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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. Oh, let the dollar rise. That’s all part of the game. Sorry, but I’m not falling for that worthless piece of paper long term. Just look at the fundamentals with an objective eye, and you’ll see it’s all smoke and mirrors. Do you really believe with their impossible debt that they’ll really allow interest rates to rise in any meaningful way supporting it’s value? I don’t think so. Do you REALLY believe that the USA is richer per capita than Canada with all of our intrinsic wealth and huge resource base??? Yeah, right!

    I too am relishing the thought of watching the world turn it’s back on the USA financially, at least for any transaction that doesn’t directly involve the USA. Boo-Hoo when that happens, it just means more freedom for the rest of us. I also feel it will come sooner than later, as the chickens will come home to roost.

  2. @PierreD re: “I too am relishing the thought of watching the world turn it’s back on the USA financially, at least for any transaction that doesn’t directly involve the USA. ”

    You and me both (my apologies to those US voters who may find this attitude offensive).

    Just came across an interesting article, ‘Why Uncle Sam Doesn’t Want to Join China’s New Club” which makes mention of FATCA:

    “From the introduction of FATCA – the most onerous and arrogant tax enforcement system ever devised – to the weaponization of the dollar as a tool against its adversaries, the US government is practically encouraging other nations to develop those alternatives. Recent attempts by the UK government to deny Russia access to the (supposedly non-partisan) global SWIFT network will only accelerate this trend.

    For the moment, DC policymakers are content to maintain the status quo of unabated money printing and “take it or leave it” burdens like FATCA. It’s important to remember, though, that the rest of the world does not channel their frustration like Americans do — the Chinese will not scream incoherently and vent their rage via Twitter hate-rants. They will do what they are already doing exceedingly well, which is to play the long game. Beijing will continue to smile and work within the confines of the American-led financial system, while introducing gradual but unmistakable initiatives that continue to chip away at dollar market share. ”

    http://www.emergingfrontiers.com/article/20329-why-uncle-sam-doesn-t-want-to-join-china-s-new-club

  3. I saw a documentary on german TV about what happened in GERMANY when America went through the great depression. They went from a prospering society into a tailspin for the loss of customers for their export products, factories closed etc and people were starving, and this created the fertile earth for the rise of Hitler and his thugs. So I don`t know if it is such a good thing to wish for the demise of the US dollar. It could affect us all in a devastating way. Perhaps this is also why China is playing a “long game”. A slow devaluation of the dollar might leave time for the whole world to adjust.

  4. WhiteKat: Thank you for the link to the “emerging frontiers” article. It has given me a bit of a “patience” infusion! I, too, must content myself with the “long game”. I just wish I was 20 years younger.

  5. @MuzzledNoMore, re: ” I just wish I was 20 years younger.”

    It is fascinating, yet horrifying, watching the world power moves playing out in slowmo. Personally, I don’t think in the long run it is going to end well, and suspect my generation (born in the 60’s) is the last to have a decent lifetime (in Canada). I worry for my daughters(and their future children) and understand why some people look at the state of the world (and where its heading), and make the choice not to have any children.

  6. When did being a US voter become synonymous with homelander, WhiteKat? Some of us are try to effect change legislatively.

  7. @Bubblebustin, actually I was referring to US person voters living abroad, not homelanders. Sorry for the confusion.

  8. @WhiteKat

    I am a US voter living abroad, why would I find what you’re saying offensive? That is unless I have a homelander mentality, which I don’t.

  10. @Polly re: ” A slow devaluation of the dollar might leave time for the whole world to adjust.”

    Hopefully, but I fear, it is still going to be painful no matter how slow, particularly for USA’s BFF – Canada.

  11. @Whitekat
    for all of the western world….and frightful to think of another Hitler emerging somewhere.

  13. @Polly

    Let’s not overlook a critical element in Hitler’s rise – the will of the people.

    At first they came for the Socialists…

  14. @Bubblebustin
    The will of the people was born out of the very bad economic times. People get mean when they become poor. Its scary.

  15. I think Martin Niemöller’s poem is more about the apathy and ignorance of the sheeple which ultimately becomes their undoing – as opposed to the will of the people.

  16. @Polly re: ” People get mean when they become poor. Its scary.”

    For sure, or even just when money is involved period (poor or not). Its true what they say: “money is the root of all evil”; its the reason bankers, politicians, and even regular Canadians have little if any qualms about throwing their fellow Canadians under the US bus when threatened with 30% withholding on US sourced payments.

  17. @WhiteKat

    Are MN’s words not about the will of the people, albeit weak in repelling the oppressor?

  18. “In political philosophy, the general will (French: volonté générale) is the will of the people as a whole. The term was made famous by 18th-century French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Rousseau emphasizes that the general will exists to protect individuals against the mass, not to require them to be sacrificed to it. He is, of course, sharply aware that men have selfish and sectional interests which will lead them to try to oppress others. It is for this reason that loyalty to the good of all alike must be a supreme (although not exclusive) commitment by everyone, not only if a truly general will is to be heeded but also if it is to be formulated successfully in the first place.”

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_will

  19. @Bubblebustin, I would say that MN’s poem reflects the lack of the will of the people, as the will of the people is (as Rousseau expresses) a force for good, not a force for evil.

  20. Perhaps MN’s words speak best to the willingness of the people to go with the status quo until it affects them personally.

  21. @Bubblebustin, I believe we’ve come full circle in our discussion. 🙂

    I think you are saying more or less the same thing I wrote in response to your original comment where you wrote: ” Let’s not overlook a critical element in Hitler’s rise – the will of the people.
    At first they came for the Socialists…”

    My response was: “I think Martin Niemöller’s poem is more about the apathy and ignorance of the sheeple which ultimately becomes their undoing – as opposed to the will of the people.”

    In other words, there was no ‘will of the people’ in play. If there had been, history would have been different. Is history doomed to repeat itself? Will the Canadian sheeple wake up and have a collective OMG moment and realize there is no ‘will of the people’ reflected in our current Canadian government?

  23. I did — and I re-affirm AGAIN (after the comments, by no means all) — that I’m thankful for the circumstances that brought me to Canada, reading there once more the ingrained sense of exceptionality of many in the US expressed toward all other countries and other countries’ people.

    Also the reasoned comments of SwissTechie in trying to *educate*. More stamina than I.

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