43 thoughts on “Another Brock Warrior Down – In Memory of Marcio V Pinheiro”

1. “And I do not know the consequences of renoucing because I have my two married duaghters, one engaged son and one granddaughter in the USA.”

   Did no one advise him not to worry about that? If he renounced, there would be no effect on his family. If he worried that he might not be able to visit them, they could still visit him.

   By the way, Rules of US Tax Court allow a represented victim some delay if the victim’s attorney dies, but not if the victim and/or attorney have a lesser cause such as cardiac surgeon’s advice that they’d better have surgery immediately. I had to postpone heart operations twice, once when a Tax Court case was calendared (and then Tax Court cancelled it all by themselves and denied my motion to proceed as scheduled), and a second time when the case was calendared again.

   And then, after the calendar call, the IRS finally admitted that 100% of their claims in that case were unfounded, I and my wife owed $0.00. I sat at a table in hospital, handwrote a motion for recovery of reasonable litigation expenses, dictated to my wife a certificate of service because she was going to do the mailing, and accompanied her to the convenience store in the basement of the hospital to use a coin operated photocopier for the number of copies required. Then the IRS opposed the motion for recovery of reasonable litigation expenses. By the way I had previously submitted a motion for summary judgement laying out the reasons why the IRS’s claims were 100% unfounded, but the IRS did not reply to that motion, the court rejected it all by themselves, and then the court played their calendaring games.

   The IRS started with its share of damaging my heart valves by giving me sleepless nights, and then the courts took their turns.

2. Oh, that’s sad news. I remember reading Mark Pinetree’s posts a few years ago. Had I not changed direction when I did, a variation on his dilemma might have been my future. There, but for the grace…

   Clearly a man with far more integrity than anything shown by congress and the US government. Mark, you deserved better.

3. My impression is that this man was much too honest and trusting for the world we live in. May he rest in peace.

   More cynical and practical people wonder: why would he declare his Brazilian pension to the IRS? Jeez. Abroad, born abroad, foreign passport with no US birthplace: IRS & FinCEN need know nothing. Forget what compliance people say.

   Reading comments on Churchill reminds me of a thought I had the other day. What would Churchill and De Gaulle have made of FATCA? Imagine trying to get the FATCA IGA past De Gaulle. Good luck with that.

4. What a wonderful man. May he rest in peace.

5. It is sad to hear of his passing, along with my lifelong friend roger Conklin another elequent voice is stilled.
   He was always mistaken about Mr Obama being a just man. He is a declared Marxist, trying to redistribute the wealth of a once capitalist nation, to the masses who would consume the seed corn in the winter and have no seeds to plant come springtime.
   He is a likable version of Marx, Lenin and Stalin. Their goals are exactly the same.
   Don’t ever take his word for anything. It is no good.

6. Last night, during another sleepless bout of worry, I wondered how many lives of decent citizens were being shortened because of this matter. Here is a partial answer: one is too many.

   @ NormanDiamond: Though his family “could still visit him”: It would have been quite an expense for four persons his daughters, son and grandchild) to travel to Brazil. Probably a good deal less than over 25% of his life savings- but it is still a very sad work-around.

   I agree that Dr. Pinhero should have received alternative advice; it is •very• hard to find anyone other than “by the IRS rulebook” compliance professionals. If he had found such a person, that contact could have significantly helped to make his last years more peaceful.

7. Duchesse,

   How many of us have had long periods of worry and sleepless nights after our OMG moments? Information on how we might make decisions to replace that crippling worry is part of the softening of that horrible duration in our *US Person Abroad* lives.

   One’s sense of integrity and belief that the US will do the right thing, our false belief in US *exceptionality* that was drilled into us, has not helped many of us. We need to see the folly of holding on to that belief.

   This site and MapleSandbox, along with the positive ACTIONS of ADCS-ADSC, and the people behind those sites (and others) — those with expertise they’ve shared and our hodge-podge of commenters who have shared their views — give us support we have not and will NEVER find elsewhere and help us make decisions in our suddenly out-of-control lives.

   Some of us are stronger than others and better able to process information to make the decisions we need to make. The results of U.S. fear-mongering, wherever it has taken hold, including our own countries’ governments, are crippling. The fear that Marcio had that his U.S. family might be affected by his US FBAR / US tax issues must have been excruciating.

   …and, some of us, like Marcio Pinheiro, run out of funds (retirement savings, pensions or otherwise) to find the way out of the maze, the expenses only starting with the ever-increased US citizenship renunciation fee.

   The account of how Marcio’s fears at the end of his life may have stifled his actions as his health failed should be a harbinger to all of us. I know it is to me in retirement and others closer to that chapter in our lives. For many, then, our fears tend then to be more about how this will affect those we leave behind — and what we are able to leave behind for them.

   Again, rest in peace, Marcio Pinheiro. Thanks for your *markpinetree* contributions here and for your life gifts to two countries that should have been better valued.

   Thanks for this post, Tricia Moon. And I echo:

   With thanks to Bubblebustin for finding this sad news

8. Pardon me for reposting this here, it was intended for this thread:

   Mr Pinheiro was a regular commenter on expat Facebook groups. He was deeply affected to the point where he remarked about how it was affecting his health. I hope that we provided him some solace and camaraderie when he knew his health was failing. For him to die with these issues unresolved could only be made worse had he died in isolation with no one to talk/vent/cry to.

   Now let’s go kick some butt for him.

9. I think Marcio’s fear about renouncing and affecting his children had more to do with the US taking away their US citizenship. Like a lot of us from the beginning, lots of anxiety that the US could not be trusted and would change things in the future. Since his kids were USCs thru him, he was not willing to take a chance that they might lose theirs if he lost his. He would have “known” that wasn’t true but feared it could change.

10. Very sad to learn of this. My condolences to Márcio’s family and friends. I remember Márcio from right back at the beginning of our online community, and as long as his health permitted, he was very active as an author and commenter on Brock and commenting on media sites, where he raised awareness of the issue, as well as communicating with the US government, such as the Senate Finance Committee. It’s awful that the US took what was once a positive thing in his life (and a very positive thing for the US too) — his moving there and becoming a citizen long ago — and made it a nightmare, impacted dangerously on his health and deprived him of living his last years in peace.

11. I am saddened by this news, and felt, as I saw Marcio’s comments and even once had Skype chat with him, that he was deeply affected by this and it would harm him in the end. Undoubtedly he is a casualty of this war with the IRS. He is not the first person that the IRS has killed and he will not be the last.

12. I am very sad to hear of markpinetree’s passing – and angry that his last years were so needlessly stressed and filled with anxiety by the aggressive, intransigent and greedy stance and threats that is the US government’s war against US citizens and those deemed “US persons” living ordinary law-abiding lives outside the US. I am so angry that the US extorted the unconstitutional penalties from a senior living in a non-US country, who like many of us had never heard of an FBAR or any of the other obscure extraterritorial CBT provisions that the US levies in its fundraising from the legal local savings of those ‘abroad’ who have already paid their home country its local taxes in full.

    How many ordinary people will be tormented by the IRS and Treasury – with no help at all from their so-called ‘representatives’ – and resulting in no real revenue for the US apart from penalty revenue? The Taxpayer Advocate herself has asked why the IRS is tormenting people ‘abroad’.

    And in markpinetree’s case, and the case of several others here, the betrayal was even more painful because they believed that their political ‘representatives’ in the US would actually stop the torment once they were made aware of it. Of course we know that any lack of awareness by now is entirely willful. And laughably, we’re being told – for the second time at least, that this isn’t a “good time” even to try and get a commission struck to look into expat issues ( “..Ms. Maloney said she and a co-sponsor of her proposal, Representative Michael M. Honda, Democrat of California, acknowledged that their bill faced tough obstacles in an election year when new spending draws close scrutiny………“I don’t think anything will happen till after the election, quite frankly,” Ms. Maloney said. But she said she hoped at least to open a dialogue over expatriates’ concerns…” http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/31/us/politics/presidential-commission-sought-on-us-expatriates.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0 ) . That ‘good time’ will never come. Despite the Republican opposition to FATCA, even they aren’t interested in “opening a dialogue” and Ms. Maloney’s bill has been put forward repeatedly, and failed to garner enough support from either party. I respect her persistence and her efforts – and I think she is sincere, but all that has happened far too late for markpinetree and for many of us.

    I wish someone could be held to account for the way markpinetree was treated at the hands of the US government. I wish his pain and anxiety could be acknowledged by those who caused it, and that he could have received the redress he deserved.

13. Rep. Maloney says,

    “I don’t think anything will happen till after the election”

    That is what we were told before the last election. And the one before that.

    I think the lead-up to an election is actually the only time that anything is likely to get done. That is when we have the power to pressure candidates, however small and illusory it may be. Once the election is over, what motivation would they have to listen to us?

14. I wrote a fairly lengthy message to Elizabeth Warren about CBT. Her reply:

    Thank you for contacting me with your concerns about citizen-based taxation, which imposes income taxes on U.S. citizens even if they are living abroad.

    I agree that our current tax code is far too complex, and I appreciate your concern about the tax filing requirements for citizens who have limited connections to the U.S. While I understand your frustration, we must ensure that everyone pays their fair share in taxes. According to the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, the U.S. Treasury may be losing more than $100 billion in tax revenues every year as a result of offshore tax havens. A fairer tax code must prevent overseas tax evasion.

    Thank you again for reaching out to me. I will keep your comments in mind as I work with my colleagues toward a simpler and more equitable tax code.

    Sincerely,

    Elizabeth Warren
    United States Senator

    Sigh. Well, at least she wrote back, which is more than be said for Bernie or Hillary (to whom I also wrote) so far…

15. Foo. I hate to disappoint you. People like Elizabeth Warren and Stephen Harper and maybe even John Weston don’t read the letters and certainly don’t answer them. An intern in her office marks you down as ‘ a foreigner opposed to CBT ‘ and hits a key on her computer which spits out a form letter. Such is participatory democracy.

16. @Duke,

    Yes, I know, I used to have a friend who had that job of writing replies to constituents. But they do keep statistics, and if one asks a question for which there is no form letter it will generate discussion in the office on how to reply, so it is not necessarily a useless exercise.

    And at least I can say I gave them a chance to do the right thing.

17. @badger

    I wish someone could be held to account for the way markpinetree was treated at the hands of the US government. I wish his pain and anxiety could be acknowledged by those who caused it, and that he could have received the redress he deserved.

    The more I think about this, the angrier I get. No one deserves this esp not someone as sweet as Marcio. I don’t know how we might do this but my guess is he will figure considerably in future actions……….

18. ‘Though his family “could still visit him”: It would have been quite an expense for four persons his daughters, son and grandchild) to travel to Brazil. Probably a good deal less than over 25% of his life savings- but it is still a very sad work-around.’

    Sad yes, but exactly as you say, a lot less than 25% of his life savings. Furthermore his children would have spent that expense from their US salaries.

    It wasn’t cheap when I had to buy plane tickets for me and my wife to go to Tax Court — even had to buy a new visa for my wife (B2 was accepted) — upon which the IRS finally admitted that we owed $0.00 in that case, but the IRS prevented us from recovering reasonable litigation expenses.

    ‘I agree that Dr. Pinhero should have received alternative advice’

    Well, at least enough for him to know that he could renounce without having any effect on his family.

19. Yeah, the Kennedy’s, The Heinz’s, The Polozzi’s, The Kerry’s oh are these all democrat politicians? If you check, all the old socialists who are seeking tax havens made their money in the capitalist system and then turned socialist. That is why we need to stop pretending that anyone but end consumers pays taxes.
    The FairTax is the only way to bring fairness to the system, but all the political class won’t go for it because the power to legally extort money for their next campaign would go away. Ms Warren,” the native American”,is the first to extort campaign money and the last to want tax reform.

20. I am asked to speak to various groups and one subject i speak on is conflict resolution. The ultimate solution is the story of Arron Burr (ex vice president) and Alexander Hamilton ( first secretary of the treasury. They fought a duel and Burr killed Hamilton who would surly have been a president had he lived.
    The other one I start with is the letter to Marriot corp about bed bugs. It was a complaint letter about being bitten by bedbugs.
    The answer I got was a great letter apologizing about my being bitten. I noticed a yellow sticky note on the back of the letter and on reading it I am sure this is not the way to resolve conflict. I said send this A– hole the bed bug letter.
    Ms Warren is an ambitious politician and there are enough voters who vote for a living to get her re elected over and over if she can keep the current taxing system, so don’t count on her help. She’d take the freckles from your neck if she can.
    wjt

21. @Foo

    Elizabeth Warren wrote:

    “I appreciate your concern about the tax filing requirements for citizens who have limited connections to the U.S. While I understand your frustration, we must ensure that everyone pays their fair share in taxes.”

    For those who have cut ties with the U.S. and moved overseas, or at least over the St. Lawrence to Canada, the “fair share” in taxes to be paid to the U.S. is nil. And the requirement to file tax returns and FuBARS ad nauseum? This requirement is also unfair– I would say it falls more than two standard deviations from the mean– and should be discarded.

22. @Duchesse – ‘I agree that Dr. Pinhero should have received alternative advice’

    @Norman Diamond – “Well, at least enough for him to know that he could renounce without having any effect on his family.”

    Marcio was a long-term reader and commenter here. He knew that he could renounce without having an effect on his family. But like many here, the fear that the US would change the game is what stops people from taking action they otherwise would. Nobody from Brock failed to give him correct information………..

23. @ Tricia Moon: I certainly did not intend any blame re •anyone• at Brock- quite the opposite. We need more counselors who are not biased “compliance professionals” for persons in similar situations to Dr. Pinhero’s situation.

    All: One of the most disturbing aspects of the entire mess is the retroactive, confiscatory aspect of PFIC taxation. Does anyone know if this specific feature is being legally challenged?

24. “fair share” This is an abomination. I`d like to see one homelander who wouldn’t balk at having 27.5% of his lifetimes savings taken from him. Or 20% for that matter. The penalties are draconian and unconstitutional and there is nothing fair about it. America just wants their roads repaired and they dont care how they get the money- as long as people are paying, thats good with them.

25. I am not a lawyer but making a law retroactively has been knocked down by the courts, however these taxing laws have been on the books since Kennedy and were simply not enforced until the current Socialist government wanted all the country’s wealth so they could redistribute it to those who vote for a living instead of work for a living.
    I don’t think ex post facto will prevail in this case. Just a Lay view and not the last word.