Liberty and justice for all United States persons abroad

The Isaac Brock Society

Category Archives: Issues regarding US persons abroad

U.S. “culture of penalty” and inflation: First, inflation used to first increase the size of #FBAR penalty base and then increase the size of actual penalties

Posted on by Posted in Issues regarding US persons abroad Leave a comment

cross-posted from citizenshipsolutions blog
written by John Richardson

Introduction: Penalty as a part of American Culture

The above tweet links to a wide range of examples of America’s culture of penalty.

The purpose of this post is to explore how inflation results in the facilitation of enhanced penalty collection in America today.

What is inflation?

In its simplest terms:

“Inflation is defined as a sustained increase in the general
level of prices for goods and services in a county, and is measured as
an annual percentage change. Under conditions of inflation, the prices
of things rise over time. Put differently, as inflation rises, every
dollar you own buys a smaller percentage of a good or service. When
prices rise, and alternatively when the value of money falls you have
inflation.”

Source: Adam Hayes, CFA

(Note his use of the words “goods and services“. Are
FBAR penalties and the S. 877A Exit Tax consumer goods or
government services?)

Inflation can either be helpful or can be hurtful. Some benefit from
inflation and others are hurt by inflation. At a minimum, inflation will
always erode the value of cash.

Effect of inflation on owners/lenders of cash: When it
comes to cash inflation will hurt the owners/lenders of cash. This is
because inflation will erode the value of cash.

Effect of inflation on borrowers of cash: Inflation
will help he borrowers of cash. This is because inflation erodes the
value of the cash that must be repaid.
Continue reading →

#FEARBar (“Foreign Email Account Report”) update – All indications lead to reporting #offshore email accounts

Posted on by Posted in Issues regarding US persons abroad 31 Comments

Cross posted from the Renounce U.S. Citizenship blog.

The above tweet references a post written four years ago in June of 2013. The post predicted that at some point the United States would require disclosure (in addition to FATCA (Form 8938) and FBAR (FinCen 114) and other forms) the email accounts used by Americans abroad.


That post concluded with my prediction:

The purpose of FBAR and FATCA is to …

Provide the U.S. with information that is outside of its jurisdiction. In other words, the U.S. has no legal right to the information. Therefore, by threatening “life altering” penalties, the U.S. forces its citizens to provide this information to the U.S. government.

If the contents of bank accounts is important, then the contents of an email account would be even more valuable.

You heard it here first:

The next information return that the U.S. will require is the:

“Foreign Email Account Report” - FEARBar for short!

Congress will (like FATCA) unknowingly pass the general legislation (slipped in as part of a Hiring Act) and authorize the IRS to specify the contents of the return. What an Orwellian World!

FEARBar coming to an information return near you!

Continue reading →

Morales-Santana: SCOTUS Makes it Harder for People Born Abroad to U.S. Citizens to Become U.S. Citizens

Posted on by Posted in Issues regarding US persons abroad 16 Comments

cross-posted from the citizenshipsolutions blog

by John Richardson

**********

Prologue:U.S. citizenship is not as attractive as it was

One benefit of U.S. citizenship: If one is a U.S. citizen then one cannot be deported from the USA

Some Green Card holders become U.S. citizens. Some do NOT become U.S.
citizens. Many of those Green Card holders become U.S. citizens in order to avoid the possibility of deportation. Deportation results in expatriation and can (among other things) subject the unfortunate Green Card holder to the S. 877A Expatriation Tax, which can result in significant confiscation of assets. In fact, the S. 877A Expatriation Tax discourages people from seeking Green Cards in the first place. That said, it is only Green Card Holders who are “long term residents” who are subject to the Exit Tax.

The plight of Mr. Morales-Santana: No U.S. citizenship = the possibility of deportation

The facts as described by the court:

In 2000, the Government sought to remove Morales-Santana based on several criminal convictions, ranking him as alien because, at his time of birth, his father did not satisfy the requirement of five years’ physical presence after age 14. An immigration judge rejected Morales-Santana’s citizenship claim and ordered his removal. Morales­ Santana later moved to reopen the proceedings, asserting that the Government’s refusal to recognize that he derived citizenship from his U. S.-citizen father violated the Constitution’s equal protection guarantee.

To be deported or not to be deported – it depends on Mr.Morales-Santana’s claim to U.S. citizenship

In order to avoid deportation, Mr. Morales-Santana needed to establish that he was a U.S. citizen.

In order for the U.S. Government to deport Mr. Morales-Santana, it needs to establish that he was NOT a U.S. citizen.

If you wanted to argue that Mr. Morales-Santana was a U.S. citizen, then how would you make the argument?

Facts: Mr. Morales-Santana was born (1) outside the USA and (2) out of wedlock. He was NOT born to a U.S. citizen parent who met the U.S. “physical presence requirements” to transmit U.S. citizenship! How could he then be a U.S. citizen?

Hmmmmmm ….
Continue reading →

#FATCA and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Posted on by Posted in Issues regarding US persons abroad 15 Comments

The initial reaction of the Canadian government to FATCA can best be described by a letter then-Finance Minister, the late Jim Flaherty wrote, intended to be placed in major American newspapers.Virtually no one believed there would be any reason for the U.S. to impose this given Canada is a higher tax jurisdiction and owing annual income tax was rather unlikely. Back in 2012, in spite of all the scaremongering created by the IRS and foreign tax compliance practitioners, the underlying hope/belief of “US Persons” in Canada was that it would be impossible to get around the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In spite of the fact that the first Model 1 IGA was released on 26 July 2012 by the US Treasury. The IGA was developed cooperatively with France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom.

The post below was written over a year before the Canadians signed the IGA agreement on Feb 5 2014. Interestingly enough, it was written on the same day as a letter written by Peter Hogg, perhaps THE most important constitutional lawyer in Canada. This letter was sent to the Department of Finance and was welcome news.

“Note that the prohibited grounds of discrimination
include ‘national or ethnic origin’, and the Supreme Court has held that citizenship is an ‘analogous ground’ also prohibited by s. 15(1).”
(Andrews v. Law Society of BC (1989) 1 S.C.R. 143)…
“The point of this letter is to urge the
Government not to agree to an IGA which would call for foreign legislation which would offend s. 15
of the Charter.”

Perhaps I just have a bad memory but it is curious to me now, that there is such a difference in the time some of our main allies signed and when we signed. I only recently (and surprisingly) learned that the U.K. and Germany do not have anything comparable to our Charter. Could that be a reason they were more willing to sign earlier on in the process? Does it mean the Canadian government at first considered the possibility that any action they took would not be able to withstand a Charter Challenge? And if so, what was it that made them change their minds? How did they come to believe they could get away with changing a law to break the law? Bill C-31 is the only of the clearly unconstitutional laws that the Trudeau government refuses to budge on (the others being C-23 C-24 & C-51).

While Canada clearly failed when it had the chance to stand up to the U.S. government, perhaps we can count on the Supreme Court of Canada, in the end, to demonstrate leadership by living up to the ideals enshrined in the Charter.

*******
Reposted from renounceuscitizenship blog on December 21, 2012.

Continue reading →

Let’s Unite to Defeat FATCA!

Posted on by Posted in Issues regarding US persons abroad 37 Comments

Let the Lawsuits Continue!
Another group of people, residents & citizens of other nations (yet claimed by the U.S. all the same), the Association des Américains Accidentels has formed a legal entity in order to raise funding for procuring a legal opinion and proceeding with litigation against the FATCA IGA in France and/or the European Union courts.
We began our journey in February 2014 and welcome this effort, hoping it spreads around the world. Best thing to remember:

This is not a sprint, it’s a marathon and “always concentrate on how far you’ve come, rather than how far you have left to go.”
cdn flagFranceWHO WILL BE NEXT?

 ;

cross posted from Association of Américains Accidentels

Let’s Unite to Defeat FATCA!

The “Association of Américains Accidentels” (Accidental Americans Association) is a legally formed entity under the French law of 1901.

Its aim is to defend and protect Franco-American binationals against the nefarious effects of FATCA. The consequences of this Inter Governmental Agreement (IGA) between France and the United States have been manyfold and tragic for binational citizens: French banks have refused to open accounts or have closed them, payments of inheritances have been suspended, insurance policies and mortgages have been cancelled among other bureaucratic hassles binationals have had to endure. This has resulted in feelings of great anxiety, anger as well as the feeling that French Authorities has abandoned them to their fate.

The Association has two goals: First, to seek legal opinions in French, European and International law to defeat FATCA in France or better yet in the European Union altogether and secondly to undertake the necessary judicial actions to exclude binationals from the FATCA IGA’s once and for all. Preliminary conversations with highly qualified lawyers have been promising and we think that there may be solid legal grounds to achieve this goal whether at the French or European Union level or both. But legal opinions by good lawyers are not free.

To this end we have started a fund raising drive and we need you.

In advance, many thanks for your help and Let’s Unite to Defeat FATCA!

Fabien Lehagre
Président de l’Association des Américains Accidentels (AAA)


Published on Jun 6, 2017
 
1ère réunion de l’Association des Américains Accidentels le 29 avril 2017 à Gourin (56).
Les Américains « accidentels » ont répondu à l’appel de Fabien Lehagre qui a lancé son collectif qui regroupe ces Franco-Américains, nés sur le sol français d’au moins un parent américain ou nés sur le sol américain d’au moins un parent français. Les États-Unis, ils n’y ont passé que quelques semaines ou quelques années d’enfance…
Et pourtant, depuis 2014, le fisc américain leur court après. Depuis que la France a signé avec les États-Unis l’accord Fatca, qui oblige les banques françaises à transmettre les informations bancaires de leur client présentant un « indice d’américanité » à l’IRS, le fisc américain.
Depuis, ces Américains Accidentels subissent une effroyable injustice…

May 31 2017 Canadian FATCA IGA lawsuit update: Plaintiffs ordered by Federal Court to turn over more detailed financial records to Government

Posted on by Posted in Issues regarding US persons abroad 57 Comments

As part of our FATCA IGA litigation in Canada’s Federal Court, Our three Plaintiffs previously provided financial information to the Government lawyers on their accounts. However, Government submitted a motion to compel Plaintiffs to provide additional very detailed financial information.

Continue reading →

Transcript of Hearing April 26, 2017 House Committee on Oversight & Government Reform-Meadows

Posted on by Posted in Issues regarding US persons abroad, Law & Morality, Relinquishment, Renunciation, Senate Hearings 20 Comments

beanCourtesy of Andrew Grossmann · @andygr
28th May 2017 from TwitLonger TwitLonger

This is a transcript from the FATCA Hearing held in Washington D.C on April 26, 2017.
I think it is interesting to actually read the testimonies that we heard that day. Some of the more striking aspects seem even more shocking and the mistakes stick out like sore thumbs……………..All emphases are mine – Patricia Moon

Continue reading →

Hands Down this is the Worst Academic Piece About FATCA ever Written

Posted on by Posted in Issues regarding US persons abroad 61 Comments

Small update

Thanks to USCitizenAbroad for posting links re Ms Ran Kim. Here is a piece she is listed on while interning at Caplin & Drysdale in Washington, D.C. (2012-2013, 2014)

Scott D. Michel, Zhanna Ziering & Young Ran Kim, U. S. Offshore Account Enforcement Issues, 16 J. Tax Practice & Procedure 65 (Aug./Sep. 2014).

U. S. Offshore Account Enforcement Issues

 

Continue reading →

We are thinking of Lynne (Blaze)

Posted on by Posted in Issues regarding US persons abroad 42 Comments

As many of you know, Lynne (Blaze) has been, from the very beginning, one of our strongest and tireless defenders of the Charter rights of Canadians opposed to our Government’s compliance with the foreign FATCA law. As part of our FATCA IGA litigation in Canada’s Federal Court Lynne acts as the Chair of the Litigation Committee of ADCS.

My sad news is that Lynne is now at the University Hospital in London Ontario. She was in the ICU but has now been transferred out of this unit.

From the hospital Lynne is already sending us emails about her thoughts on FATCA etc. and provided this update on Maple Sandbox:

“Thanks everyone for your positive thoughts. I was transferred last night from ICU to Neurology. Tonight a doc diagnosed me with epilepsy. I do not need that after all the challenges of 36 years of M.S.! She said I will probably lose my drivers’s license.

I was on a ventilator for a few days while I was in ICU–even though my Living Will clearly says no ventilator, dialysis, etc.

I didn’t check my e-mails for a few days and I am just working my way through 98. If you are one of them, I apologize for not responding to you.”

We all wish her a speedy recovery, and it might be nice if you could share your thoughts on this post.

Continue reading →