CANADIAN FATCA LITIGATION UPDATE September 30, 2019: Gwen and Kazia file Notice of Appeal
Appellants Gwen and Kazia have instructed Vancouver lawyer Mr. Greg Delbigio to appeal the Martineau and Mactavish Canadian Federal Court FATCA IGA legislation decisions.
A brief Notice of Appeal was just filed today (September 30, 2019) with the Canadian Federal Court of Appeal. The grounds for appeal will evolve and be broadened with detail at later stages. For the appeal process to continue we will need to raise monies quickly to pay for the legal costs.
The Canadian FATCA IGA legislation mandates turnover of private financial information without consent from a subgroup of Canadian citizens to the US IRS. The so-called FATCA “agreement” is Canada’s cowardly response to a threat of financial harm from the United States.
Our Plaintiffs tried to stop the FATCA turnover with, for logistical reasons, two different Federal Court actions begun in 2014: A lawsuit (“tax-treaty”) claiming that the legislation contravenes the Canada-US tax treaty, and a second, claiming Charter privacy and non-discrimination violations.
With the help of our Canadian and International supporters we made it to Court — but lost both cases (Martineau and Mactavish decisions) at the Federal Court stage.
Gwen and Kazia, now as Appellants, are appealing BOTH Martineau and MacTavish decisions as they are complementary, and tied to each other (e.g., a treaty with a foreign country must not contravene constitutional rights).
We cannot predict likelihood of success at the Court of Appeals stage, and believe that the best chance for resolution will be at the Supreme Court in this very long marathon fight.
Details to follow soon on how to donate (ADCS website being revised). Appellants need to raise three installments of $45,000 each and will apply for approximately $50,000 from the Canadian Court Challenges Program.
For Appellants Gwen and Kazia,
The Alliance for the Defence of Canadian Sovereignty,
Stephen Kish, Chair
John Richardson, Legal Counsel and co-Chair
Patricia Moon, Secretary/Treasurer
Carol Tapanila, Director
Gwen and Kazia appeal Federal Court decisions today.
My argument entirely, a 30% withholding on US Citizens only, is what the income taxation law allows in the USA, they grossly enlarged the scope of this and “Treasury Department” went out to sign IGAs without the consent of the US SENATE! Completely Unlawful
Applying the 30% to an entire financial industry is a “SANCTION” and financial threat to another countries sovereignty! No Respect!
“The Canadian FATCA IGA legislation mandates turnover of private financial information without consent from a subgroup of Canadian citizens to the US IRS. The so-called FATCA “agreement” is Canada’s cowardly response to a threat of financial harm from the United States. “
Pardon my ignorance but has our lawyer been changed?
Would it not be of assistance to identify the desired time frame for raising the monetary installments?
You have my moral and financial support for this appeal. If It was decided in a neutral country, I would feel better. Until then, the corrupt Canadian system is our main problem.
Like our intrepid NativeCanadian I’m with Gwen and Kazia and will help the best I can. Here’s some links regarding their new lawyer Greg DelBigio.
https://ca.linkedin.com/in/greg-delbigio-62546725
https://www.internationallawoffice.com/Directory/Thorsteinssons-LLP/Vancouver-BC/Greg-Delbigio#
https://www.internationallawoffice.com/Newsletters/Corporate-Tax/Canada/Thorsteinssons-LLP/Continued-erosion-of-taxpayer-privacy
The last link requires a subscription but for some strange reason the first time it opened for me and therein I found and saved this:
Comment (February 22, 2019) by Greg DelBigio and Jennifer Flood at Thorsteinssons LLP
TITLE: Continued erosion of taxpayer privacy
“The Canadian legislation that permits the automatic transfer of financial information to the United States under the agreement discussed above is currently subject to a constitutional challenge before the Federal Court of Canada. Guidance from a trial court, and perhaps even an appellate court, is important to ensure that intergovernmental agreements for the sharing of financial information do not sacrifice privacy in a manner that fails to protect constitutional rights.”
I have not seen any news articles on this yet.
You can setup a Google Alert, for say when FATCA appears in the news:
https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/4815696?hl=en
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