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The Isaac Brock Society

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.

 

2,818 thoughts on “Media and Blog Articles Open for Comments – Part 3 of 11 (Year 2016)”

  1. @Neill
    America is so on a rampage to “get the bad guy” that they have forgotten that they are now the biggest tax haven of them all.

  5. Both these open for comment.

    Latest from IRS Taxpayer Advocate on IRS witholding of information from taxpayers and their representatives in OVD programs’
    Latest criticism of the IRS OVD programs, in Taxpayer Advocate report – mid 2016
    ..”.Notwithstanding improvement to the OVD program’s proportionality, TAS still receives significant and valid complaints about them.

    A related problem is that some internal OVD-related guidance directly affecting taxpayers was withheld from the public.29 Even information designated as “official use only” (OUO) must be vetted by and accessible to internal stakeholders, such as TAS. IRS business units are supposed to vet and distribute such information by incorporating it into the Internal Revenue Manual (IRM). Over the last seven years, however, the IRS has avoided publishing OVD-related guidance in the IRM, instead distributing program guidance using memos designated as OUO, training materials, technical advisors, conference calls, and secret committees. This lack of transparency and due process fosters the impression that the
    IRS administers the OVD programs in an arbitrary and capricious manner, without regard to taxpayer rights. Moreover, when the IRS does not provide TAS with the same access to procedural information as other IRS employees, it obstructs TAS’s statutory mission to help taxpayers and address problems under IRC §§ 7803(c) and 7811..”….
    http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/files/tas-ovdp-midyear-2016.pdf

    and,

    ‘Taxpayer Advocate Mid-Year Report to Congress: IRS Implementation and Enforcement of FATCA Withholding Is Burdensome, Error-Ridden, and Fails to Protect the Taxpayers’ Rights’

    By William Byrnes

    http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/intfinlaw/2016/07/taxpayer-advocate-mid-year-report-to-congress-irs-implementation-and-enforcement-of-fatca-withholdin.html

  6. US banks deemed to big to prosecute for money laundering violations (while the IRS and US Treasury and DofJ continues to threaten and persecute minnows outside the US via FATCA IGAs):
    http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/intfinlaw/2016/07/too-big-to-jail-internal-treasury-documents-reveal-why-justice-department-did-not-prosecute-hsbc.html

    “Tuesday, July 12, 2016
    Too Big to Jail: Internal Treasury Documents Reveal Why Justice Department Did Not Prosecute HSBC

    By William Byrnes
    Share

    The House Financial Services Committee on Monday released a staff report http://financialservices.house.gov/uploadedfiles/07072016_oi_tbtj_sr.pdf of its investigation into the U.S. Department of Justice’s decision not to prosecute HSBC or any of its executives or employees for serious violations of U.S. anti-money laundering laws and related offenses.

    The Committee initiated its investigation in March 2013. The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of the Treasury failed to comply with the Committee’s requests to obtain relevant documents, necessitating the issuance of subpoenas to both agencies.

    Approximately three years after its initial inquiries, the Committee finally obtained copies of internal Treasury records showing that DOJ has not been forthright with Congress or the American people concerning its decision to decline to prosecute HSBC. “…………………..

  8. Sorry Neil and admins, didn’t see your post of the Hamodia article.

    Interesting tidbit here though;
    “.In addition, the Committee turned down a section of the law that would have allowed Israeli authorities to use information revealed by FATCA to conduct their own investigations into Israeli citizens. Commenting on that, MK Rabbi Gafni said that “this law is bad enough already, and to use it for things that do not appear in the original legislation and that are not part of it, is unacceptable. If the Tax Authority wants access to this information, let it propose legislation that will give it access to that data separately and we will consider it.””……..
    http://hamodia.com/2016/07/13/mk-rabbi-gafni-fatca-compliance-law-problematic/

    If our own CRA is free to access and use Canadian data collected under the FATCA IGA for domestic local tax enforcement against Canadian taxpayers resident in Canada, then they are using the data in a way that further creates and discriminates against a class of Canadian taxpayer – in terms of access to data and its use in Canadian taxation. Interesting that the the Knesset Finance Committee in Israel recognizes the issue, and specifically raises it, whereas we have the Canadian Finance Committee Cons, and our Revenue Minister Lebouthillier not at all troubled https://openparliament.ca/committees/ethics/42-1/8/diane-lebouthillier-8/?page=3 .

  10. Regarding the Israeli article…..I TOTALLY call the bluff. I can’t for a second believe that the US establishment would DARE to try any sanction whatsoever on Israel. Just imagine the political fallout in the USA itself. How many elected people in the USA are Jewish and sympathetic to Israel? Israel may be in the best position to tell the USA to F…Off. Like Canada, I’ll bet Israel is in the top 3 countries with regards to percentage of population with the USA infection.

    Then again, there’s likely a greater “nudge nudge, wink wink” agreement going on here.

  12. Thank you for those, badger.

    Here’s more on those three women who are suing the IRS under the Administrative Procedures Act lawsuit for failing to allow them to transition from OVDP to Streamlined. I don’t believe there’s been a ruling on it yet:

    http://www.anaford.ch/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/taxnotes.com_-_lawsuit_challenges_irs_transition_rules_for_offshore_voluntary_disclosures_-_2015-10-28.pdf

    Good things seem to come in threes – especially women. 🙂

  17. This is the Revenue Minister who insinuated one of our MP’s was in support of offshore tax evasion in response to some uncomfortable questions he asked her about the IGA during the Standing Committee on Privacy meeting. This is the RM who told Canadians that the only objection the Liberals had to the IGA was the process the Harper government took in implementing it. It wouldn’t therefore surprise me if she were to make the claim that Ginny, Gwen and Kazia are in this fight because they don’t want to pay their “fair share” to the US.

    Judging from past comments, I wouldn’t put this kind of rhetoric past her and the rest of the Liberal government.

  18. @bubblebustin, re;
    “.. It wouldn’t therefore surprise me if she [Revenue Minister Lebouthillier] were to make the claim that Ginny, Gwen and Kazia are in this fight because they don’t want to pay their “fair share” to the US. ”

    Strangely, Lebouthillier, Canada’s Finance Minister has now apparently been appointed by the US as a US Treasury spokesperson in addition to her domestic duties.

    And is there any OTHER foreign country other than the US who Lebouthillier champions as having a legitimate extraterritorial ‘fair share’ claim to the domestic already-taxed local assets of individual Canadian taxpayers with no foreign economic connections or relationship? No? Why not?

    Does Lebouthillier support Eritrea’s extraterritorial claims ( ex. http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/eritrea-consulate-receives-final-straw-warning-to-stop-extorting-expatriates-in-canada https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/jun/09/eritrea-diaspora-tax-uk-investigated-metropolitan-police ) to a ‘fair share’ of the assets of Canadian residents and citizens? No? Why not? What does Lebouthillier think the Canadian “fair share” of Eritrean extraterritorial tax is? Why has she not spoken up supportively on behalf of the Eritrean government’s ‘right’ to determine and enforce its own tax system – and impose them on Canadians? When will she?

    Why the special exception treatment for the US eh Mme Lebouthillier?

  20. Interesting: “Americans abroad who are experiencing hosts of problems caused by FATCA and citizenship-based taxation can use TRI as a platform for getting their views to be known and hopefully, acted on!”

    http://blogs.angloinfo.com/us-tax/2016/07/17/americans-abroad-nows-your-chance-to-audit-the-irs/

    Though on the Audit IRS website, it’s all about IRS methods of service and enforcement, not about tax policy. Worth monitoring in any case.

    http://www.auditirs.com/

  21. As is known, it is difficult for Americans in Switzerland to open and maintain ordinary bank accounts. However, the US Ambassador to Switzerland, Suzi LeVine, has ridden to the rescue and mentions that Vontobel, an asset management bank, and several other banks are willing to accept Americans as customers:

    “US ambassador to Bern Suzi Levine said Swiss banks such as UBS, Credit Suisse, Vontobel and Commerzbank had been persuaded to accept US clients and to not make decisions based on citizenship. “We believe that over time more and more banks will join up,” she added. ”

    http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/presidential-campaign_us-swiss-ties–business-as-usual-post-obama-/42287686

    A quick trip to Vontobel’s website shows that it indeed offers a special investment service for Americans. The minimum investment amounts are only CHF 750,000 or CHF 1 million:

    “Investment minimums
    Investment Management Program: CHF 750,000
    Client Directed Advisory Program: CHF 1,000,000 ”

    https://www.vontobeladvisors.com/Download/AssetStore/9c0f3be0-a28f-4734-8909-fa9c7836c301/Vontobel_SwissWealthAdvisors_2016-02-16_en.pdf

    Ambassador “Let them eat cake” LeVine has evidently pulled all levers to help Americans with their bank account problems in Switzerland.

  22. This woman is useless.

    Interesting link in that Swissinfo article about Intellectual Property. One wonders if the US can extract revenue from other economies through US citizens, they might be able to lay claim to us as their intellectual property too.

  24. On the whole I found the article bland and disappointing. It just accepts all the U.S. government lies at face value, including the so-called “billionaire’s amendment” with a threshold of 1/500th of a billion, the “data released each quarter by the IRS”, and of course the $2350 fee which is the highest on the planet for which State gives us the Orwellian justification of “protecting the right to expatriate”

    On the other hand, the author is doing a good job correcting misconceptions and defending against all the usual Homelander “Greatest Nation in the World!” crap over on Reddit:

    https://www.reddit.com/r/immigration/comments/4thjm2/why_americans_renounce_will_think_twice_about/

  25. @Bubblebustin
    Commerzbank (Switzerland) is also mentioned by the US Ambassador where Americans can go and frolick and bank. According to its Swiss website, Commerzbank serves corporate customers: “With our locations in Switzerland now totalling six, Commerzbank is a strategic partner for the national and international business of corporate customers. We are now also offering our successful and proven relationship management model to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Switzerland with turnover of at least CHF 15 million.”

    Commerzbank, which is a German banking organization, does not have offer retail banking services in Switzerland, which is what Americans in Switzerland need, e.g., access to mortgages.

    Ambassador LeVine is a failed propagandist. The good news is that she will leave her appointed post at year-end, hopefully never to be seen or heard from again.

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