cross posted from ADCSovereignty WordPress Blog
With such an amazing group, it’s simply NOT possible to NOT succeed! Thanks from @ADCSovereignty https://t.co/qm23ib8Ah1
— ADCSovereignty (@ADCSovereignty) August 18, 2015
This afternoon I received news that the Alliance For The Defence of Canadian Sovereignty had met its $500,000 funding goal. I had two simultaneous/thoughts or reactions.
My first thought was that I was always completely confident that we would achieve our funding goals. You would never allow us to fail. (Ask Stephen. I have never for a moment doubted the funding!)
My second thought was a feeling of amazement. Did we really do this? It’s simply amazing!
Q. How could I both be so confident of our success and amazed by that very success?
A. These seemingly irreconcilable thoughts are easily reconciled because:
It’s obvious that we would achieve our funding goals because we were working with such an amazing group of people!
It’s also important to recognize the important role played by both the Isaac Brock Society and Maple Sandbox for allowing us to publicize our FATCA lawsuit on their respective blogs. I offer a special thanks to Peter Dunn of the Isaac Brock Society and Lynne Swanson of the Maple Sandbox blogs. Without their generosity and support it would have much much harder to have reached this milestone.
Back to the beginning …
My first post on this blog was on October 1, 2014. In that post I noted 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 made it happen. I knew you would. Congratulations!
I can tell you that there are a lot of people who would have been (and still) would be very happy to see us fail. But, that’s not going to happen. We are on the way. We are on the right side of the moral issue.
Why we will win …
It’s very simple. At the end of the day, FATCA, CBT, FBAR, etc. are moral issues. They are just plain wrong. They trample the human spirit and impede human progress.
As I also said on many occasions:
We are in a marathon and not a sprint!
We are also in the early stages of what will certainly be a long struggle. Understand that you are in this NOT only for yourself. You are in this for future generations of ALL people, in ALL countries, who are affected by the extreme injustice of U.S. “extra-territorial taxation” and FATCA. You are in this to motivate “like minded people” in other countries to show their governments that:
If those governments do not protect them from U.S. extra-territorial laws, then
People will defend themselves from those governments!
On a very sad note …
Today we received word that Dr. Marcio Pinheiro died. You may not recognize him by his real name. He posted on numerous blogs under the moniker of “ThatIsMe” and “Mark Pinetree“. He was a Brazilian psychiatrist. You can learn about his life here. You will learn that he moved to the United States and became a U.S. citizen. He was therefore a U.S. citizen living outside the United States. His submission to the House Ways and Means Committee included:
I am a dual citizen. I lived and worked in the USA thirty years and I am very proud of being an American Citizen. About ten years ago I decided to come back to my country of origin. Now, 80 years old and with failing health I regret having become an US citizen.
I had an USA CPA doing my US taxes until 2008. He never told me about FBARS. I learned about them by chance when visiting my two daughters and son who live in the USA. Since then my life has become a nightmare. I have spent sleepless nights trying to comply with the demands being placed on me and the threats of stiff penalties that do not apply to Americans living in the mainland. I have spent a lot of time and money trying to find out what I should do to comply.My situation has become so impossible that I don’t know what to do.
I have no representation. Because my country of origin has neither a tax treaty nor a Social Security equalization treaty with the USA I am required and have been paying SS Self employment Taxes to both countries, earning nothing in return. I cannot claim a credit on my USA tax return for the double Social Security tax I pay in my country of origin. Also I have a pension in my country of origin from my working here. In this country this pension is not subject to tax so I don’t pay income tax to my country on this pension. But the USA taxes me on this pension. In this country I also have some savings, the earnings on which are not subject to tax so do not pay tax here on this income. Yet I have to pay taxes to the USA on this income.
It seems to me that I have now three possibilities: return to the USA with my failing health using my Medicare and Supplemental Insurance, renounce my citizenship or stop work altogether. I can’t afford to pay this much tax to two countries.Mind you that I have never invested one cent of what I earned in the USA in my country of origin. I have savings and tax shelter plans the USA which I will never bring to my country of origin. They will stay with my son, daughters and grand daughter who are Americans and live in the USA. On the contrary I frequently send money earned where I am now to them in the USA.
When I heard about Amnesty to Americans living abroad who did not know about FBARS I thought that I needed to do was to start sending my FBARS to the Treasury Department. But this was not the case. I was being threatened with penalties for not knowing about them. I felt that the amnesty was a trap set for me which was very unfair. I am glad to know that Nina Olson, Tax Payer Advocate, does feel the same way.I think that the USA, as all other countries in the world, should not tax its citizens who live and work in a foreign country. We are not the same as Americans who live in the mainland who hide investments in foreign countries to avoid paying taxes. Yet we are being placed in the same category: one size fits all, when it does not.
If the USA continues to tax Americans living and working abroad, which no other country does to its citizens abroad and which I do not recommend be continued, they must simplify the paper work, give more support for us, allow us to have representation in the US Congress. They should not tax our tax free pensions received from working in the other country (as it is now they tax in certain countries unless there is a tax treaty which specifically excludes them from taxation, and not in others if there is no treaty). They should allow these Americans to chose to contribute or not to SS self employment taxes to one or both countries but not obligate those living in another country to this double Social Security taxation. And there are more suggestions to be made so that we all can remain proud Americans living and working in another country.
Thank you
M. Pinheiro
I once had the privilege of a telephone conversation with Dr. Pinheiro. He was a good man. He was a decent man. He was a family man. He was a man who “tried to do the right thing”. He was a man who believed in compliance with the law. He tried hard to comply with U.S. laws. He was a proud American citizen. He was a loyal Democrat. He supported President Obama. For all of the preceding reasons, the last few years of his life were a “living hell”.
He was one of millions of people whose life was severely damaged by U.S. “Extra-territorial” taxation, FBAR and FATCA.
I am curious, if Dr. Pinheiro never intends to return to US soil and remains in his other country, plus renounces would that not be the best course of action? To simply ignore it all? I’m at the point I have decided to never set foot on US soil again, even if a family member dies. I got my CLN almost 2yrs ago and never did sort out final filings. The first year I though “I need to do this” then the reality of complexity and expense set it. I could not afford it. Then further along I began thinking.. they know who I am and know where I live, yet never ONCE have contacted me regarding this final compliance. Then fear set in. Maybe it is best to not draw attention to myself, take the CLN and ignore everything else + never ever set foot on US soil again. I have finally arrived at that point of “frozen in fear” where I could be damned if I do, damned if I don’t -yet my gut says that the repercussions of drawing attention to myself, filing wrong, getting fined etc will be worse than simply doing nothing. I’d be interested to find some others who have CLNs but did not exit ‘cleanly’ after obtaining the CLN. Are there people out there 10yrs into a CLN who did not do final filings and were never contacted? hmm.. anyway sorry for the off-topic rambling.
Dr Pinheiro was worried about the effect renouncing might have on his children and their families in the US. I presume he intended to visit his children or wished to remain able to. He has passed on which makes the fear caused by the situation all the more heinous.Died with all this uncertainty, distrust and the whole package unsolved.
Sad to hear that he passed away. “Heinous” remains an all too familiar word for us ex-pats and former “US Persons”.
Pukekonz: No news is good news. I guarantee you there are plenty of people out there with a CLN who never filed the “final paperwork” crap, and never will. There is no way they can even begin to hope to imagine that they can control everything. If they did, 99% of the people would owe no tax. The whole tax evasion thing is way overblown. The true tax evaders are legal. They are above ground and more often than not based in the US itself. The true fraudsters and criminals aren’t those who forget to declare 32 euros in interest on their savings account in Luxemburg.
” Maybe it is best to not draw attention to myself “: Yes.
But do not live in fear. Travel, come to the US, do what you must, but file no paperwork, forget about it. Nothing will ever happen. It is all based on voluntary self-incrimination (hey, maybe that’s what they mean by “self-inflicted”!!). If you don’t go forward asking, hey, maybe I owe you something, they can’t guess where to look. But of course if you go to a professional, he cannot tell you that.
Thanks Fred. When I look at the trouble the US are going through to ‘try’ to extradite Kim Doctom to the USA (this has gone on for years), I would only laugh and cackle if they went through all this trouble to get me.. some broke nobody in NZ that if investigated would owe no bloody tax anyway.
I love NZ! Frankly, as I re-read your comment, I cannot imagine them taking any interest in you. The US being the US, one is ever threatened, and one of the things they have is that there is, apparently, no statute of limitations on unfiled returns. But there is a 3-year SOL on filed returns. One can always argue that one didn’t file because it wasn’t necessary (low resources). Burden of proof upon them.
I haven’t renounced (considered relinquishing, eventually, by naturalizing locally; but already have another passport); will start filing this year (have done FBAR already), but will not file back returns. Owe no tax. Will see. Coming after me would be a true waste of resources too. On the subject of travelling, there has been talk of cross-referencing at the border. But even in this speculation, they only imagined detaining people actually in court with the IRS. Not just anybody with unresolved tax issues (otherwise a portion of Congress and the Cabinet might have trouble flying abroad).
Relax, and enjoy NZ for me!
Cheers!
I might be tempted to go over in the future if a close relative or friend dies. If I can find some who are in my same situation who entered and left without issue that might be enough for me to risk it. If you ever make it down under look me up 🙂
Success in fund raising is OK if the funds are used to knock down the current Income Tax system.. It is an exercise in futility if the Marxist Income tax, the IRS, or any form of the Marxist Income Tax survives.
A National Consumption tax paid by anyone who buys anything new inside the physical borders of the country. Waste your time and your effort and your money or become an active advocate for the FairTax that Gov. Huckabee says he supports it and I will support him if he yells, FairTax, FairTax, FairTax,?
Social issues be dammed, the income tax be dammed, the IRS be dammed, the FATCA be dammed.
Put your money where there is a permenant solution.
Raising the $500,000 is an amazing result. As banks continue to send out FATCA letters (making their own FATCA PR) and the news surrounding the 13/9 decision spreads (hopefully in favour of the plaintiffs), it’s a good bet more donors may step up to keep this lawsuit going.
Nothing pisses people off more than a foreign country trying to lay claim to taxes outside of its borders.
Let’s all hope 13/9 is bad news for the Canadian Government.
I was at my child’s 5-pitch game last night when one of the dads asked me if I knew about the IGA lawsuit and what was happening to Canadians who also happen to be American. It was a great small moment that indicated the message is getting out…
No news is good news. I guarantee you there are plenty of people out there with a CLN who never filed the “final paperwork” crap, and never will.
Fred you and I must have been twins separated at birth. My thoughts precisely. Good on ya mate!
@ John, excellent, moving article! My heart is breaks for what this dear old man who loved being a US citizen was put through! So sad . . .
@Don, what is “the news surrounding the 13/9 decision” all about? I missed the reference.
Mr Pinheiro was a regular commenter on expat Facebook groups recently. 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 thes 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.
Getting this far is already a very big success. Hopefully more success is heading our way.
So sad to hear Mr. Pinheiro passed away with unresolved US person issues. I am sure FATCA has impacted the health of many out there.
Thanks, John Richardson, for your thoughts on the success of the ADCS-ADSC fundraising for Canadian litigation, thoroughly due to those who make / made things happen — Canadians and others US-defined US Persons Abroad around the world.
And, also your words, the incredible sadness of them, about the passing of Marcio Pinheiro.
Agreeing with bubblebustin…
whatever our *next steps* prove to be.
@Jan – I hope the upcoming decision by Justice Martineau rules against the Canadian Government – the defendant loses at this stage.
In case you are still wondering, Jan, Don refers to the announcement on the top-most post: http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2015/05/03/99929-needed-in-94-more-days-to-make-the-100000-august-4-2015-payment-for-canadian-fatca-iga-lawsuit-il-nous-reste-99929-a-ramasser-pour-notre-poursuite-judiciaire/, 13/9 = September 13, 2015.
“I would only laugh and cackle if they went through all this trouble to get me.. some broke nobody in NZ that if investigated would owe no bloody tax anyway.”
That’s exactly why the penalties are so high. They know the amounts of tax are usually zero so they impose penalties instead.
You won’t laugh and cackle when they discover you’re a US citizen and they prevent employers from hiring you until you pay them penalties.
“But there is a 3-year SOL on filed returns.”
No there isn’t. Time spent outside of the US doesn’t count against the SOL.
@Norm Diamond
There are limits to what they can do, though. The U.S. is a control freak, no doubt about it, but I have trouble seeing how it would force every single employer in New Zealand to shun people who owe the U.S. fines.
Norman: are you sure the SOL doesn’t count time out of the US? Sounds unlikely.
What matters most in this matter is that they have very limited resources. Should they target somebody, they will be reasonably sure they can recover something worthwhile. 90% of prosecutions in the US end with plea bargains, they threaten with prison or huge fines and get people (at least those who cannot afford lengthy trials and costly defense) to agree to anything. They don’t have this leverage with someone overseas. The whole bureaucracy of prosecuting abroad must be daunting, and they just can’t afford to do it much. Besides, if they did, they risk being thrown out (laughed out?) of local courts, notwithstanding the public relations disasters that would result.
There’s really practically nothing they can do to a foreign citizen in another land (except send a drone to blow up his village).
26 USC 6501(a) General rule: Except as otherwise provided in this section, the amount of any tax imposed by this title shall be assessed within 3 years after the return was filed (whether or not such return was filed on or after the date prescribed)
(c) Exceptions (1) False return: In the case of a false or fraudulent return with the intent to evade tax, the tax may be assessed, or a proceeding in court for collection of such tax may be begun without assessment, at any time.
(2) Willful attempt to evade tax: In case of a willful attempt in any manner to defeat or evade tax imposed by this title (other than tax imposed by subtitle A or B), the tax may be assessed, or a proceeding in court for the collection of such tax may be begun without assessment, at any time.
The IRS can delay any length of time before alleging fraud or evasion. If the IRS eventually issues a Notice of Determination then the filer can fight the allegation in Tax Court, but that could be 50 years later. The taxpayer still has to prove there was no evasion.
If the IRS doesn’t issue a Notice of Determination, they can still collect by whatever means might be available to them, and Tax Court doesn’t have jurisdiction.
District Courts and Court of Federal Claims acquire jurisdiction if the filer pays the alleged deficiency and then sues for refund.
So for example the IRS can wait 50 years, allege evasion in the amount of one billion dollars, start collecting, and no court has jurisdiction until the filer pays one billion dollars.
6502(a) Length of period: Where the assessment of any tax imposed by this title has been made within the period of limitation properly applicable thereto, such tax may be collected by levy or by a proceeding in court, but only if the levy is made or the proceeding begun—
(1) within 10 years after the assessment of the tax, or […]
6503(c) Taxpayer outside United States:
The running of the period of limitations on collection after assessment prescribed in section 6502 (/uscode/text/26/6502) shall be suspended for the period during which the taxpayer is outside the United States if such period of absence is for a continuous period of at least 6 months. […]
“What matters most in this matter is that they have very limited resources.”
That doesn’t stop them from imposing penalties on minnows of 129x the amount of tax deficiency, or penalties of infinity times zero amounts of tax deficiency.
“Besides, if they did, they risk being thrown out (laughed out?) of local courts, notwithstanding the public relations disasters that would result.”
They won’t be laughed out of corrupt courts, and there will be no public relations disasters when homelanders don’t understand or don’t believe what the government is doing. Homelanders “know” we’re all rich evaders.
Norman: you are right, of course; if they catch someone, it’s ugly (even if he didn’t do anything wrong). Thing is there is no way they can go after everybody, especially innocent people owing no tax. Moreover, I was talking of foreign courts. I just can’t imagine them going after, say, a Spanish citizen in Spain for outrageous penalties on undeclared but nonfraudulent low-balance accounts. They would have to navigate the justice system there, it’d take time and effort, and they could probably never get anything out of it. And in the end the Eigth amendment could come into consideration, as it has in United States v. Bajakajian.
So far it appears that the amendmants in the USA and the Charter of rights and freedoms in Canada are meaningless unless you have more money than the government to enforce them. These were simply created to pacify people and make them think they have rights. Criminals have more rights then we do….