Liberty and justice for all United States persons abroad

The Isaac Brock Society

FATCA Discussion Thread (Ask your questions) Part Two

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Please ask your questions here about FATCA.

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Bear in mind that any responses that you get from participants is peer-to-peer help, and it is not intended as a replacement for professional advice. Also, the Isaac Brock Society provides this disclaimer: neither the Society nor any of its members are professionals. We offer our advice here only in friendship and we recommend that our readers seek professional advice if they need it.

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NB: This discussion is a continuation of an older discussion that became too large for our software to handle well.  See FATCA Discussion Thread (Ask your questions) for earlier discussion.

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3,498 thoughts on “FATCA Discussion Thread (Ask your questions) Part Two”

  3. @Badger
    Me too…from the movie Cold Mountain. That movie was so good. Some live and some survive.

  5. @JustMe, is a real GATCA even possible since the US is the major funder of the OECD, an outsized member (no pun intended) and does not have a mandate or intention to even deliver faux ‘reciprocity’ re the FATCA IGAs?

  8. I would like to post info on my situation and ask for advise on how to proceed. I am an American citizen who came to Canada with my parents when I was 9 years old, in 1952. I have lived in Canada ever since. I retired in 2011. Obviously my intent was not to avoid US taxes. I have never worked in the US. I have not filed US income taxes since living in Canada. Should I now file US income taxes for the past 3 years, and do the Fbars for the past 6? I am so confused by all this FACTA. I would certainly appreciate some insight from Brockers. I am concerned about all my RRSP’s, etc.
    Thankk you.

  9. Bruce B. Don’t change a thing. You have lived your life for 62 yrs as a Canadian . Why screw it up now?

  10. Bruce B
    Read The UK FATCA agreement see if you have any US indices. Assume UK agreement is the worse case. Beat the system if you can.
    I hope you have not used your passport at bank for ID or they do not have your place of birth.
    If you have snowbirded do not use US indices. If you are affluent and have used US indices (snow birding) you may have to do new account. RRSP are exempted, but is not specified yet if they include RRSP amount into determining your total asset worth. Crossing the US border may be a problem in the future. In addition you may want to avoid all US assets, even if you are hidden just to be on safe side.
    http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/tax-policy/treaties/Documents/FATCA-Agreement-UK-9-12-2012.pdf

    This thread is excellent
    http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2012/02/13/3200/comment-page-2/#comments

  11. @Bruce B

    The obvious first question is did you naturalize (become a Canadian) and if so when and at what age?
    You need to provide more facts to get better answers…

  12. Canadian Court will not collect taxes for a foreign country
    At p. 723 it was stated that during the course of the action no one questioned the well-established rule that a foreign state is precluded from suing in Canada for taxes due under the law of that foreign state, and that in a foreign judgment there is no merger of the original cause of action.
    http://uniset.ca/other/cs6/68OR2d379.html

  16. Bruce B,
    Do you have or qualify for another citizenship other than the US one you have? Some people qualify through a parent’s status for another country. Having a non-US citizenship helps you so that you are not stateless if you choose to renounce. Swearing the citizenship oath and naturalizing to another (non-US) country is a potentially relinquishing act – If you MEANT to relinquish US status when you swore allegiance elsewhere, (and you then do nothing to contradict that intent – ex. vote in US elections afterwards).

    One of the best things you can do, independent of whatever else you decide re the US and US tax/financial reporting, is to apply for your Canadian citizenship ASAP since you say you do not have it. The process is now taking about two years from application to finish http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/canada/cit-processing.asp , but, if you are 55 and over, you don’t have to take the test. I cannot stress how important it is to get that going right away.

  17. @Bruce B. –

    Unfortunately the process for permanent residents becoming citizens is very backlogged – my mother’s application took about a year and a half.

  19. Has Flaherty’s promise to Canada that US taxes and penalties will not be collected by Canada been made public, or has it just been expressed in private letters? If it has been made public can someone please provide me with a link?

  21. from Vancouver sun
    http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2011/08/24/verbatim-what-canada-says-about-collecting-irs-non-filing-penalties/
    from government of Canada
    Article XXVI A
    8. No assistance shall be provided under this Article for a revenue claim in respect of a taxpayer to the extent that the taxpayer can demonstrate that

    (a) where the taxpayer is an individual, the revenue claim relates to a taxable period in which the taxpayer was a citizen of the requested State, and

    (b) where the taxpayer is an entity that is a company, estate or trust, the revenue claim relates to a taxable period in which the taxpayer derived its status as such an entity from the laws in force in therequested State.
    http://www.fin.gc.ca/treaties-conventions/usa_-eng.asp

  24. On Republicans Overseas Face Book page:

    “We are pushing for a full repeal as well as restoration of citizenship to those Americans who had to give it up because of FATCA’s negative impact on their families’ livelihood.”

    I don’t do facebook, but someone should inform RO that as long as CBT is in effect, US citizenship will be viewed as something to be avoided by those who make their homes outside of the US.

    A spokesman for Democrats Abroad Luxembourg told Delano that the group “recognises the urgent need to provide relief to Americans living abroad with respect to FATCA”. He said the global organisation formed a task force in 2011 with an aim to “lessen [the law’s] unintended adverse impacts on Americans living abroad”.

    2011? Two thousand and effing eleven? Thanks, DA, for all the hard work and great results.

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