Liberty and justice for all United States persons abroad

The Isaac Brock Society

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

You can access all years at this link: Media and Blog Articles – Links for All Years

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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.  You could mention such articles in the comment stream for this page, or if I see one on another thread, I can copy the link to here. I’ll keep adding to the list, but not deleting, so we’ll end up having sort of a “bibliography” too.  [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.

Note also: JC suggests 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.

Be sure to read the comment stream for this thread — there are usually very recent articles mentioned there that are not yet on this list.

2015.01.01
Raising revenue off Caribbean backs, Bruce Zagaris, NationNews, Barbados.
On or about 2016.01.01
16 issues to make 2016 candy for the market, Westfield Times.
2015.12.31
Tax reporting norms: FinMin updates guidance note on compliance, K.R. Srivats, Hindu Business Line, India.
2015.12.30
Top Tax Blogs from 2015, Tax Connections. (Congratulations to John Richardson and Lynne Swanson who placed 2nd and 4th!)
Global dragnet puts pressure on tax evaders as year-end deadlines loom, Jeff Gray, Globe and Mail, Canada.
IRS Employee Whose Job Was Assisting Victims Of Identity Theft Charged in $1 Million Identity Theft Tax Fraud, Paul Caron, TaxProfBlog, US.
How America’s Wealthiest Are Saving Billions Through a Private Tax System, TruthDig.
RA Returns Home, TaxProTalk forum.
2015.12.29
For the Wealthiest, a Private Tax System That Saves Them Billions, Noam Scheiber and Patricia Cohen, New York Times, US.
IRS Stirs Up New Crisis With Non-Profits Over Social Security Numbers, Eric Pianin, The Fiscal Times.
DNC Must Heed Warning Bells From 2000, Bennet Kelley, Huffington Post, US.
2015.12.28
IRS Creates “International Practice Units” for their IRS Revenue Agents in International Tax Matters, Patrick Martin, Tax-Expatriation, US.
MF investors: Les than a4th comply with US tax law, Jayshree P. Upadhyay & Ashley Coutinho, Business Standard, India.
IRS service should improve after some saw their ‘worst tax season,” advocate says, Robert Schroeder, MarketWatch, US.

Articles from earlier in 2015 are at this link

 Articles from 2014 are at this link

Media and Blog Articles Open for Comment thread, Part 1 of 2, is at this link

Media and Blog Articles Open for Comment thread, Part 3 of 3, is at this link

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

  1. Having a John Richardson video at Globe & Mail would be excellent — it would, though, have to be more than the short Rob Carrick sound bytes, giving people *all they need to know* on the subject now that he is convinced renouncing a US citizenship is just too much trouble and too much money. That’s certainly NOT all of the story he needs to tell.

  2. @ calgary411 and Blaze
    I think it’s too hard to do justice to the injustice in that short a sound byte. It would take a very fast talker and then you wouldn’t understand what was said anyway. John Richardson is not a fast talker. He thinks pretty carefully about what he will say and then says it in a measured manner. And “immediate 30% tax imposed” on RRSPs? That’s nonsense and Rob Carrick needs to record a correction to that.

  3. @Eric

    US consulates better start providing translation services if they want to make sure people really know what they’re doing.

    @Blaze

    Still, even without the inaccuracies, many will be stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place. This video could be beneficial as it counters the “just go and denounce yourself then” argument we hear from homelander’s and Canadian MPs.

  4. @EmBee: And “immediate 30% tax imposed” on RRSPs? That’s nonsense and Rob Carrick needs to record a correction to that.

    He’s referring here to the fact that the exit tax demands that covered expats include their RRSP balance as income in their final year US return. The actual tax rate is going to depend on which US tax bracket the total income for the year falls into. For RRSP balances of $250k or so a rate of around 30% won’t be that wide of the mark. Of course there’s no way could the speaker have condensed this into his minute and a half of fame. An “immediate tax of up to 39.6% imposed” on RRSPs would have been right, though.

  5. @ Watcher
    No frackin’ kidding? You are supposed to put your RRSP balance on your final 1040 and say here, go ahead and tax it all? How many other things do “covered” expats have to put on their final 1040? Why isn’t all of this taxing just calculated on the 8854 somewhere? If your assets (RRSP balance included) are below the thresholds and you are not “covered” (stupid, stupid term) are RRSP balances still put on the final 1040? If the speaker could not convey this accurately in the time allotted the speaker should not have spoken. The speaker has me befuddled … easily done I’m afraid. I just don’t remember any Brockers saying they got dinged on their RRSP balance but then maybe all them are not “covered”.

  6. I spoke with John Richardson. He says:

    Any taxation of an RRSP on renunciation of citizenship depends on whether the person renouncing is a covered expatriate.

    Most people would not (pay tax to the IRS on an RRSP on renunciation.)

    John also says:

    Terry Ritchie generally is an excellent commentator on cross border tax issues.

    Renouncing U.S. citizenship along with the possibility of being subjected to U.S. Exit Tax rules makes for a very complex situation.

    Unfortunately, it is difficult to convey the complexity in an interview as short as this. As a result, the interview has incomplete information and in some cases misleading information. At a minimum, further research is required.

    I will contact Rob Carrick and urge him to do another interview with John.

  7. @EmBee
    Yup, no kidding. Check out 7a of form 8854 part IV section B (it’s close to the top of page 3). An ‘ineligible’ deferred compensation item is any non-US retirement savings plan — the ever-reliable Phil Hodgen explains here. Beyond belief, isn’t it?

    Duck under the “covered’ thresholds or be dual from birth and you’re out from under this and all the other exit tax crap. Which is probably why no Brockers complain of this outrageous treatment. I suspect that any that would be dinged by it have either been put off entirely from renouncing, or have instead quietly slipped away from the US without formally renouncing but simply going off radar.

    By the way, the speaker seems to have confused two things with his “immediate 30%”. For ineligible deferred compensation the tax rate is immediate and in whatever US bracket applies. For eligible deferred compensation (a 401k or other US plan) the tax rate is a flat 30% but not immediate, only on withdrawals. Both ways can be retirement-destroying, though. Because the exit tax post-dates most, if not all, US tax treaties it is an open question as to whether these can be defused by tax treaty. So far I don’t know of anyone who has tried that.

  8. Excellent. Thank you very much, Blaze. And to and John Richardson for agreeing to discuss this further with Rob Carrick for the Globe and Mail – if he agrees to that. Incomplete / misleading information for anyone just hearing this is irresponsible (even if for not adequate time for explanation) and must be remedied.

    [All this, along with being deemed by the US a *covered expatriate* and subject to that US Exit Tax and the RRSP/RRIF immediate taxation referred to if one chooses not to file that final IRS Form 8854. One tangled web.]

  10. Pretty dumb of Carrick to try and cover the subject in 2 minutes. The ‘immediate 30% tax on RRSP’ refers to line 7b of the exit tax form 8854. The full value of an ‘ineligible tax deferred account’ is included in income for that year.
    There are several issues. Is it certain RRSPs are ineligible? Why file a 8854? Why mention your RRSP? If you are a dual at birth, the net worth test doesn’t apply. Etc. Etc.
    As Todantsteur posted on IBS “in the cross border tax area , the (accountant) captures its’ prey with ignorance and fear.”
    Mr. Ritchie’s comment about not being able to go to the US after renouncing is incorrect. So is his statement that you need to be compliant in order to renounce.

  11. I learned today that Jimmy Carter is Honorary Chairman of Democrats Abroad. Is there any way we may “guilt” him? On Twitter Dems Abroad appear only to Tweet homeland issues and anything but US person overseas issues.

    JC Double Taxed ‏@JCDoubleTaxed 4m4 minutes ago
    Pres Jimmy Carter is Faux Honorary Chairman of @DemsAbroad by ignoring US tax punishment of USpersons abroad #CBT #FATCA #FBAR @CarterCenter

  12. Another way around Exit Tax is to gift and spend through retirement (hope that and get the thresholds down) and age without premature death and have estate planning put at risk.

  13. The Highways Bill has been made public in the House of Representatives. I believe there was some worry that they would try to “pay for” new highway infrastructure by picking the pockets of US citizens abroad with new restrictions and penalties. Seems they’ve done so with inheritance-related taxes, but the only thing of specific interest to USC abroad is that, for some inexplicable reason there’s a change in FBAR filing date to April 15, with possible 6-month extension to October 15 (page 43):

    http://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20150713/RYANWI_040_xml.pdf

  14. @Calgary
    Thanks for all the info on snowbirds, but my friend is from Europe. 🙁

    I am so excited because today is the day Bopp files his suit. Does anybody know if anything will happen TODAY when he does this?

  16. @Polly, “Does anybody know if anything will happen TODAY when he does this?”

    This middle aged Brocker is going to break down in tears, that is going to happen TODAY.

    This whole thing has worn me right down again but this spell I am not drinking.

  17. @Polly

    Who knows what will happen…. but I can see the articles now… Lawsuit to save the rich money… evading their duties to pay taxes…. yadda… yadda… Also… I realized something the other day… even with an injunction… it will be stateside only…. all these traitor countries will be business as usual… the hunt for US persons will continue… there will be no relief…

    @George

    We can only do what we have been doing… a step at a time… Drinking does not help… it just pulls the mood down further… been there… done that… I can’t let this suck me into a vortex… neither can u… When a nice buzz is going on… evil children try to run the house and do things like try to kill off each other… my toddler got a golf club & decided her sibling was a good person to try to beat over the head… problem was… kid has poor aim… sibling was laughing too hard for the toddler to nail… anyone missing some demonic children… I think they live at my house… my parents are no help… they said this was justice for all the white hairs on their head from their kids…

  19. The real hurdle is when the case against CBT gets filed. Yet this case in the USA with Rand as plaintiff will very much assist with getting the news out about the injustices.

  20. Duke: that Dutch video has been (mildly) haunting me and, some time after commenting, it occurred to me that something did not feel right. Was this thing really on TV? Indeed, it sounds very much like a scare tactic. Condors must be behind this. In fact it sounds like a lead to an elaborate kind of scam. I haven’t watched it again, but it seems to me that it encouraged the notion that there was nothing to do but declare everything and pay up. Are those people actors?

  21. Watch it again, read the comments and Google the 2 main guys. They are real people. I think they are doing what they think is right and trying to make a buck at the same time. Trouble is they believe everyone has to play by a foreign country’s rules. That said, things could be very different in Europe. They need an IBS.

  23. Thanks, Barbara.

    Also pages 42 and 43 has reference to filing of Forms 3520 and 3520A, pertaining to all those *foreign trusts* that we have abroad. Wonder the reasoning?

  25. Nothing yet — it is wearing on all of us waiting to see the official announcement of what hopefully will be today’s filing of the lawsuit in Ohio.

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