entreaties are at the very least assigned a code by the MP’s staff and if enough of them are entered as “anti-FATCA-IGA” then the tally will probably reach the MP’s desk. I’m working on one for our new Con MP. I’m sure he’ll be interested to know that I did not vote for him because there is no forgiveness from me for the FATCA capitulation.
Fantastic letter @whitekat. Well articulated. I hope the Minister gives you the courtesy of an equally articulate response.
Other comments to this starting here: http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2015/01/29/professor-allison-christians-posts-responses-to-questions-on-canadas-adoption-of-fatca-iga/comment-page-1/#comment-5416676
I’m in exactly the same situation as you.
Been living in France since 1973, 50 years old.
Can’t afford to comply
But, unlike you, I’m not afraid at all because FATCA AND CBT are both illegal to the US constitution.
An american is not afraid of americans.
I just hope it helps. They all seem so deaf dumb and blind when this kind of information is all around them. One would think that Nina Olson`s report would be enough to call people to action and change. But no- one has to write personal letters in addition and over and over again.
Anyway- yeah- well written. It just makes me so sad to read those words and I can’t understand why those people are not moved by them.
Steven, I like your attitude! We need more with your point of view.
I feel your pain, WhiteKat. Your situation is shared by many of us. Thanks for stating it so clearly and in such a heartfelt manner. Your last two paragraphs sum it up well – the US can do what they want, but it is the betrayal by the Canadian government that is far worse. They have been abject failures in their most basic functions – protecting their citizens and the sovereignty of the country. In response to your question about whether there is anyone in the Conservative party who cares about our suffering, I think they have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. Based on my observations, there is overwhelming evidence that either none of them care about doing what is right, or they don’t have the integrity and courage to stand up for what is right.
@Roxie and Steven.
I will let you in on a little secret. I am WAY more MAD, and SAD, than terrified. 🙂
@CanadianCop. It’s both. They don’t care and they have no integrity or courage. The only one who has shown an ounce of honesty was Mike Allen when he told us what this is about: “Congress has spoken.”
@WhiteKat; GreT letter. Thank you. Sadly, I predict you will get a robo reply if you get anything. My Con MP has not replied to me since he sent me an FBAR information sheet three years ago informing me of my obligation to file with the IRS–despite the fact I told him I had relinquished my U.S. Citizenship in 1973 when I became a Canadian citizen.
I was naive then. I did not yet know that Congress speaks for Canada’s Parliament.
This is an eloquent cri de coeur by someone in circumstances very like my own (born in the US of Canadian parents, raised in Canada since age four, never worked or earned in the US). What I still don’t understand is what the consequences might be and why one should be so afraid. If I own only Canadian-registered mutual or exchange trade funds, along with an RRSP, a TFSA and a company pension, and the IRS has no authority to collect taxes or penalties across the border and the Canada Revenue Agency won’t do it for them, what do I or the letter writer have to fear? There is the chance that one might be vulnerable while on US soil, but so far no one on this site has reported any difficulty in crossing the border or visiting the US. What am I missing? Or are people, like those who foolishly or impetuously jumped into the early so-called amnesty programs, being needlessly spooked into bad decisions. I’d appreciate any and all comments because I am seriously confused and ambivalent about what to do. Thanks.
WhiteKat — and other Facebookers,
Consider posting on Ted Hsu’s Facebook page what you sent to your Conservative MP.
See: http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2015/01/29/professor-allison-christians-posts-responses-to-questions-on-canadas-adoption-of-fatca-iga/comment-page-1/#comment-5423970
@ DMichael
I would say the only consequence, at the moment in Canada, is that you will be deemed to be “recalcitrant” and without your permission all of your personal financial information will be sent from your bank to the CRA and from there to the IRS. In some other countries, accounts have been closed and even frozen.
@WhiteKat, your letter was terribly sad.
On October 15 2013 I sent a letter, not as heartfelt as yours, to Minister Baird.
His cold-hearted reply five months later (March 11, 2014) was “….Minister Flaherty, National Revenue Minister Kerry-Lynne D. Findlay and I are working together to ensure we have a solution in place. Our policy objective is to ensure that U.S. nationals residing in Canada can abide by their nationally based tax obligations to the United States in a manner that is compliant to the Canada-U.S. tax treaty and Canadian law…”
Your donations to ADCS made it possible for us to sue the National Revenue Minister mentioned by Minister Baird.
Then we can just imagine Baird’s reply to WhiteKat.
“…US nationals residing in Canada, blah, blah… a manner that is compliant to the Canada-U.S. tax treaty and Canadian law…” I’m sorry — he’s an immoral bastard!
In http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2015/01/29/professor-allison-christians-posts-responses-to-questions-on-canadas-adoption-of-fatca-iga/comment-page-1/#comment-5416556, canoe said:
I guess Baird’s and the Harper Conservative government response to (z) of Liberal MP Ted Hsu’s questions were in the same vein.
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DMichael. Bingo! There isn’t much they can do. If you have a brokerage account, you can expect to be presented at some stage with a W8Ben form. If you consider yourself a US person, you are not supposed to use or sign the form. If you consider yourself to be only a Canadian, you can sign it.
Let’s say your FI knows you are a US cit. They very likely will report to CRA who will probably send it on to IRS.
After that,who knows? Perhaps nothing , perhaps a letter or 2?
Or you could purchase your mutual funds and ETFs from a non reporting credit union.
Whitekat, Thank you for the letter and sharing your feelings. I read every letter on here and really try to see how everyone involved feels. If you asked me how Mr. Baird would reply, well, we have all seen their replies before. Sorry, but I wouldn’t piss on him if he was on fire. These people committed TREASON and should be dealt with for this Canadians need to see this as a wake up call in a huge way. The government has gone too far in stripping the public of being able to do anything about treason. Yes, these people are heartless and their actions spoke clearly. I know a few politicians went to bat for us and they are the only reason I would never say “They are not all bad.”. There are a few who are in it for the good of this country and who fully support the people no matter where they were born. I wish you a great response, however, you can’t blame me for saying I have no trust in most of them. I would find new faith if Harper or ANY of his criminals would answer your letter, in a public forum either on TV or Radio in a live question and answer session for the public to see or hear. when cows fly, this will happen. They want their secret kept away from the public period.
Typo, “They are not all bad”…. Late night here, just got in….
@DMichael
Whatever choice you make will have its price, whether in terms of monetary cost or mobility. The choice is solely yours. I entered an amnesty program as it was the best option available to me at the time. In my mind, it was the difference between being a wilful tax evader or not. Not all of us have the option of whether we’ll do business with the US or enter the the US again. That is the reality of the situation. Good luck.
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WhiteKat: Wonderful letter! I hope you will share it with Tricia for inclusion (minus any personal identification) in the package of material that she and John Richardson (I believe) are going to be compiling to send to the US Senate Finance Committee.