Wow! A thesis in sociology.
Taxing Away Citizenship:
Do American-Canadian dual citizens consider their status to be an inconvenience?
Taxing Away Citizenship: Do American-Canadian dual citizens consider their status to be an inconvenience?
by
James Eastman-Timmons
A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Arts
in
Sociology
Carleton University
Ottawa, Ontario
©2015
James Eastman-Timmons
Some of us were interviewed by James Eastman-Timmons and we now can read the thesis he produced in this new post. Thanks, Neill and bubblebustin.
This strikes me as a very important document. The next step will be to document what Mr. Eastman-Timmons has very successfully documented in an academic setting in a new setting: that of the courtroom. But the points he makes are precisely the points that need to be brought home in the courtroom milieu.
I’ve only read half of this but it is very interesting. Thanks Neil. Great find.
I was happy to help with this project and to see my comments accurately quoted.
Maple Sandbox and Isaac Brock Society get significant references throughout the paper (including this from p134):
Some notable blogs that pertain to the treatment of American expats are the Maple Sandbox (maplesandbox.ca) and Isaac Brock Society (isaacbrocksociety.ca). I have chosen to discuss the latter in greater detail, as it was more frequently mentioned during participant interviews, and it is one of the larger political blogs concerning such issues. The Isaac Brock Society identifies as a group which, “consists of individuals who are concerned about the treatment by the United States government of US persons who live in Canada and abroad” (Isaac Brock Society December 14, 2011).3 The Society “want[s] to fight for US persons” and this group of bloggers indicates that its aim is “to provide one another with resources and strategies, comfort and advice” (ibid.). The latter quote speaks to a community that provides both instrumental and emotional assistance. This online group is engaged in activities that provide both online and offline community support to ‘American-Canadian’ dual citizens, and more broadly, to US persons living outside of the United States. Some participants spoke about the affective support they received from online communities, as illustrated by the following comment:
I would have loved to have had a line I could call to say, ‘hey, this is what’s going on with me right now. Help. What do I do now? What do I do next?’ Cause the first few weeks were agonizing. It was just not knowing what was going on, what could happen, and having to do all this research […] [T]he best help I found online was from Canadians in exactly my situation, saying ‘here’s what you need to do to get caught up.’ It just struck me as odd that the best source was just citizens trying to help other citizens. (Interview 2015, male software developer, w/ dual Am.-Can. citizenship).
I did not read every word. I focused on the introduction and conclusion.
I think that the thesis suffers from bias as a result of the framing of the questions around the term “inconvenience.” We know here that for some “existential threat” may be closer to the mark than “inconvenience.
Thus I think some of the more egregious injustices were not explored. I tried to find reference to “Exit Tax” by searching for the word “exit”. Not there. Under 3.2 Penalties for FBAR, not mentioned is the quandary of the requirement to report employer accounts, potentially carrer limiting as well as for partnerships and trusts. No death tax, no Obamacare NIIT.
“Accidental” came up quite a bit. Yet my impression is that the apparent majority – who have no idea about it all (does someone have a better idea on quantifying majority?) – were not interviewed. Also, those probably not renouncing or think it prohibitive because of the exit tax.
@Bubblebustin. Here is a question to you. “Pound” is referenced. Richard Pound is the President of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. Sounds like a compliancer (someone point out to me where he labels it all really unjust). He has a book out on US compliance for Canadians. Does anyone agree that this creates an incredible question of “conflict of interest” his position with @cancivlib and his personally profiting in keeping the compliance going and not questioning it on the grounds of violations of Canadian Civil Liberties? Potentially related here why @cancivlib while promoting a #CharterFirst campaign has not acknowledged the ADCS Charter legal claim. Would I be onto something or out of line for calling him to resign @cancivlib ??
@ JC
Yep, he’s a “compliancer”.
http://business.financialpost.com/personal-finance/taxes/for-americans-in-canada-another-tax-deadline-looms
“inconvenience” is such a mild term. How about “abomination”? How about human rights issue?
Polly — yes! a law/legal framework that drives expats to renounce their citizenship in record numbers is more than an “inconvenience”. Besides abomination, a few less polite terms come to mind.
Yes, I agree it’s more than an inconvenience, but it might be considered a strong word when you consider that US citizenship is generally thought of as an asset to anyone who’s fortunate enough to have it. The author uses the term as a counter to the concept that some people would consider citizenship a “convenience” (as during the Canadian government’s evacuation of Lebanese-Canadians from Lebanon), when US citizens are so cleary inconvenienced to the point of wanting to renounce it.
My suggestion is to read the paper in its entirety.
@JC,
I saw one reference to the exit tax. Search for 877. Nothing much is said. Just that the tax code puts barriers up to keep rich people while forcing those with less resources to renounce.
@JC
I would question the judgement of anyone named Richard Pound who’d use the name Dick instead of Rick.
I don’t think it would be inappropriate to question him on this apparent conflict.
Great choice of topic for a thesis, especially since lots of research has been done already. Brock was likely a central source. I was one of those interviewed by James, but the state I was born in – Texas, was not included in the demographic profile he gave of the interviewees. Either he left me out of his total number of 23 or made a mistake.
Maybe we should query the size of his hands. Pound has been called Dick since he was a young stud at McGill. He was an Olumpic and Commonwealth games swimmer. He has been on the executive committee of The IOC for years and was largely responsible for the modern spectacle because he negotiated huge TV contracts. He was also head ot the World anti doping agency – not a cushy job. Chancellor of McGlii, Order of Canada and finds time to be a tax partner and author. Call him Richard or Mr. Pound if you prefer.
“Maybe we should query the size of his hands. ”
I don’t get it. What do Dick Pound’s hands have to do with anything?
@WhiteKat
“Dick” as a noun, “Pound” as s verb. Marco Rubio referred to Trump’s hand size as an indicator of his noun’s size.
So, BB is this true? Hmmm…all these years I did not know this…could have saved some time and disappointment.
I always thought it was feet.
@WhiteKat @Heidi
Lol, WK! I personally don’t know if there a relationship between the size of any of those things. All I know is that is some instances, one can substitute the other.
@BB
In the substitution context I deny all knowledge of feet!
@Bubblebustin I would say those that think US citizenship an “asset” may think it of “tremendous benefits” and that is quite a bit more than “convenience.” Perhaps the term that should have been explored is “highly advantageous” or even “advantageous.” Obviously the many who have renounced have weighed up the advantages vs. the disadvantages, and have seen little in the way of advantages outweighed by significant disadvantages.
In his thesis, a lot of the time when he uses the words ‘convenience’ and ‘inconvenience’ they are in quotation marks–suggesting that the author of the thesis (Mr. Eastman-Timmons) is simply quoting the usage of others–these are not necessarily the words he himself would have chosen.
The word ‘convenience’ (and hence ‘inconvenience’) seems to have come from the “Canadians of convenience” controversy during the 2006 conflict. These words seem to simply be placeholders for the idea that while some would consider dual citizenship to be an advantage, in many cases US citizenship is a disadvantage.
I do not think Mr. Eastman-Timmons would dispute the fact that many would express that disadvantage using much stronger language.
‘“inconvenience” is such a mild term. How about “abomination”? How about human rights issue?’
But that would be old news. The US already called it a human rights issue when the US sponsored a UN resolution condemning Eritrea for copying US ideas on extraterritorial taxation.
“In the substitution context I deny all knowledge of feet!”
Yeah, since mine is measured in metres.
@Norman
I guess Americans are disadvantaged in that respect….they still operate in the ‘imperial’ mode. 🙂