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.
Sure to go after the Americans right after!
http://eastafro.com/2015/10/27/swiss-prosecutors-investigate-diaspora-2-tax-for-eritreans/
Here is another Canadian article (CBC news) discussing laws enacted by the CONS that Trudeau should consider trashing. Like another similar, recent article (from the Globe), there is no mention of FATCA. There is one comment about FATCA which people should LIKE to move it to the top, and more comments are needed.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-election-2015-liberal-constitutional-laws-1.3292120
Here’s an interesting piece in Phil Hodgen’s expatriation blog:
What to do when you are poor and a covered expatriate?
http://hodgen.com/what-to-do-when-you-are-poor-and-a-covered-expatriate/
@ ACanadianLivingInCanada
The comments are coming in fast and furious on that CBC piece. Our WhiteKat’s comment is excellent but it will take a lot of likes to get it near the top (from 7 to about 170). C’mon Brockers. Sign in and press “like”. We’re not likely going to get it into first place but we can at least move it closer to the top.
I see the author of that CBC article, Bruce Cheadle, has been made aware of his omission by someone via Twitter.
@ Bubblebustin
Aha I foundt it! Bruce Cheadle asked what he’d missed and Tom Dooley let him know — FATCA!
https://twitter.com/bcheadle
The EU directive requiring banks to offer basic bank accounts to everyone in the EU is moving forward in Germany. Implementation deadline for this directive is September 18, 2016.
“A draft law presented by the German cabinet on Wednesday would require German banks to provide access to a basic bank account for everyone, paving the way for people without proper documentation or a permanent address to open an account.”
“The law would require access to basic accounts for anyone legally residing in Germany. In addition to people granted asylum, it would also apply to people who have not been granted asylum (“tolerated persons”) but are being allowed to stay in Germany indefinitely on other legal grounds.”
Will FinCEN and its crazed director charge all banks in Germany with violation of US “Know Your Customer” laws for opening bank accounts for the homeless and undocumented residents in Germany and cut them off from the US financial system? That would probably be the end of the FinCEN director’s career.
http://www.dw.com/en/germany-drafts-bill-to-ease-bank-account-access-for-homeless-refugees/a-18809870
Yours and WhiteKat’s were hard to find, but I did and upticked both. I also put another comment on the other end just for better visibility — except it is not (yet?) visible.
Why is that? — CCLA won’t give our issues the time of day either.
@ calgary411
There are so many comments there now. Thanks for wading through them and upticking. I found yours and did the same.
I don’t see this one above.
FATCA: Federal Court rules Canada-U.S. tax information exchange deal not illegal
by Susan Yellin Oct. 28, 2015
http://insurance-journal.ca/article/fatca-federal-court-rules-canada-us-tax-information-exchange-deal-not-illegal/
@Canoe: I loved Phil Hodgen’s blog post. A must read for some lightheartedness in these matters, and useful nuggets for anybody dealing with the various forms, not only poor covered expatriates. Thanks for pointing it out.
Phil Hodgen is the Anti-Berg. He is definitely not the typical Compliance Condor.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2015/10/29/irs-has-gone-wild-over-fatca-but-watchdog-warns-of-compliance-glitches/?utm_source=followingimmediate&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20151029
It’s official: Americans abroad are less than second-class citizens. The justice system is off-limits to us:
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-10-26/a-black-hole-for-americans-rights-abroad
Of course, we still have to pay our “fair share” to enjoy the full protection of the benevolent United States Government.
Not directly FATCA related but worrying trend.
http://business.financialpost.com/business-insider/people-in-sweden-are-hiding-cash-in-their-microwaves-because-of-a-fascinating-and-terrifying-economic-experiment
The US doesn’t even listen to its own citizens abroad, why would they listen to foreigners?
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/10/clinton-sanders-policy-world/412342/
Corporate inversions could come to the forefront again. Allergan which is domiciled in Ireland (but traces its roots back to Watson Pharma, domiciled in the US) with HQ in New Jersey has announced that it has been approached by Pfizer. You may recall Pfizer made an approach for UK domiciled AstraZeneca which was unsuccessful and the ensuing political outrage brought new, more stringent rules. If Pfizer pulls this off there are going to be a ton of headlines about “unpatriotic” Pfizer.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/pharmaceuticalsandchemicals/11963724/Pfizer-Allergan-is-a-pharma-mega-merger-with-added-political-risk.html
From the article:
On an earnings call earlier this week, Ian Read, the chief executive of Pfizer, made a blunt assessment of his company’s predicament: “To be successful in the future, we need to have a competitive tax rate. So that is why it is an important issue for us.”
…
Last year Pfizer paid an effective tax rate of 25.5pc; Allergan paid 4.8pc. It looks like an accounting match made in heaven.
http://dailycaller.com/2015/10/28/report-americans-are-renouncing-citizenship-at-record-rates/
Allisons Christians:
I’ll be there to talk about U.S. citizenship based tax and #FATCA
https://twitter.com/taxpolblog/status/659882576958660608
Professionals from around the world will be attending International Conference on Taxpayer Rights. Register today: http://ow.ly/TY4tH
We need to add a few more to the taxpayer bill of rights: Right to Reasonable Compliance Costs.
https://twitter.com/JCDoubleTaxed/status/659883830791176192
https://twitter.com/JCDoubleTaxed/status/659884772479504386
What we get out of this – list and mention and quotes from IRS Tax Payer Advocate, at least in their annual report, of the injustices!
https://twitter.com/JCDoubleTaxed/status/659894268396335104
@Calgary411
I suggest this for consideration of an IBS feature.
International input into US Taxpayer Rights- 18-19 November put on by IRS.
Allison Christians will attend. Perhaps we may give her some input and encouragement.
Government officials, scholars, and practitioners from around the world will be in DC for the International Conference on Taxpayer Rights – register today!
You might look at my last two posts and put something short together.
Fixing what Harper broke, by Elizabeth May:
http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/elizabeth-may/2015/10/fixing-what-harper-broke-to-do-list-incoming-government
@ Bubblebustin
Thanks for finding that. Good to know that Elizabeth May has not forgotten FATCA.
@Embee
I was getting kind of worried as I read down May’s list and FATCA (as we know should really be FATCA IGA) hadn’t shown up, but there it was under a somewhat curious category of “slippery citizenship”. Slippery as in not sticky, I suppose.
Good for her for creating what looks like the most comprehensive account of Harper’s mark on Canada so far.