Media and Blog Articles Open for Comments – Part 4 of 11 (Year 2017)

1,720 thoughts on “Media and Blog Articles Open for Comments – Part 4 of 11 (Year 2017)”

1. I investigated a little further and Shellie Karabell from Forbes tweeted “@thedrinkstab @Forbes removed by editor; not the leadership swim lane.”

   “Not the leadership swim lane”?

2. Even on the links that work for the Forbes article, the article seems to end in a funny place. I don’t think all of it is there. What a shame that there’s a problem accessing this particular article because it’s excellent.

3. Thanks, Eric, bubblebustin and all,

   …for saving in the archive and contacting Forbes, with the author then confirming that her article was removed by an editor.

4. @muzzled
   Yes, I thought that Forbes article ended abruptly without any conclusion.
   I expect the editor thought it may be perceived as over the top comparing fatca attacks to isis/terrorism.
   Pity as the author had made some good points but I doubt it would be received that way by homelanders.

5. Thanks, Calgary411.

6. There has been an interesting development on one of the expat sites.

   A USC who was resident in the UK for 25 years has returned to the US. Upon arrival, they attempted to open a new account with Capital One. Their application was refused. They had been unable to tick a box saying “I am not subject to FATCA reporting”. They have assets in the UK (pensions, for example) which will require foreseeable FATCA reporting (form 8938).

   It now appears, for Capital One, anyone with a FATCA reporting obligation cannot open an account, even though they are a USC resident in the US. This may be an eye-opening development for homelanders IF it is the result of an IRS Directive (as the bank claims) and not just a CYA exercise by the bank.

   http://britishexpats.com/forum/usa-57/us-banks-fatca-reporting-891915/

   The Capital One Helpsite:
   http://helpcenter.capitalone360.com/Topic.aspx?faq=BWH3
   “FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) reporting applies to accounts held with foreign financial institutions. Since Capital One 360 is a U.S. institution, our US Customers are not subject to FATCA reporting. However, the IRS still requires you to certify that you are not subject to this reporting.”

7. FATCA “Godfather” and former UBS Banker Bradley Birkenfeld attacks Canada Revenue Agency

   http://business.financialpost.com/personal-finance/taxes/famous-swiss-bank-whistleblower-wonders-why-canada-gave-up-so-easily-on-1-billion-in-unpaid-taxes

8. News from Trinidad, found on Facebook…

   Caricom leaders are seeking to approach the Trump Administration with a view to eliminating the threat posed to regional banking systems as a result of non-compliance with FATCA.

   US Will Not Repeal FATCA

   The latter article is debunked as false news by Keith Redmond:

   Congressman Mark MEADOWS will be re-introducing the repeal FATCA bill in the House and Senator Rand PAUL will be re-introducing the repeal FATCA bill in the Senate. This will be done simultaneously. We are working with their respective offices and this will happen, full stop.

   The article’s author did not speak to Meadows or Paul, but sponsors of previous bills. Hence he writes from confusion.

9. @Barbara

   I receive this statement from Republicans Overseas in response to the claim that efforts to repeal are dead:

   “No. Ravi Maharaj needs to speak with Rep. Meadows and Sen. Paul, not last year’s co-sponsors. Both will reintroduce their repeal FATCA legislations. Removing illegal aliens from his country because of ICE enforcement has nothing to do with U.S. is going to transmitting their banking information to Trinidad per FATCA. U.S. has not honored its obligation under FATCA IGA reciprocity by transmitting Green Card holders and illegal aliens banking information to tax authorities in their respective countries.”

   My comment at the article reiterating the above statement is in moderation.

10. @OAP

    This may be an eye-opening development for homelanders

    http://ttwhistleblower.com/us-will-not-repeal-fatca/

    Hopefully for govts as well……..

    But what is interesting as well, is to note that the author points out the risk of FATCA to T&T citizens living in the US in addition to the fear of deportation. Perhaps other countries will begin to realize their expats living in the US are at risk . While we have been aware of this for a long time, I don’t recall ever having heard this brought up by a foreign govt.

    CARICOM is comprised of Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.Wouldn’t it be nice, if as a unit, all these foreign govts indicated concern for their citizens located in the US, who would undoubtedly be affected by FATCA, given they likely send money home to their families?

11. Tax practitioner thinks the Tax Advocate is “worthless”:

    https://www.taxconnections.com/taxblog/happenings-inside-the-irs-under-the-new-administration/#.WKydiZH9ehA

12. Lobbying against FATCA on Capitol Hill
    Sunday February 19.

    “The Caricom heads of government, through Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne, announced that the community is considering hiring a US firm to lobby the Trump Administration and Congress on FATCA.

    Interestingly, the front- runner for the lobbying contract is a firm headed by former US Attorney General Eric Holder, a democrat and black American with one immigrant parent (Barbados) who would have been part of the US apparatus for enforcement. Perhaps there is some sense in that. Who better to deal with FATCA than he who enforced it?”

    http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/editorial/Lobbying-against-FATCA-on-Capitol-Hill_90022

    I have a longish comment in moderation.

13. @ JC
    Your “longish comment” is nicely adapted for the Caribbean and has enough upticks to get it into “Best”. I attempted a Belarus adaption which could use an uptick to keep it in that category too.
    http://www.blacklistednews.com/%22Europe%27s_last_dictator%22_finally_finds_the_limits_to_power%3A_taxing_the_unemployed_during_a_recession/56930/0/38/38/Y/M.html

14. @ JC
    And now IT’S GONE! What the heck happened at the Jamaica Observer?

15. @EmBee Not a worry, I have a copy ready for the next chance.

16. And now the FATCAnatics dream comes true, although this methodology coming from the side of the Canadians.

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-revenue-agency-tax-evasion-offshore-criminal-charges-border-1.3992715

    I remember as a child (OK, in the 1970s), I had 2 weird, actually whacked out, uncles who lived on a fundamentalist mission in Texas telling me something about how in the future all humans would need to be marked in some way, be it an implant or a tattoo (the mark of the devil they called it) so that the government could control everything about our lives. At the time, I really thought they were strange. I wish they were alive today so I could show them this.

17. Norquist on CNBC this morning when asked what Mnuchin should talk about mentioned Americans abroad. He mentioned FATCA and tried to say FBAR but fluffed it. This is the first time I have heard this. Seems significant to me.

18. @PierreD, thanks for posting that. Guess we’re becoming a police state. Those fingerprinted would include those accused or charged, not just those actually convicted. Where is innocence before guilt?

    And of course keep in mind that the US is busy trying to conflate tax ‘avoidance’ (including merely legally arranging one’s affairs so as not to incur extra taxes) with tax ‘evasion’.

    And this is how widely the fingerprints would be shared;
    “..The new policy means the fingerprints of all accused tax evaders will be recorded in the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) database, accessible by almost 70,000 Canadian police officers but also by some foreign agencies such as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and its border officers.

    As the memo notes, U.S. officials checking the CPIC database “may view a taxpayer charged and/or convicted for tax evasion as inadmissible to their country…..”…..

    And if one is found innocent? “….Walters says if an accused is acquitted of tax evasion, the agency will “request” the fingerprints be removed from the CPIC database — though some law firms specializing in fingerprint “destruction” warn the images could remain for months, depending on the protocols of the police service that registered the prints…..”.
    http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-revenue-agency-tax-evasion-offshore-criminal-charges-border-1.3992715

    Consider the treatment of those individuals found innocent, with the privacy protection FINTRAC etc. have steadfastly provided to a CONVICTED BIG Canadian Bank; re “…..a decision by the country’s money laundering watchdog to impose an unprecedented $1.2-million fine against a Canadian bank — and then refuse to name the bank, according to documents obtained by the National Observer and the Toronto Star…..”

    ….”…..In response to interview requests, FINTRAC repeated its earlier statement that its decision to withhold the name was made, “to send a timely message of deterrence” and that the reaction of the financial industry shows, “this message of deterrence was heard loud and clear.”

    Based on FINTRAC statements, OSFI officials believed the secrecy would expire once the judicial process concluded and all appeals had been exhausted. “No name and shame until the dust settles, i.e. the appeal process has been exercised and completed,” reads a note from OSFI official Christine Ring. “At this point, it is all a waiting game.”

    In December, FINTRAC officials confirmed that the legal process was complete and that the fine had been paid. But the name of the bank is still being withheld. The reasons remain unclear….”……

    https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/02/15/watchdogs-refusal-to-name-canadian-bank-fined-12m-called-unconscionable.html

    So ‘accused’ individuals will get automatically fingerprinted and their fingerprints shared widely, and even if found innocent, a ‘request’ which may or may not be effective might be made to retrieve the shared fingerprints.

    But, Canadian Banksters actually convicted and fined for facilitating money laundering on a very large scale ( “..For keeping the transactions secret, the bank, whose name has been removed from the documents, was fined $1.15 million — the first and only time a bank has been penalized for this kind of offence in Canada.

    It committed the “very serious” offence of failing to report “a suspicious transaction related to the commission or attempted commission of a money laundering offence,” according to 109 pages of heavily censored documents obtained through an access to information request by the National Observer.

    From early 2012 to the end of 2013, the unnamed bank processed 1,179 international electronic transfers of $10,000 or more from the mystery client, who used a “potential shell company” and operated out of an unnamed country associated with money laundering. It also accepted 45 cash deposits of $10,000 or more, all without ever reporting the transactions to Fintrac, Canada’s money laundering and terrorist financing enforcement agency, as required by law…..”…. ‘Canadian bank failed to report 1,200 suspicious transactions’ https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/12/22/canadian-bank-failed-to-report-1200-suspicious-transactions-documents-show.html ) are proactively protected from even being named.

    Apparently, as in the FATCA IGA the Banksters lobbied for, there is one law for ordinary people, and another higher sphere for Banksters.

19. @Neill

    Significant? Maybe so…

    Trump’s recent Executive Order to evaluate whether changes should be made to the regulations governing the US financial system will determine that FATCA is not in keeping with the Trump administration’s “Core Principles”.

    “Core Principles

    The Order lists seven Core Principles that compose the policy of the administration in regulating the US financial system:

    1. Empower Americans to make independent financial decisions and informed choices in the marketplace, save for retirement, and build individual wealth
    2. Prevent taxpayer-funded bailouts
    3. Foster economic growth and vibrant financial markets through more rigorous regulatory impact analysis that addresses systemic risk and market failures, such as moral hazard and information asymmetry
    4. Enable American companies to be competitive with foreign firms in domestic and foreign markets
    5. Advance American interests in international financial regulatory negotiations and meetings
    6. Make regulation efficient, effective, and appropriately tailored
    7. Restore public accountability within federal financial regulatory agencies and rationalize the federal financial regulatory framework

    Treasury Report

    As noted above, the Order directs the Secretary of the Treasury2 to consult with the heads of the member agencies that compose the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC)3 and report to President Trump by early June 2017 on

    * the extent to which “existing laws, treaties, regulations, guidance, reporting and recordkeeping requirements, and other government policies” (Regulations) promote the Core Principles;
    * what actions have been taken to promote and support the Core Principles; and
    * Regulations that inhibit federal regulation of the US financial system in a manner consistent with the Core Principles.4
    *
    The Order lays out an ambitious 120-day schedule for the Treasury report—each agency to be consulted oversees a complex and expansive body of Regulations that would be relevant subject matter. Because President Trump’s nominee for Secretary of the Treasury is still going through the confirmation process, it is unclear whether the Acting Secretary of the Treasury will begin this process, for which a 120-day clock commenced with the issuance of the Order on February 3.”…

    http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=569160&email_access=on&chk=1519356&q=950196

20. Further to the above;
    The fingerprinting is supposed to deter individuals from evading taxes; “..”Introducing a mandatory fingerprinting policy would serve as a powerful deterrent to those considering committing a serious tax offence or those who may contemplate reoffending,” says an internal memorandum justifying the new measure. “The mobility restriction is an important deterrent, especially for people engaged in offshore tax evasion.”…”..
    http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-revenue-agency-tax-evasion-offshore-criminal-charges-border-1.3992715

    Yet, the public naming and shaming that is supposed to deter banks was not done – and in fact in this significant case their anonymity/privacy was proactively protected. And the bank that committed the crime actively and economically benefited from that protection;

    “…….. as Richard Leblanc, a professor of corporate governance at York and Harvard universities notes, the mystery bank avoided a potential stock price decline, loss of customer trust, anger from investors, and possibly even civil prosecution.

    Fintrac should listen to the criticism and correct its mistake. The public expects much greater transparency and accountability in these matters. The agency should publicly identify the bank in question and let it suffer the consequences of its actions.”
    https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2017/02/16/rule-breaking-bank-should-be-named-editorial.html

    Might be good Tweet fodder.

21. @Neill,

    In fact, he called it FUBAR. Norquist responded on Twitter to someone else’s tweet and then a number of us did the same.

    I think we have seen him comment in the past…..but not sure. Anyone?

22.  

    FATCA and FBAR are FUBAR
    Americans working overseas understand this. #CBTax #FATCA#FBAR
    Tax reform should work for all Americans.

    — Grover Norquist (@GroverNorquist) February 22, 2017

     

    Tax reform should end citizenship taxation and move to residency based taxation– stop double taxing Americans when they live/work overseas.

    — Grover Norquist (@GroverNorquist) February 21, 2017

    
     

    Norquist on CNBC:
    Repealing Obamacare saves $1 trillion https://t.co/Adz77TAPF3

    — Grover Norquist (@GroverNorquist) February 22, 2017

23. This is very good!

    Grover Norquist is well known and highly influential within conservative circles.

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

24. @Trish

    Here,
    https://renounceuscitizenship.wordpress.com/2012/08/14/grover-norquist-argues-for-territorial-taxation-and-explains-the-irs-discount-associated-with-u-s-entities-or-persons/

25. Might want to retweet or comment on this article, raising the unconstitutional FATCA IGA enabling US laws imposed on Canadians and on Canadian soil – you could point out that the Charter didn’t protect Canadians from being FATCAnized by the CONS, now the gLIBs, and in any case, invoking it, getting justice from the courts, and actually receiving remedy for its abridgement is lengthy, expensive, and not for those looking for immediate relief. If Trudeau can justify abridging the Charter and constitutional rights of Canadians on Canadian soil at the behest of a foreign US law imposed on the world by extortion and threat, then why should we believe him that we can rest easy and rely on the Charter to keep us safe from the overreach and abuse from US customs agents operating on Canadian soil?

    “……When you’re doing preclearance in Canada, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Canadian laws are in place, so there is extra protection when Canadians go through American customs in Canada because they are protected by the Charter on Canadian soil,” Mr. Trudeau told reporters Wednesday.

    The 1982 Charter – which was brought in by prime minister Pierre Trudeau – outlines fundamental freedoms, such as freedom of conscience and religion and freedom of belief, opinion and expression. It also states that every Canadian citizen has the right to enter, remain in and leave Canada, the right to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure and the right not to be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned.”………
    “When you’re doing preclearance in Canada, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Canadian laws are in place, so there is extra protection when Canadians go through American customs in Canada because they are protected by the Charter on Canadian soil,” Mr. Trudeau told reporters Wednesday.

    The 1982 Charter – which was brought in by prime minister Pierre Trudeau – outlines fundamental freedoms, such as freedom of conscience and religion and freedom of belief, opinion and expression. It also states that every Canadian citizen has the right to enter, remain in and leave Canada, the right to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure and the right not to be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned.

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