Media and Blog Articles Open for Comments – Part 3 of 11 (Year 2016)
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-3-of-3 )
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” of FATCA/CBT articles. [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 aren’t on this list yet.
2016.12.29
Switzerland moves further to end bank secrecy, Financial Times, UK.
2016.12.23
How FATCA Infringes and Trammels our Statehood, Stephen Kangal, Trinidad and Tobago News, Trinidad and Tobago.
Barclay’s chief preparing to take a stand against US regulators over unduly high fines to European banks, James Quinn, The Telegraph, UK.
2016.12.22
Canada refuses to name bank that broke money laundering rules 1225 timtes, Mike De Souze, Robert Cribb & Marco Oved, National Observer.
Financial Intelligence agency gave bankers head up about money laundering disclosure, Mike De Souza, Robert Cribb & Marco Oved, National Observer.
2016.12.21
US citizens may pay double tax on Kahlon’s child savings program, Michael Zeff, Jerusalem Post, Israel.
Applying to be Swiss in the Trump Era, Steve Krump, SwissInfo, Switzerland.
2016.12.20
File That Tax, Boom Chicago, YouTube, Netherlands.
Tijuana City Councilman Faces US Money Laundering Charges, Sandra Dibble and Dana Littlefield, San Diego Union, US.
2016.12.19
Senate Report Finds IRS Agents Living Large on Public’s Dime, Guillermo Jiminez, Tax Revolution Institute, US.
AG to UNC: Come to Parliament first – a Joint Select Committee to deal with FATCA . . ., Ria Taitt, Daily Express, Trinidad.
Rand Paul criticizes framework of tax reform plan, Naomi Jagoda, The Hill, US.
Articles from earlier 2016 are at this link
Articles from 2015 are at this link
Articles from 2014 are at this link
Media and Blog Articles thread, Part 1 of 3, is at this link.
Media and Blog Articles thread, Part 2 of 3 is at this link.
Having just read another comment from app64228662, I am even more convinced this person is a FATCA/CBT apologist.
app writes:
I am doing the US and Canada tax returns for the last 5 years. With a modern tax software, I reiterate, there is no problem in filing both taxes. I you are willing to spend thousands to not bother with more paper work, it is your choice. Besides, one should not forget about entry to US which is simple when you are a citizen. After renunciation there may be a problem
Here’s another one Berg, John & Kevyn
lots of stuff to correct
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybrew/american-expats-in-canada-renouncing-us-175606053.html
@ WhiteKat
The curious thing about app_64227242 is that he/she started out by saying that doing US taxes is easy with a little help from “modern tax software”, implying he/she was filing. I had to shake my head a few times when I saw that comment today. Strange …
@WhiteKat
Guess this person has a simple life… nothing invested… just a job & savings… my life is complicated & I am math stupid… I wouldn’t even know where to start other then perhaps my name…
@EmBee @WhiteKat I suspect app_64227242 is perhaps the one person who every time these articles comes around, will justify it all. And we struggle against. It always seems to be one person. At least with the BCC article there is opportunity to down vote as well as upvote.
@WhiteKat
I doubt that a true FATCA/CBT apologist (like, say, a Michael Kirsch or a Roy Berg) would counsel someone to lie to their bank or intentionally withhold information from the U.S. government. This guy isn’t personally likely doing either of these things, however, if he’s already up-to-date with his taxes and riding butt-naked on the FATCA compliance wagon. His statements about how easy it is to fly under the radar and stick it to the Man are therefore mere conjecture and something he himself has no direct experience with, but probably secretly fantasizes about – kind of like a Walter Mitty for the FATCA age.
Decent article…
http://www.wnyc.org/story/is-the-united-states-enabling-tax-evasion/
@Brock Swat Team : Fantastic as always.
May I suggest this objective, while we try to convert every last homelander: grow the IBS community.
Growing the Issac Brock Community will inevitably bring more attention to our lawsuits, and funding should follow.
We need to mention IBS in comments and also provide link. It might be thought of as a “boilerplate” to put the same thing at the end of comments (each comment?). If Isaac Brock Society is not mentioned if may not be found. Could be:
Isaac Brock Society Supporter
Liberty and justice for all United States persons abroad
http://www.isaacbrocksociety.ca
I think only those US persons living overseas may understand. I have heard the comment from Homelanders such as Isaac Brock Society so what, just a place for people to renounce. However, the/a target is US persons living overseas.
@WhiteKat
that this whole FATCA hunt is really no big deal. It is a big deal! We shouldn’t have to hide.
you hit the nail on the head here. it is a big deal and we should not have to hide……however I am much like this poster…..I have lied to my bank, I have accounts set up a “local client base” credit union and am slowly moving all my business to said credit union….
I recently had to go into my RRSP managers office to “update” my information…something I had not done about 10 years…..one of the new questions asked was “are you an American for tax purposes?” I of course said “no” and we carried on with the updates.
the above poster is way simplifying the whole situation however I think he/she is painting a fairly accurate picture of what many of us are doing in this situation.
the IRS has no idea who or where I am, I with out a doubt will not make it easy on them finding me, I will not comply with any request to prove my self as anything other than Canadian. if per chance I ever do get a brown envelope from them it will end up on the bottom of my bird cage.
I am at peace with never crossing the border into that country ever again and there by eliminating one of the biggest ways to my mind anyways of them becoming aware of who or where I am. there is a whole big world out there to now explore and it encourages me to have more staycations as well for those long weekends when we use to venture south of the border.
white kat you are right we should not have to hide…..we also have to hide to carry on our lives…..what a weird catch 22 eh?
@Embee, yes I thought app seemed contradictory in his/her statements also which made me think he was an astroturfer. There were so many amazingly good comments to that article (Charl’s in particular had a gazillion thumbs up) that maybe this guy’s job was to come in and counter attack.
The other thing that I find frustrating about attitudes like app is that he seems to think life will be just fine if he continues to hide. He says the Canadian government will protect us from actual collection. As if we can actually trust the Canadian and American governments not to use our FATCA data against us. How gullible can we possible be at this point in the hunt? Yeah sure, we are just going to go have a shower to clean off. Everything will be fine. Don’t make such a big deal out of it.
@Deckard, by FATCA/CBT apologist I did not mean to suggest app was a compliance condor. No, more like a government planted astroturfer pretending in one comment to be a typical ‘accidental’ hiding out, yet unafraid, not angry, and also saying it would be easy and cheap to use software to file 5 years and that US citizenship was good to have just in case you might want to move to US.
Someone should ask him if he donated to the lawsuit.
“Paranoia strikes deep. Into your life it will creep …”
Now I’m wondering if app_64227242 is asdf who just popped into Brock today. Strange …
http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2016/02/10/john-richardson-on-ctv-power-play-with-don-martin-today/comment-page-2/#comment-7193748
I initially bought into the Flaherty Promise too … now I’m not so sure. And yes … Charl hit one out of the park at G&M.
FATCA has brought in just $13.5 billion in revenue on a cost of $1 trillion
http://www.valuewalk.com/2016/02/fatca-costs/
@Embee Just because we may seem paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to squash us annoying Brock mosquitoes.
@WhiteKat
I also didn’t mean to suggest that app was a compliance condor like Berg (or misguided pinhead academic like Kirsch), only that those are the kinds of people I would normally consider to be bona fide FATCA/CBT apologists.
No, app just sounds like a conflicted regular guy who probably prematurely outted himself and now wishes he hadn’t. I think his bravado is likely masking some real regret, so it’s probably not fair to judge him too harshly. Few of us immediately knew exactly what the right course of action was for us, individually, when we started this journey.
While I don’t believe that any of us should have to hide in the shadows or fly under the radar, I do believe that is still a perfectly rational strategy, for now, for many – including myself and my family. There is simply no one-size-fits-all solution for any of this crap.
@ WhiteKat
I wasn’t trying to assign paranoia to anyone except myself. It does creep in on me at times.
James Jatras is kicking up some FATCA dust at IRS Medic. He says a PAC can knock FATCA over with a feather and $1M. You can listen to it while making dinner, but be prepared to lose your appetite when he talks about how the Canadian government could have just told the US “NO”, instead of capitulating to the Canadian Bankers Assn.
It appears that our new government would also like to end up on the wrong side of history:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UbOr4WAdIt8&feature=share
@EmBee
Those were my thoughts too. Both are sort of defiant apologists – a strange combination.
Hmmm, we are no longer renouncing to avoid taxation, but to avoid “punitive” and “double” taxation. Maybe a reframing by the media?
@Embee, yeah I know you weren’t assigning paranoia to anyone other than yourself. Regardless, it’s perfectly normal to be at least a little paranoid with all this ridiculous US person hunting BS.
@Deckard, you are likely correct about this app character. But I do not doubt for a second that the astroturfers are out there. Embee, I’m not crazy right? LOL
Meet the Canadian taking U.S. citizenship to vote for Bernie Sanders
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/02/08/meet-the-canadian-taking-us-citizenship-to-vote-for-bernie-sanders.html
Expats Hand Back Record Number Of US Passports
http://www.iexpats.com/expats-hand-back-record-number-of-us-passports/
In 2014, I presented to Congressional candidate Marilinda Garcia a copy of Obama’s birth certificate, pointing out that his father was born in Kenya and asking how he’s feel if they claimed him as a citizen and then imposed income taxes and FBAR on him. When I mentioned that people around the world are learning that they are U.S. citizens, facing devastating financial penalties and criminal charges for failing to report their bank accounts to the U.S. Treasury, she asked why anybody would live in another country when they could live here in the U.S.A. Luckily, she didn’t win.
Anybody who says filing US taxes and filling out the forms yourself is no big deal is probably like the woman I met at the RBT/CBT Debate in Toronto. She was a card-carrying member of Democrats Abroad. I sat next to her during the session and she was quite open about how she filed every year on her own with no problems. After the coffee hour at the end of the session, as she was leaving she said to me, “Oh, I am in such deep trouble.” I don’t know what specifically she had learned but her earlier confidence was completely smashed.