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.
@USforeignperson and Eric
Yes- it is advantageous to the markets to rake in all that money. Switzerland was doing quite well with all the hidden money too. I doubt America will really follow up on this too. Basically they have taken away the customers of the tax havens and made them their own, just like Al Jazeera said they would.
@ Canadian Ginny
“Auntie Em”. I like the sound of that. I’ll consider Barclay to be my one and only nephew. To post videos I just copy and paste the URL for the video but I don’t know how to post a photo unless it’s in a site which hosts photos. There’s a photo of you and Barclay here (I saved it) …
http://raisehope.org/campaign/Fight-FATCA-in-Canada
I like Gwen’s kitty too. Reminds me of our neighbourhood therapy cat, Phantom. She comes up the lane to visit and accept cuddles whenever I seem to need a boost in my morale.
@BB, Glad you liked my version of Rebel, Rebel.
And no hard feelings regarding your loving both citizen-ships like children. Just cause I and some other Canadians who have lived in Canada since we were children don’t identify as American doesn’t mean you are not entitled to a different perspective. Perhaps because you have American relatives this makes you identify more strongly than those who don’t have any ancestral roots in the USA.
As for me, unlike you, I never identified as American even the tiniest bit. How could I? I had no American heritage and no memory of living in the USA as a baby. USA is truly a foreign country to me.
However I was always told how lucky I was because of where I was born (the lucky dual Canadian-American stereotype), but I was not sure whether or not birth on US soil was enough to make me American for life (having Canadian only parents). I did attempt to clarify the technicality of my status with the US consulate years ago as a young IT professional since US IT jobs were paying twice as much and I figured that if I was in fact a US citizen it would be easier for me than my co-workers (who were leaving in droves) to move there. I did not knowingly apply specifically for a US passport (had no need for one as I traveled on my Canadian passport), but rather was looking for either a US citizenship card as proof of US citizenship or a ‘no you are not a US citizen’ response so that I would know for sure what my status was just in case I might want to make the big bucks in the US.
For some reason (did I check the wrong box on the forms??), they sent me a US passport(which I never actually legally validated, i.e. did not sign it), and which confused me even more. I was only 23 at the time, no internet for googling, and I did not equate passport with citizenship at the time. I had questions like: Passports (unlike citizenship cards) have an expiry date; what does this mean in terms of US citizenship? If I never actually move to the US, do I retain US citizenship all my life?
In any event, I tucked the unwanted passport away and went on with my life as a Canadian living in Canada, never bothered to investigate my status further since I never actually seriously looked into moving to the USA. It was not until FATCA that I got my 100% clear answer as to my US status. I remember well that OMG moment while googling the internet when I realized unequiviocally that yes, birth on US soil = US citizen even if one left at age one never to return.
@BB, I also want to clarify, that when I talk about the ‘lucky dual’, it is not a dis to you or anyone else who identifies as American. It is about how others perceive us, and how this works to our disadvantage. If we were Canadians born anywhere other than the USA, we would get a lot more sympathy from people who hear about our FATCA/CBT issues. People tend not to feel sorry for ‘Americans’ because they are ‘Americans.’ Any issues we have are can be written off as the price we pay for having US citizenship. I apologize to you and anyone else who got the impression that I was criticizing them for who they feel they are. That was not my intention.
@BB, And on that note, I think it is time that you and I call a truce.
@Lynne Swanson is persistently pestering Canadian Civil Liberties on Twitter. Why are they not taking up the ADCS case?
They have some sort of campaign I believe to require that legislation gets checked for Charter violations before the legislation is enacted, to help avoid Charter lawsuits. This might have been good a few years ago to run the FATCA IGA through. I wonder how it would work with the ‘omnibus budget’ legislation which has lots of different bits tacked on.
Here is a recent Tweet from Lynne – retweets welcome:
https://twitter.com/LynneBlaze/status/687747688478191616
So then to make this message more impactive what little picture may we create and with what message may we send to Canadian Civil Liberties?
I like this picture I copied off of twitter related to it all. We would want a message tailored to Canadian Civil Liberties. I have not got to creating my own yet it will happen.
https://twitter.com/JCDoubleTaxed/status/687035028979625984
Canadian Civil Liberties: take that! https://twitter.com/JCDoubleTaxed/status/687770112103858177
@WhiteKat
That’s very kind of you to offer a truce, but I thought we were just having an exchange of ideas. I do have to admit though, that I have often felt like I’ve had to defend myself when you and George get into how one should only be a citizen of the country where one resides. Thanks for the apology. Even though you don’t agree with people having more than one citizenship, I’m glad you recognize (I think) that it’s a relationship strictly between me and the US and has no bearing on my Canadian. Unfortunately the Canadian government has chosen to see it differently by creating a special status for you and me that doesn’t exist, which is “dual citizen”.
I can see how your receiving a US passport was an indiscretion on your part, not really meant to establish US citizenship. If I were you I’d put that passport through the shredder, unless you think you might need it sometime.
Any Canadian who thinks someone with American citizenship is luckier than any other citizen has bought into American exceptionalism and not really worth our time of day, wouldn’t you say?
Cheers.
BB, I won’t speak for George, but I think you misunderstand my perspective. I don’t have a problem with someone having more than one citizenship from a technical perspective or if someone loves more than one country. What I have a problem with is when people use the citizenship of the other country (the one you don’t live in) as a way to define or control you.
You may be fine with being called a dual citizen or American, but by default because of my birthplace, I am also referred to as such whether I identify as American or dual not. The Canadian and US government both tell me I am an ‘American living in Canada.’ The media does as well. I find this personally insulting. I suppose it is no different than referring to a Canadian with Chinese ancestry as Chinese living in Canada. Its divisive and marginalizing.
BB re: “Any Canadian who thinks someone with American citizenship is luckier than any other citizen has bought into American exceptionalism and not really worth our time of day, wouldn’t you say?”
No, I wouldn’t say that because this is the stereotype we are up against in our battle to be recognized as Canadians while living in Canada. For example, I have been trying for months to educate Canadians at a popular Canadian financial blog. People hate me there..seems to be a trend…lol. I hear a lot of:, ‘Quit whining. I wish I had US citizenship.’ and ‘Renounce if you don’t like it.’ I hear very little of: ‘That is not right what the Canadian government is doing.’
Fortunately our lawsuit is not tried in the court of public opinion, but this does not mean that the court of public opinion doesn’t matter. We need fellow Canadians, the media, our MPS, etc, to hear our cries and to care, especially if (knock on wood) we don’t win the lawsuit. The stereotype of the lucky dual Canadian-American (with no reason to whine) belongs in the dustbin of history along with FATCA, FBARs and CBT.
@WhiteKat
When have I given you the impression that I’m fine with being called a “dual” citizen when I’ve explicitly said on countless occasions that I detest the term, even coined the reference to it as a hybridization, which doesn’t exist in law? I’m not a dual citizen no matter what anyone says.
The court of public opinion doesn’t matter in federal court.
@BB, Sorry must have missed the part about you not liking to be called dual. You are OK with being called American though right?
Re: ” The court of public opinion doesn’t matter in federal court,” Agreed. That is what I said to you in my comment. However we should not dismiss the court of public opinion as irrelevant in our grass roots movement. It does matter.
@BB, rethinking both my and your assumption that “the court of public appeal doesn’t matter in federal court”, obviously it SHOULDN’T, but could it?
I have become a much more cynical, untrusting person since being FATCA’d and not so sure that the court of public opinion could not be used to influence a judge’s decision.
Norman? Where are you?
@WK
I suppose in the right context I don’t mind being called “American”, just as someone of say, Japanese citizenship living in Canada wouldn’t mind being referred to as Japanese. I wouldn’t like to be called American if it’s used to differentiate me from other Canadians – especially in a negative way.
We have to have faith the justice will be served in federal court.
Thanks@ Auntie Em from Barclay. He and I both forgot about his picture being published there. It’s hard to take a picture of a black dog or cat, but he’s a handsome fella.
“Norman? Where are you?”
I used to be a dual Canadian and US citizen living in Japan, but now am a Canadian citizen living in Japan.
I’m probably a second-class Canadian citizen because I’m probably eligible for Japanese citizenship, and even though I have no wish to become a Japanese citizen, Harper’s secondation of me depends on eligibility not wish. Since Trudeau hasn’t changed it (yet?), Canada can make me stateless if it wishes.
@ BB.
You mentioned registering one of your children as a USC. Do you mind telling me about this? There was a time many years ago when my youngest son wanted to see if I had any way of assisting in getting him USC as he was into mountain climbing especially in and around Nevada. and had earned his qualifications as an instructor and saw gold in them there mountains. I was hesitant to do that, but did consult with one of law firm partners. His wife was a USC and was able to pass on citizenship to their son and did so, and told me steps to take which of course I didn’t.
Fast forward to now. From my limited understanding ( and total lack of interest in) of US law I am curious how you did this considering you left the US at age 12. I thought we had to live there a certain number of years past the age of 14 or so in order to pass on citizenship to our off spring. Now you have me worried about my kids.
C.G. It isn’t hard to find. Let Google be your friend.
Birth Abroad to One Citizen and One Alien Parent in Wedlock
A child born abroad to one U.S. citizen parent and one alien parent acquires U.S. citizenship at birth under Section 301(g) of the INA provided the U.S. citizen parent was physically present in the United States or one of its outlying possessions for the time period required by the law applicable at the time of the child’s birth. (For birth on or after November 14, 1986, a period of five years physical presence, two after the age of fourteen, is required. For birth between December 24, 1952 and November 13, 1986, a period of ten years, five after the age of fourteen, is required for physical presence in the United States or one of its outlying possessions to transmit U.S. citizenship to the child.) The U.S. citizen parent must be the genetic or the gestational parent and the legal parent of the child under local law at the time and place of the child’s birth to transmit U.S. citizenship.
@JC
Do you know whether Lynne (or anyone else here) has reached out to Cory Doctorow on this issue? He is a Canadian author / journalist / privacy advocate currently based in California. He tweets as @doctorow (with over 400k followers) and blogs on Boing Boing. I’ve responded to a few of his tweets with FATCA related privacy concerns, with little luck. I think he would be more likely to respond to an email from someone in Canada.
@Karen I have not heard about @doctorow before.
Unhappy US Expats Grumble About FATCA Problems
January 15, 2016 By Steven Wilson
http://www.moneyinternational.com/tax/unhappy-us-expats-grumble-about-fatca-problems/
@Portland PCL
Ginny was correct in pointing out that I left the US when I was 12. My son was born in 1976. Here’s a riddle for you. With the factors I just described, under what other circumstances would I have been able to transmit citizenship to my son?
@WhiteKat
I have to say that the degree to which I identify with being a US citizen has changed over the years. When I heard about my tax filing obligations back in 2011, I barely identified with being American. I travelled exclusively on my Canadian passport (my US long ago having expired) and took little interest in the affairs of the US, and when I did it was more through the perspective of a Canadian. It still is, as I continue to refer the US as “them”.
What events since then have done is forced you and me to define our status – creating a bright line of whether we’re “in or out”. Since the degree to which I identify as a US citizen doesn’t really matter as long as I consider myself one, I thought I may as well “go for it” and make myself as effective I can in bringing about change as a US citizen and defending the existence of Americans living abroad.
I don’t view doing all those things I did to further establish my US citizenship as a mistake or indiscretion on my part. They have renunciation for that.
PS
Truth be told, I did regret upon finding out I’m a US taxpayer having reaffirmed my US citizenship after taking the oath of Canadian citizenship, as I could have relinquished my US without any tax obligations at that time. Fact is though, I didn’t take the oath until such time I knew I wouldn’t lose my US.
“To thine own self be true”.
Still had I never taken my Canadian citizenship, I would have been unable to relinquish today, as the Canadian government has made me a Canadian citizen at birth since then.
Bubblebusting. I think I knew the answer to Ginny’s question from reading your story. There is still a link at the bottom of the site. I left it out as her question was directed to you. My quote from the D of S website pertains to Ginny’s fear.
The answer is that your husband is also American so the residency requirement is rather different.
@PortlandPLC
WRONG! Try again 🙂