Steven J. Mopsick asked me to share this blog with our readers:
Author Archives: Petros
My response on Jack Townsend's Open Forum Comments to Congress and IRS Regarding Tax Administration for Offshore Accounts (4/9/12)
Just Me invited us to respond to Jack Townsend’s invitation to comment on an Open Forum; here is my comment awaiting approval:
My Certificate of Loss of Nationality is in the mail
I suppose that I am no longer a US person from the point of view of the immigration law. Of course, I have been de facto not an American since February 28, 2011, but then I was like Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz–I lacked the piece of paper proving what was already true.
Civil disobedience in the face of desperate government: John Rubino video
The United States is in serious financial trouble. In 2011, the Federal Government borrowed over 40 cents for every dollar it spent, and the Federal Reserve Bank bought 61% of all the debt that the United States Treasury issued. When the Federal Reserve buys the debt, it is called “quantitative easing”, which is a euphemism for creating money out thin air (not money printing--but the creation of electronic money). Eventually, that will lead to high inflation, which is already becoming painfully visible in the prices for food and gas.
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Conversation between two ex-pats in Switzerland
A reader shared this with us in a comment. It deserves its own post. Cheers.
IRS Letter: "If we don't hear from you, we may have to increase the tax you owe or reduce your refund"
As I reported earlier, I sent my 2009 tax return to the IRS and this is the letter that I received back in duplicate. I suppose I just have to fill out the dates in the space provided on page one, send one copy of the form back, and that’s it. Not sure what to do. IRS speak (a.k.a. gobbledygook) is not always so clear.
Of course, it seems that they need my verification that I’ve lived in Canada in 2009, even though my accompanying letter indicated that I had become a Canadian citizen last year, and of course, my address is in Canada, whence I’ve filed at least ten years worth of returns. What gives?
The nature of the beast: feeding on EX-pats
In a Greek classic, Physionomics, belatedly assigned to Aristotle, the author states that no animal ever had the physical aspect of one species and the personality of another. I would maintain that it is unreasonable for us to expect the beast of the United States to change from one thing to another, such as from a hawk to a dove. Our task really is to determine what sort of beast we are dealing with and adjust our behaviour accordingly.
U.S. IRS forms 'SWAT team' for tax dodger crackdown
It is interesting to note that KPMG is working for the IRS as a consultant. Do you want them to prepare your tax return? They work for the IRS.
The IRS also sees something sinister in moving goods and funds from one country to another:
Transfer pricing is a booming field of global tax law. It involves multinational corporations that are constantly moving goods, services and assets from one subsidiary to another in different countries and how they account for these “transfers.”
“Moving goods, services and assets” is also called, “international trade”.
U.S. IRS forms ‘SWAT team’ for tax dodger crackdown
Ignorance is an excuse in the case of FBAR
Lately, I keep hearing people say that ignorance of the law is no excuse and it does not constitute “reasonable cause” in the eyes of the IRS. Both notions are false with regard to the Foreign Bank Account Report (FBAR).
It's not 1980 anymore, it's 1984
Our own Ladybug sent me the following 1980 document from the US Consulate in Calgary. It has this don’t-die-of-laughing-they-really-did-say-it line: ” … a person who has already lost U.S. citizenship by that date [Oct. 10, 1978] may not have it restored.” Oh that the rules were what they were. Now, no matter whether you lost it back then or not, you have it whether you want it or not. One line, however, is still all too true: “Did you know … That U.S. laws, regulations and procedures are always changing, and what was true some years ago may not be true now?”
