Liberty and justice for all United States persons abroad

The Isaac Brock Society

Media and Blog Articles – Part 7 of 11 (Year 2020)

2021.01.01.  This thread is now closed.  It continues at Media and Blog Articles Open for Comment – Part 8 of 9 – Year 2021.

**If clicking on a link brought you to the wrong page of this thread, CLICK HERE to go DIRECTLY TO THE MOST RECENT COMMENTS.**

This is a continuation of the Media and Blog Articles Open for Comments thread (part 6 of 9). 

Part 1 covers up until 26 May 2015.   Part 2 is  from 27 May 2015  to 1 January 2016.  Part 3 is 1 January – 31 December 2016.  Part 4 is 1 January – 31 December 2017.   Part 5 is 1 January – 31 December 2018.  Part 6 is 1 January – 31 December 2019. Part 8 is 1 January – 31 December 2021. Part 9  is 1 January – 31 December 2022.

 Media and Blog Articles

EmBee suggested that it would be good if there was a thread for new articles, so that people would be aware of where to comment.   So, I created this permanent page.   I’ll make a permanent list of links posted here and keep adding to it,  but not deleting, so we’ll end up having sort of a  “bibliography” of FATCA/CBT articles.  [Note:  Some articles are not open for comments]

For more articles on FATCA, enter FATCA into Google then click on the link “more news for fatca” just below the most recent featured article.

Notes:

From JC:   To see #FATCA on Twitter for latest breaking news.  JC finds that is quite a good source and there even are some international articles that one may read using Google Translate.   Others may help certain tweets and articles remain in elevated position by retweeting them.

From Badger:   On an important archival note, please use the Internet Archive Wayback machine https://archive.org/web/ (see bottom right ‘Save Page Now’ box to enter URLs of webpages you want saved for posterity, and try to save backup copies of articles and other items of interest in some other form – such as a datastick or external drive. Some important and very significant webpages and the fulltexts of articles are no longer available (although some can be retrieved if someone using the Wayback machine saved them).

Be sure to read the comment stream for this thread — there are often very recent articles mentioned since this list was updated.

2020.12.04
How the IRS Prioritizes Compliance Work on High Income Non-Filers Through National and International Enforcement, IRS, Tax Connections.
2020.12.02
Constitutional lawyer Joseph Arvay remembered as tireless defender of the underdog, Bethany Lindsay, CBC, Canada. (Mr. Arvay was lead counsel for the ADCS constitutional challenge of the FATCA IGA legislation at Federal Court (Trial Division), 2014-2019.
2020.11.02
Goodbye, USA: The story of how I left the USA. Larry Salibra, Larry Salibra, Hong Kong.
2020.10.31
How the coronavirus made it nearly impossible to tenounce citizenship,, Adam Taylor, Washington Post, US.
2020.10.16
More Americans Are Renouncing Their Citizenship, Jo Craven McGinty, Wall Street Journal, US.
2020.10.15
Would I Ever Renounce My Citizenship?, Evan Edinger, YouTube.
2020.10.07
McAfee Founder Accused Of Evading Taxes While Allegedly Earning Millions, Reese Oxner, NPR, US.
2020.09.15
Toronto Star virtual event:  US Election 2020:  Why votes from abroad matter, and explaining the battle to overcome voter suppression, Toronto Star, Canada.  (Event occurs 2020.09.22)
2020.09.07
Republican group calls on Donald Trump to change Fatca [sic], Cristian Angeloni, International Adviser.
Geld aus den USA fur viele Pensionisten, ORF, Austria.

2021.01.01.  This thread is now closed.  It continues at Media and Blog Articles Open for Comment – Part 8 of 8 – Year 2021.

213 thoughts on “Media and Blog Articles – Part 7 of 11 (Year 2020)”

  1. Update on my post on this thread from yesterday:

    The story about Austrians receiving and cashing US stimulus checks has gone viral in the Austrian media. It’s in all the papers and I heard the story several times on the radio today.

    In the comment section of an article appearing in the online version of “der Standard” a few have pointed out that as soon as the bank officer in charge of FATCA catches wind of the situation, there will most likely be a few folks who suddenly find themselves without a bank account (so obviously a minority is savvy to the current climate).

    https://apps.derstandard.at/privacywall/story/2000119839789/schecks-mit-trumps-unterschrift-fuer-oberoesterreichische-pensionisten

    Others point out those receiving checks must have some kind of US indicia and it’s not just a case of pennies from heaven for no reason. A couple of articles mention, for example, that recipients previously worked in the US as au-pairs or were shareholders in US corporations. The man from the original story has gone on to explain he collects a small social security benefit, so that explains why he got a check, but others are claiming to have nothing to do with the US.

    Some commenters have pointed out that the banker interviewed about the mysterious checks shouldn’t be encouraging recipients to cash them. An NPR article on this topic is circulating as ‘evidence’ the checks should be returned (see last paragraph: “The IRS says non-U.S. residents who received stimulus money in error should return it”).

    https://www.npr.org/2020/08/05/898903600/foreign-workers-living-overseas-mistakenly-received-1-200-u-s-stimulus-checks?t=1599598545179

    The NPR article explores yet another possibility for why foreigners are getting checks: they filed the wrong 1040. “(…) anywhere to a third to a half [of first-time foreign filers] are filing the wrong return.”

    I find the whole thing very curious. If I were still a US citizen and got a check, I’m not sure I would rush to cash it in and tip the bank off to my status. Or maybe this is part of a scheme to discover who’s hiding?

  2. Halt’s Maul, Össis! Take the money and run.

    I don’t think the US government is competent or Machiavellian enough to go fishing with $1200 cheques.

    On the FATCA front, a basic SS recipient like our twinkly-eyed pensioner is not in fact a US person. But yes, a cheque from Donnie might lead to some uncomfortable questions.

  4. The Toronto Star newspaper has been complaining for many days now that not enough “Americans” in Canada vote in US elections, and is hosting a virtual meeting tonight (Sept 22) trying to influence more of these US Persons to vote.

    You can’t attend this virtual event, but you can email your questions.

    If you have a point of view on the subject that might differ from that of the panelists (which include a former US ambassador to Canada), why don’t you send a brief email?

    “Questions will be addressed during the live event as time permits.”

    The link:

    https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/09/15/toronto-star-virtual-event-us-election-2020-why-votes-from-abroad-matter-and-explaining-the-battle-to-overcome-voter-suppression.html?utm_source=thestar&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=engagement&utm_campaign_id=uselectionpanel

  5. What a bizarre thing for the Star, or any Canadian newspaper, to be doing.

    Trump or no Trump, my view is that dual citizens with no ties to the US – be they accidentals or emigrants – should at least be consistent here: neither vote nor file tax returns. Expats with a stake in the country’s future are another matter.

  6. “What a bizarre thing for the Star, or any Canadian newspaper, to be doing.”

    I agree, yet it shows just how deep into Canadian life the USA has got. It’s now perfectly normal for the USA to bully Canada so the more Canadians that vote the better? Perhaps Canada just wants some representation for the next laws the US imposes?

    Tiny bit by tiny bit the USA encroaches on other nations sovereignty, soon we’ll all need a vote?

  9. @Dash1729

    The McAfee case (if my information is accurate) is at least the second time in the last year that the USA has used extradition to prosecute individuals for things related to taxation. The two targeted individuals are likely not sympathetic people to “envy specialist” homelanders which is why many will simply assume guilt and not take an interest.

  11. You can get around the paywall by googling title
    “more americans are renouncing their citizenship”
    Not a bad article

  20. Blast from the past. Saw a name I recognized today. James Bopp, whose FATCA challenge failed in 2016, was the firm behind a bunch of silly voter fraud lawsuits that were withdrawn today.

    This cause, though just, sure attracts some strange bedfellows. Anyone remember Jim Jatras? He’s a full-on MAGA Nazi now.

  22. I’m calling this little feature “Ask the IRS”:

    https://www.taxconnections.com/taxblog/how-the-irs-prioritizes-compliance-work-on-high-income-non-filers-through-national-and-international-efforts/#comment-18306

    Not expecting a response.

    This was a useful snippet: “Tax treaty and information exchange per case investigation requests” It confirms the point we frequently make that there is no bulk data available beyond the limited information they will get from FATCA, which they don’t seem to use proactively.

  24. The Canadian legal community, including me, are saddened by the sudden death of our former lawyer, Joe Arvay. I was honored to have him represent me and us in our law suit. He was a brilliant litigator who was not afraid of taking on difficult but important charter cases. He often spoke at my alma mater, University of Windsor, where he had also taught in the 70s. RIP, Joe.

  25. This is very sad news. Mr. Arvay did his best to present our case in the BC court. I was very impressed by his demeanor and his thorough understanding of the injustice of FATCA and US citizenship taxation. It’s a complex subject and he mastered it. It sounds like he was well liked and admired by those who knew him. May he rest in peace.

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