Media and Blog Articles – part 2 of 11 (Year 2015)

1,837 thoughts on “Media and Blog Articles – part 2 of 11 (Year 2015)”

1. @ JC
   I’ve got a comment in moderation at http://alphaglider.com/blog/2015/06/23/fubar/ to bring attention to ADCS. The author, Doug Kirkpatrick really did a pretty thorough and fair analysis of F(u)BAR. I liked this:

   FBAR and FATCA are the epitome of the law of unintended consequences. They are F(u)BAR and they desperately need to be modified or scrapped as soon as possible.

2. @Charl Agreed. The only thing we should focus on is “discrimination.” I think I’ll follow a tack of eliminating the discrimination by making it all even and applying FBAR, 8398, and PFIC to Americans living in America, and see how they like that idea. To try to bring home the injustices of it all.

   @Pacifica777 One aspect I like about that survey is that I don’t believe they have a limit on open ended comments. They should get lots of information.
   Based on the questions they will not be able to quantify the injustices such as the percent contemplating giving up citizenship – they will just get an idea of ‘strongly agree or disagree’ with certain topics.’ I suggested to them a follow up survey with aim at quantifying the injustices. They should get a lot of qualitative information from the open end comments, and be in good position for a follow up survey.
   I encourage Brockers to complete the survey. We don’t want results dominated by Homelanders Abroad.

   @EmBee very nice and favourable to our cause language used in that article.

3. I did this survey yesterday and made many comments explaining the injustices of CBT and FATCA. I also made it clear that I have never complied with US tax law (and that I think it would be ridiculous to do so) and that the local financial accounts of citizens and residents of other countries being labelled “offshore” is the definition of absurdity.

4. New:

   80 countries join fight to end banking secrecy
   http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/germany-oecd-fraud.yho

5. The title is enough to make you cry:

   Expatriate Health Coverage Clarification Act of 2014, Interim Guidance

   I am pretty sure they can put a bunch of rules on people not even in the country to make their health insurance more costly or unavailable.
   Good luck foreign living, tax dodging Americans.

   http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-15-43.pdf

6. Offshore Accounts? Choose OVDP Or Streamlined Despite FATCA

   http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2015/06/30/offshore-accounts-choose-ovdp-or-streamlined-despite-fatca/

7. Canada mentioned enough here to get your blood boiling on this fine Canada Day. FATCA is how the U.S. treats its friends.

   “Treasury Department and IRS officials have said on multiple occasions that data confidentiality is a baseline priority in negotiating IGAs and that no information is going to other countries unless the U.S. is confident it will be protected.”

   Basically, the US won’t provide information on other country’s citizens without safeguards, but still require other countries hand over our information with or without safeguards in place in the countries where we live. Other nations don’t give a hoot about our security because we’re considered by them to be US tax chattels anyway and as long as it gets them off the hook for withholding. THIS STINKS!

   http://www.bna.com/taxpayers-facing-big-n17179928972/

8. http://on.aol.ca/video/u-s–passport-law-reverberates-in-jerusalem-518876134 — U.S. Passport Law Reverberates in Jerusalem

9. @Calgary
   That link doesn’t seem to be working.

10. Myth No. 1: Some claim it’s overly costly and burdensome due to complex regulations and difficult to meet reporting requirements.

    «Fatca ist und bleibt ein bürokratisches Monster», so Flückiger. «Es verursacht sehr hohe Kosten, die wohl kaum je wieder rentabel eingespielt werden können. Aber die Schweizer Banken können gut damit leben und können es umsetzen.»

    «Die Vorbereitungsarbeiten für das Fatca-Abkommen haben rund 300 Millionen Franken gekostet», sagt Daniela Flückiger.

    http://www.srf.ch/news/wirtschaft/finanzbranche-hat-sich-mit-fatca-abkommen-versoehnt

11. Survey says: 35 percent of Americans would expatriate.

    http://www.cnbc.com/id/102799503

12. Polly,

    Perhaps try a search on Google. The link seems to work OK for me.

13. People born in Jerusalem with a claim of US citizenship are persona non grata in Israel.

14. Interesting – how will any estate left to family be handled by Canada, the US, Panama? http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/crown-wants-proof-arthur-porter-died-in-panama-1.3135508

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Porter_%28physician%29
    Personal life

    Arthur Porter was born in Sierra Leone. He holds both Canadian and American citizenship. He was married to Pamela Mattock Porter and had four children….
    He studied in Canada at Western University in London, Ontario, Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine in London, U.K.,[10][11] and he also attended Harvard, the University of Toronto and the University of Tennessee, obtaining medical management and administration certifications, degrees in medicine, natural sciences, medical and radiation oncology.[5]

    Corruption scandals

    He resigned as chairman of Canada’s spy agency in December 2011,[3] three months before the end of his contract, after the National Post published revelations of his business dealings with international lobbyists and close ties to the president of Sierra Leone.[12]

    Porter’s questionable business dealings and foreign connections included his relationship with Ari Ben-Menashe, a Montreal-based businessman and an ex-Israeli international lobbyist and arms dealer, who was arrested and charged in the United States for illegally attempting to sell military transport airplanes to Iran.[13][14]

15. Senator Paul Sues Obama IRS Over Privacy-killing Pseudo-treaties

    http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/constitution/item/21180-sen-paul-sues-obama-irs-over-privacy-killing-pseudo-treaties

    Disqus – Comments open.

16. JP Morgan private banker: “We can’t make money anymore…”

    http://www.sovereignman.com/trends/jp-morgan-private-banker-we-cant-make-money-anymore-17208/

    All over the world, bankers are contacting their customers and forcing them to fill out paperwork to comply with idiotic US government regulations. Even when there’s no connection to the US.

    Disqus comments open.

17. BVI Issues FATCA Self-Certification Form Templates

    http://www.sknvibes.com/news/newsdetails.cfm/92468

18. 3 or 4 months ago the NY Times had an article on why college education is expensive in the US
    – reduction in state funding — no state subsidies have more than kept up with inflation
    – increase in professional and support staff — no most new professors are part time get no or little benefits
    teaching cost have actually gone, support staff salaries have barely kept up with inflation
    – the real reason clerical and administrative staffs increased 400%, all those student loans and grants require lots of forms to be filled-out and an army of clerks to verify, file and whatever The increased costs of processing student applications are passed on the students which need larger loans to pay for the increased of the paperwork

19. @ Tom Alcere RE: BVI Template

    Please tick either (a) or (b) or (c) and complete as appropriate.

    (a) I confirm that I am a U.S. citizen and/or resident in the U.S. for tax purposes (green card holder or resident under the substantial presence test) and my U.S. federal taxpayer identifying number (U.S. TIN) is as follows: __________________
    (b) I confirm that I was born in the U.S. (or a U.S. territory) but am no longer a U.S. citizen as I have voluntarily surrendered my citizenship as evidenced by the attached documents.
    (c) I confirm that I am not a U.S. citizen or resident in the U.S. for tax purposes.

    I would pick (c) because IN means IN to me, even if the IRS thinks IN includes OUT.

20. @EmBee

    As they describe green card holders resident for tax purposes as meeting the substantial presence test, “c” would be the correct choice.

21. BVI doesn’t allow for a “reasonable explanation” under “b”.

22. For a person born in the US who later relinquished his US citizenship (and properly exited the US tax system), either (b) or (c) is appropriate (it’s a poorly worded question). As such, I imagine many relinquishers would choose (c) as it’s best to keep a low profile if at all possible. Heck, one could even argue that (c) is the more appropriate choice as it directly deals with being a taxable person.

    How did that slip through?

23. @Bubblebustin

    Since they don’t spell out what are acceptable documents, it could be that you merely have to pass on your proof of obtaining citizenship in another country to show that you are no longer a USC. Or not. It leaves it to the imagination to determine what’s appropriate evidentiary documentation.

24. RE: BVI Template
    Checking off (a) is like attaching a “Kick Me” sign to your own back. 🙁

25. @tdott

    Canada’s FATCA guidelines allow for a reasonable explanation as to why someone doesn’t have a CLN, but without consistent guidelines what’s reasonable may vary from bank to bank, branch to branch, employee to employee. I recently had an another email exchange with the Canadian Banker Association’s Media Relations and Communications director, Maura Drew Lytle about the non-existence of a uniform standard in this regard. I hoped she’d see the problems in not creating one and would perhaps use her position to lobby the CRA to come up with some (as they lobbied the government to pass implementation legislation for the IGA) but instead she punted to the CRA:

    “The CBA does not set policies or guidelines for the banks to follow, that is not our role, so it would be up to individual bank policy based on CRA guidance.”, and, “The CBA is not a regulatory body and we have no oversight powers over banks in Canada. We do not set rules or standards for the banks to follow, that is not our role as an industry association.”

    I did get to point out to her that the CBA should at least communicate information that’s consistent with the CRA guidelines that DO exist and brought to her attention some very important info for consumers that was missing on its website, namely the fact that bank customers should be allowed to provide a reasonable explanation as to why they don’t have a CLN. The CBA currently states:

    “How do banks determine which accounts have to be reported to the CRA?
    Under the IGA, banks are required to review new and existing client accounts to look for any indication that an individual may be considered a U.S. person. Indicators that someone may be a U.S. person include U.S. identification used to open an account or a U.S. address associated with the account. Your financial institution may ask you to self-certify that you are not a U.S. person by providing additional documentation. If you choose not to provide this additional documentation upon request, your financial institution will be required to send your account information to the CRA which may share it with the IRS.”

    http://www.cba.ca/en/consumer-information/40-banking-basics/597-fatca-and-the-canada-us-intergovernmental-agreement-iga-information-for-clients-

    She responded by agreeing to make changes to their website, and thanked me for pointing it out to her:

    “I understand that this may not be a choice for some people and will talk to my colleagues to see how we might update the information on our website. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.”…

    …”We will revise the answer on our website and provide a link to the CRA information and requirements. That way if they change them, the information on our website will not be out of date. The banks do not use the information on our website to determine how to deal with their clients.”
    Should anyone else like to write to her, her email is:

    MDrew-Lytle@cba.ca

    She was surprisingly quite responsive. In fact I recall her participating on Brock at one time.

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