cross-posted from Alliance for the Defence of Canadian Sovereignty
Greetings:
On behalf of the ADCS Board of Directors, and on behalf of ALL those affected by the injustices of FATCA and U.S. “place of birth taxation”:
1. I thank you for your continued support. Once again you have met the funding goal.
2. I congratulate you for being the one group of people in the world that has the courage to “stand up” to FATCA.
3. I acknowledge that your funding is coming from people ALL around the world. Canada may be the “battle ground”. But, all peoples and countries have an interest in stopping FATCA.
Once again, the funding goal has been achieved by “small donors” with “big commitments and big dreams”. There has NOT and (I suspect WILL NOT) be a “deep pockets” donor. But, that’s okay. I would not want the financial viability of your lawsuit dependent on the decisions of a small number of people. From the beginning, I have been completely confident that the funding is guaranteed precisely because of the large base of our funding. As we move further along, and more people learn of FATCA, I predict that the funding will become easier and easier. I would rather have smaller donations from a large group of people than larger donations from a small group of people.
There is a limited number of potential large donors.
There is NO LIMIT to the number of “middle class hard working people” who will have their lives destroyed by FATCA if this is not stopped.
President Obama believes that the key to a strong American economy is a strong middle class. FATCA and U.S. “place of birth taxation”, will destroy the possibility of those affected by FATCA, having a “middle class lifestyle” outside the United States. Speaking of President Obama, in his weekly radio address where he was discussing trade (priming the pump for the TPP) and the rule role of America in the world he said:
Obama Weekly Address: Why New Trade Deals Are Important To Our Economy | Video | RealClearPolitics http://t.co/rUrn67CxQP
— Citizenship Lawyer (@ExpatriationLaw) May 1, 2015
Today, I want to talk about why new trade deals are important to our values.
They’re vital to middle-class economics — the idea that this country does best when everyone gets their fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.
These are simple values. They’re American values. And we strive to make sure our own economy lives up to them, especially after a financial crisis brought about by recklessness and greed. But we also live in a world where our workers have to compete on a global scale. Right now, on an uneven playing field. Where the rules are different. And that’s why America has to write the rules of the global economy — so that our workers can compete on a level playing field.
FATCA creates a very uneven playing field for Canadian citizens who are resident in Canada and born in the United States. “Place of birth” is an immutable characteristic. Taxation based on “place of birth” is unjust. When people first hear of FATCA they say:
“It’s unjust, it’s inhumane. I didn’t choose where I was born!”
That’s precisely why a complaint has been filed with the United Nations over U.S. tax policies.
As you know, Canada is heading for the polls. The latest date for the Election is in October of 2015. The election may provide opportunities to educate the public and candidates about FATCA and the importance of defending Canadian sovereignty.
As you also know, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee is involved in discussions about tax reform. If the U.S. is going to join the world by adopting residence taxation, the time will be soon. Once again, I thank you for your contributions to the massive submission that was prepared for the Senate Finance Committee. This submission will also provide the basis for an upcoming US- based lawsuit against US place of birth- taxation policies (what they call citizenship based taxation). Stay tuned.
In an earlier post I noted:
It’s important that you realize our FATCA lawsuit is going to be a marathon and not a sprint. The Government of Canada will spare no expense (using your money) to defend it’s “right” to implement U.S. law on Canadian soil.
Those of you have been part of this journey since 2011 should be very proud of how far you have come!
Congratulations! Have a great weekend!
Great work everyone! Keep on trucking!
Gad, John is right, some of us first learned about this outrage back in 2011 (August, in my case). Can it be that we’ve been involved in this for four years, plus or minus depending on how the news trickled out to different people? Boy time flies when you’re having “fun.”
If you are a Canadian citizen, VOTE in the federal election this year. And I urge you to vote ABC — Anyone but Conservative — for the candidate in your riding most likely to defeat the Conservative, no matter what you think of that candidate’s leader or political party. The Tories sold out our sovereignty and our Charter. They have shown themselves contemptuous of our witnesses who testified before the Finance Committee. They must be punished, for that sell-out (as well as a whole litany of other abuses of democracy and rule of law which I won’t get into here, it would be off-topic).
If you are eligible to vote, and you don’t vote, AFAIC you lose your right to complain about what happens. In a democracy (at least under proportional representation though not necessarily under first-past-the-post as we sadly still have in Canada), the people get the government they deserve to get. And people who don’t vote at all, deserve whatever they get.
I find it very interesting that the Obama administration can’t seem to do enough for those who have illegally entered the US and don’t even pay any taxes but instead will go to great lengths to attack US citizens living in foreign countries. Since the majority of illegals will vote for the Democratic party if they become citizens and I assume the majority of Non-resident citizens vote Republican, it makes one wonder if there is a hidden agenda. How about adding 7 million new democrats down the road on the voters lists.
@Bob Ritter
Although the level of enforcement may be different, illegal immigrants are, in fact, considered US persons and liable both for US taxes and for FBAR/FATCA reporting of any foreign assets. Many send significant amounts of money home and quite possibly will trigger “US indicia” flags on their bank accounts in their home countries. Many also do file US tax returns by obtaining an ITIN because they believe that being, at least, tax compliant will smooth over becoming legal if and when an amnesty is granted.
Whether FBAR/FATCA is enforced as much in countries sending large numbers of illegal immigrants to the USA as opposed to countries like Canada which sends fewer (not zero though) illegal immigrants to the USA, I do not know. But these rules absolutely apply to illegal immigrants, at least in theory.
@Dash1729: What you say is absolutely true. It does seem inevitable that those illegal immigrants, and their families back home, will have their collective OMG moment in the not-too-distant future, which will certainly travel through the immigrant grapevine very quickly. I think Canada better start preparing for the next wave of immigrants to skip over the US border. Watch for overloaded ferries capsizing off the BC coast.
Lol, Barbara! I live in a coastal community only accessed by ferry. Don’t get me started on BC Ferries, that’s a whole other bone of contention for me!
I wanted to donate to push it to completion but my laptop battery died in route across the pond. Bubbles, I cannot believe it. The money hopefully will come very fast in the next round.
Congratulations on meeting the fundraising goal. It was a relief to discover this when logging in this morning.
@kermitzii
I’m also optimistic that we’ll see faster donating in this the final round. I think that it is very good timing–whether by coincidence or design–that the summary trial (Aug 4) is so close to the final round funding deadline (Aug 1). It gives people a tangible goal to aim for as opposed to just an artificially set fundraising deadline. I think people have needed something tangible to be happening and it is good that we seem to have now reached that point.
@Dash, re; “… I think people have needed something tangible to be happening and it is good that we seem to have now reached that point….”.
It is wonderful that people can see how much has been accomplished – meeting this legal fee deadline as well as the other previous ones. It is also inspiring that the August 4th date is coming closer so quickly, and that all the unseen activity that made that possible will result in something that readers and donors can point to as one of the specific destinations on the longer overall journey we have all been on together.
I think I know what you mean by “something tangible to be happening”, but just a clarification for those readers who may not know or be aware of the long journey to get to this point;
Much tangible effort, in time, money, energy and fees/costs have been expended behind the scenes since IBS was first started in late 2011. ADCS blossomed out of the entirely volunteer efforts at IBS and sibling site Maple Sandbox – which grew out of the participation of a few on an earlier (unrelated) online site for expats. The people toiling behind ADCS are volunteers, and have been making tangible good things happen since well before the formal inception of ADCS as a non-profit corporation registered with Corporations Canada, and the filing of the lawsuit on August 11, 2014.
It is a marathon rather than a sprint, as several IBS participants have said. Winning or reaching the finish line is a tangible thing in a race, but leaving the blocks and running it lap after lap is also tangible.
It requires patience, determination, meticulous planning, substantial fundraising, time and energy. Several of those committed people involved in the planning and execution of the tasks that are making this a tangible reality are doing so on a daily basis – in addition to their work, family and other commitments.
Fellow donors, readers and participants, I echo the congratulations in this post. All of you fueled this effort, and all of us are looking forward to August, to meeting the next funding deadline, and to the hearing.
Thanks and Bravo to those toiling behind the scenes as well as all the unseen participants and nameless donors – you know who you are!!!
badger wrote:
“Thanks and Bravo to those toiling behind the scenes as well as all the unseen participants and nameless donors – you know who you are!!!”
I second that emotion.
@badger
I’m very, very aware of the years of tangible efforts that many have made–mostly on a volunteer basis–as is everyone who has been following this effort.
I was referring specifically to the crowd funding effort for the Arvay lawsuit that began about a year ago–not the larger efforts that volunteers have been making since 2011. We are only on the first lap on the Arvay legal action, but I think we are nearing the end of the first lap–and I think people needed to see that.
@Dash,
The lawsuit was filed on August 11, 2014, but was proceeded by research and other planning, the formation of the ADCS as a legal entity, and the fundraising for the initial legal opinion to explore the viability of proceeding and how that could best be done. That all took time and energy and money. It was very tangible to those involved, but I’m at a loss how to further demonstrate tangible progress re the lawsuit when much of the details of successful legal actions are not something that can be made public.
The Canadian government is and was certainly doing its best in bad faith to make this wither on the vine by using our own hard earned public taxpayer funds to stall and mount an opposition against those they have a solemn fiduciary duty and duty of care towards. In my opinion they have dishonoured their duty and abused the power they have been entrusted with.
A year may seem like a long time, but for something of this magnitude, it is to be expected – particularly given the willful recalcitrance of the other side, and their access to the unlimited pool of Canadian taxpayer funds that are fueling the Department of Justice and their ab/use of our public dollars to stall and stymie.