Author Archives: MuzzledNoMore

Another chance for our voices to be raised!! Sign the petition against the transition tax!!!

http://www.americansabroadfortaxfairness.org/

JC posts:

VERY IMPORTANT! You want a change, sign the petitions. You do not want a change, do nothing.

TTFI PETITION.

https://mailchi.mp/12c8c8f8d63b/sign-the-2018-ttfi-petition

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to the 101 people (!!!!) who have recently added their names to the Human Rights Complaint that was originally filed with the United Nations in 2014. The number of signatories is now almost quadruple that of the original submission.

In addition, the number of countries represented by the signers has almost doubled, from 10 in 2014 to 19!!

Every year since the Complaint’s filing we have sent a “Support Document” detailing, from online testimonies, the abuses that have been  suffered by ordinary folk around the world because of United States CBT/FATCA and FBAR. It has always been accompanied by a short, one or two-paragraph letter simply reminding the UN that we’re still here and waiting for their response. This year the complete failure of the US government to adopt RBT/TBT for individuals, despite its promises to do so, warrants a larger package and a louder message to be sent to the United Nations.

This year’s “Support Document” is accompanied by the long list of additional signatories as well as the following letter (signed by myself and “Karen”) updating our situation. She and “Calgary” have been instrumental in the success of this current campaign and I thank them both deeply for everything they have done.

I hope that supporters will tweet this out to the media, post it on every website they know, send the link to their government representatives, and just get the word out that this action is in the works and we will NOT be ignored any longer.

For the “update” letter, please continue reading. Continue reading →

UPDATED!!!     PLEASE tweet this guy! Might I suggest creating #WhatAboutUs?! https://www.taxjustice.net/2017/12/08/human-rights-costs-proposed-u-s-tax-cuts/!

In light of the complete failure of the United States government to provide tax compliance relief for the eight to nine million deemed American citizens living outside US borders, creators of the United Nations Human Rights Complaint against United States CBT, FATCA and FBAR are actively soliciting additional signatures to the document. Signatures are kept confidential and will be disclosed only to the UN Human Rights Council. They will never be seen by the United States government.

Please email calgaryfouroneone@gmail.com with your request to view the document prior to signing it. You will be sent a link and a password. PLEASE NOTE!!! Once you’ve requested the link to the document and the password, your name will NOT be added unless you email “Calgary” AGAIN with your permission AFTER you’ve read the Complaint. 

The Complaint was filed on August 7, 2014 and is still awaiting assessment for acceptance into the complaints process. We are working to find someone with knowledge of the UN bureaucracy who is sympathetic to our cause and can help to draw the UN’s attention to our issues.

Our “domestic avenues” have been exhausted. We must seek justice on the international stage.

Deadline to add your signature is December 12, 2017!!

Despite all promises and recent signs of hope, we “Americans overseas” (and those deemed to be such) have been ignored once again by the government that claims ultimate power over our lives. Now, and for the foreseeable future, we remain the only human beings on Earth who have an income tax imposed on them simply for who they are. We have been left out of the current tax reform plans developed by both legislative houses in spite of the huge efforts mounted collectively by those suffering under US tax oppression around the world.

While I am grateful to those individuals in the US government who have recognized our plight and plan to continue to search for ways to introduce the world standard of Residence/Territorial-Based Taxation to the United States, I fear that the efforts are too little, too late.

Except for the various lawsuits still pending (which could take years to resolve), domestic recourse has come to a crashing end. Our one remaining avenue of attack is in the international arena.

A Human Rights Complaint was filed with the United Nations in August 2014 and is presently awaiting assessment for acceptance into the complaints process. (Those not familiar with the history of our Complaint can find information on the link at the top of the sidebar.)

We have waited long enough. It is beyond time for our plight to be recognized by the international community as the forerunner of an entirely new form of governmental abuse perpetrated by a combination of outdated law and 21st century cyber-surveillance. Human rights in the computer age extend well beyond the food, clothing, and shelter issues which the UN has traditionally championed.

In preparation for “reminding” the world of our United Nations Human Rights Complaint against the United States for its triple policies of CBT, FATCA and FBAR (as applied to “overseas” residents):

1. we would like to invite those who didn’t have an opportunity to sign the Complaint to do so. Those interested may make a request to read the Complaint by emailing calgaryfouroneone@gmail.com. You will be sent a link and a password. After reading the document, if you would like to have your name appended to it please let Calgary know. Your name will remain utterly confidential and will never be revealed to anyone in the United States government. ANYONE affected by US extra-territorial tax policies — citizens, renunciants, spouses, business associates — ANYONE who has or has had a stake in this issue — is welcome to sign!
2.  we need help from people in positions of power and/or influence who are sympathetic to our cause. Is anyone in contact with Sophie int’Veld, for example? There are several individuals in France such as Keith Redmond who have done a stunning job on behalf of this community. Do any of these folk know anyone who can lobby for us at the UN and get this process sped up? We desperately need this sort of help.
3. we need ideas from all of you as to how to proceed and get our efforts publicized accurately while under the UN’s publication ban. Silence is no longer an option. If you think the UN is a waste of time, we need to hear that too!
4. and a special request to those on Twitter and Facebook: please post links to this thread on any and all sites concerned with this issue. We need to reach everybody!

Every year on the anniversary of the Complaint’s submission (August 7) we have sent a “Support Document” which details testimonials of harms suffered due to US tax policy and reported online over the previous 12 months. In 2017, with tax reform a very real possibility, we decided to wait until now to send this year’s document. It will be sent to the UN next week [postponed to mid-December to allow for a new round of efforts in Washington to prove successful or not]. It would be terrific to send them more signatures as well!

This fight will be over when the United States of America abolishes CBT.

Posted by Barbara on the Media thread. Cross-posted from there.

UPDATE: Emailed letters will be delivered to the White House on OCTOBER 2. Deadline for sending emails is SEPTEMBER 30!!!

Write your letters, people!!

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YOU MUST ACT NOW!! NO EXCUSES!! PLEASE SHARE WITH ALL FELLOW AMERICANS OVERSEAS (regardless of party affiliation or non-affiliation) & ACCIDENTAL AMERICANS!! If you do nothing, nothing will change!!

We need your help. The Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee are working on tax reform, and we need to get overseas Americans’ voices heard. We have not had tax reform for 31 years, and if we miss our window now, we will not see another chance for 20 more years.

At the initiative of Republicans Overseas, the RNC recently adopted a White House approved resolution supporting the change from citizenship based taxation (CBT) to residence based taxation via RO’s proposed Territorial Taxation for Individuals (TTFI). We have champions and sponsors in both the House and the Senate. We have found tax loopholes that TTFI would close, thereby making TTFI revenue positive. The ingredients for success are lined up–but we’re missing one: the massed voices of ordinary overseas Americans.

What we need now is for our representatives to hear from as many overseas Americans as we can gather. We believe that the vast majority of overseas Americans support the inclusion of TTFI to the tax reform package, and we need to hear from thousands of them. We want to collect as many letters supporting TTFI and tax reform as we possibly can, which Solomon Yue will then present to the White House.

Can you please support our initiative by writing a letter to President Trump and copying your Congressman and Senator.

Here’s how it will work:

1) RO is providing a letter template along with an example which can be found here:

https://republicansoverseas.com/territorial-taxation-individuals/#sample-letters

We urge letter writers to share their own short stories, but also to link their letters to the themes outlined by the White House in their press release on tax reform by focusing on two points: \

(a) TTFI reduces the cost of hiring Americans working overseas, increases U.S. exports, and creates more American jobs within the U.S., and (b) it reduces tax preparation costs for overseas Americans. The sample letter already does this, but it is important to reiterate that we need to reinforce the White House’s points and link those points to individual situations.

2) The letters should be emailed to taxreform@republicansoverseas.com and copied to their local representative and Senators. Links to government databases providing this information can be found at

https://republicansoverseas.com/territorial-taxation-individuals/#contact-congress

3) Solomon Yue will print out the letters and take the physical package to the White House. Clearly, the more the better!

Thank you for your support! If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact Kym Kettler-Paddock at kym.kettler-paddock@republicansoverseas.com.

Regards,
Michael DeSombre
Worldwide President, Republicans Overseas

Last week a U.S. appeals court confirmed an earlier judgment that the plaintiffs “lack standing” in their case against FATCA. I thought this news deserved its own post.

In response, Republicans Overseas has declared its firm intentions to prosecute this matter all the way to the Supreme court.

Tax reform is now at the top of the Congressional agenda. It’s success could well be in the hands of six men who have taken up the task of developing a tax reform bill that can actually pass both houses of government. With the month of August upon us we need to remind ourselves that we still have a chance to influence the content of the bill by sending letters, emails and tweets to the “Big Six”.

Please see this link to my earlier post which will lead you, in turn, to the list of contact addresses.

Another person we should be adding to our contacts list is Shahira Knight of the National Economic Council who is working closely with the “Big Six”. In an article by Nancy Cook and Josh Dawsey, Shahira Knight is said to have been acting as “the face of the administration’s tax push”.

UPDATE: In fact, Shahira Knight has a title. She is “Special Advisor to the President for Tax and Retirement Policy”. You bet she needs to hear from us!

You can address letters to her at:

Shahira Knight, National Economic Council, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 2050

We have another important opportunity to make our voices heard. My post on this from a week ago might need a reminder. Please click on the link to bring up the earlier post and get those letters, tweets and emails flooding in to the “Big Six”. As somebody recently commented, “We have to be in it to win it.”