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

If clicking on a comment link brings you to the wrong comment, click here  to get on the most recent page of comments.(alternatively, to reach the most recent comment page, go to  the url in the bar at the top of your browser and delete everything after http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/media-and-blog-articles-open-for-comments-part-2-of-2  )

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. @Polly.
    Yep, the swiss have it right. There was a move to change it to place of birth about 15 yrs ago but someone from the Swiss peoples party argued that birthplace is too random. Your mother could be on holiday in Timbuckoo at the time( or worse). You are where your family and heart is.

  3. I agree. The requirement for place of birth on a passport should be removed by international decree. That piece of information reports something about your mother (where she was when she gave birth), not about you. It is actually immaterial to your identity.

  5. @polly
    When Lenin was exiled in switzerland, he said the Swiss are not capable of revolution as at the first ” keep of the grass” sign they met, they would all disperse.
    They do however have a working democracy with constant referendum where the people really do decide on issues they introduce themselves. I hope it survives.

  6. @pastbeyond60 @Nobledreamer

    I am not convinced that this is a good argument to pursue: that FATCA will cause the demise of the USD as a reserve currency. This might be a bit far fetched. What may be presented is that it perhaps facilitated the founding and funding of the China backed AIIB by placing extra risks of using the USD for international transactions. Risk of compliance errors, risk of compliance violations, risk of changing US policies.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/expat-money/11789332/US-threatens-to-close-expats-UK-accounts.html#comment-2183504892

    Perhaps the whole reserve currency angle is more at the periphery here where it may detract from focus on the injustices of US persons living overseas. Anyway arguing against Ted Baumann on the topic is a bit of battle perhaps best avoided. Now I have two counter comments against his as US persons globally dominate comments on that UK article. On Twitter he will keep going at an argument – he is one of those.

  10. @JC
    It is about the sanctions and wielding the banking system as a threat to everyone else to “do as America says” or else. I was just imagining Trump as the next president. Man – would he use that weapon to get his way and anything else he could find to hold the rest of the world hostage. It is a mentality and it really does go hand in hand with the über-capitalism with deregulation that has spread itself across America. I cannot see Rand Paul thinking along those lines. And the problem really is that at some point, the rest of the world will seek alternatives to be free and not held hostage by America.

  11. @JC
    Nervousinvestor took the lead on the reserve currency issue with Mr. Baumann and did a fabulous job. I agree I should stay out of that discussion as my knowledge base is insufficient.

    I have also felt, though I may be wrong, that occasionally trying to point out how this mess will at the end of the day hurt the US itself may garner more interest from those living in the US. They really don’t seem to care one hoot about the injustices levied on US deemed persons living abroad. After all they are just a bunch of tax cheating, unpatriotic, unwilling to pay their fair share, ungrateful miscreants.

    Indeed Mr. Baumann is a difficult adversary. He half sympathizes and half disagrees, it is like boxing with air. He is also quite intelligent which really makes it difficult, sometimes the one line idiots are a relief!

  14. @JakDac

    I gave her a boat-load of ideas to pursue.

    I received an immediate response, she does seem sympathetic:
    “Thank you for this. I will talk to my editors about doing another piece on this matter, which I realise has created a very difficult situation for a lot of people.”

  16. @JC
    Agreed. If China and the European Union were in better shape, the reserve currency argument might be more credible, but China has been having notable problems lately. The big effect on the U.S. from FATCA is that mid-career people may be reluctant to come to the U.S.

    @Heidi
    Interesting point about David Miliband, but I don’t think he could be near the magic limit of 8 years out of 15, since he has only worked two years in the U.S. since 2000.

    The Daily Mail ran a story in 2012 about him running his earnings from speaking through a company that transferred half of the shares to his wife: “Mr Miliband’s burgeoning post-ministerial income is siphoned into the company owned with his wife, called The Office Of David Miliband Limited.”

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2093272/21K-day-David-Miliband-exploits-tax-loophole-Government-pledged-close.html#ixzz3iQp2kC00

    Hope they got good UK/US tax advice before they set that one up, but since it mentions that this was a way for him to use his wife’s tax free allowance on dividends, I don’t think so. Ouch!

  17. @Charl and Bubble
    Isn, that article by David Millward?
    He is a telegraph reporter recently moved to the US.
    I believe we will find more articles of this type as more influential people are affected.
    There are many UK lords and MP’s who are classified as Americans or married to Americans.

  18. @Publius.
    Didn’t David Milliband move to NYC shortly afer losing the labour party nomination in 2010?
    Doesn’t the green card shackle come into effect after 6 yrs?

  19. Kudos to Desperado Rogue for coming up with the term US Tax Compliance Industrial Complex (USTCIC)!

  22. @ calgary411
    … habitually residinglurking in other countries. Brockers are doing a fine job at The Telegraph but I felt guilty just up-arrowing so I added a couple of cents worth. I’m hoping David Millward will do more … please. He’s certainly received a lot of feedback.

  23. @Heidi,

    You become a long term permanent resident when you have had a green card for 8 of the last 15 years. I got nailed in a long time ago.

  25. @Charl and all
    The more we all write in to reporters ( advertising) etc. the more everyone will know our plight. Hopefully many people will actively participate. These blogs are great for news and support but remember we are talking to the” converted” Sometimes I see a show or a news item that may relate to our plight or a public figure that may assist. I then Facebook and Twitter away along with emails if I can find the address.

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