Liberty and justice for all United States persons abroad

The Isaac Brock Society

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

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-4-of-4)

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.   I’ll make a permanent list of links posted here and keep adding to it,  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.

Notes:

From JC:   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.

From Badger:   On an important archival note, please use the Internet Archive Wayback machine https://archive.org/web/ (see bottom right ‘Save Page Now’ box to enter URLs of webpages you want saved for posterity, and try to save backup copies of articles and other items of interest in some other form – such as a datastick or external drive. Some important and very significant webpages and the fulltexts of articles are no longer available (although some can be retrieved if someone using the Wayback machine saved 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.

2017.12.28
It’s time to address the double standard about tax havens, Angela Wrights, Macleans, Canada.
The US Is Becoming the World’s New Tax Haven, The Editors, Bloomberg View, US.
2017.12.21
Rep. Dina Titus Supports Americans Abroad Tax Reform, Democrats Abroad, US. 
Now That The GOP Tax Bill Is Approved, The IRS Gets Busy, Brian Naylor, NPR, US.
2017.12.20
Taxpayers will have to wait to find out how they fare under new legislation , Renae Merle and Aaron Gregg, Denver Post (reprint from Washington Post), US.
U.S. Shareholders –Take Action by December 31, KPMG.
2017.12.18
Have You Ever Felt Sorry for the I.R.S? Now Might Be the Time, Patricia Cohen, New York Times, US.
2017.12.12
EU finance ministers issue warning to Trump over tax reforms, RTÉ, Ireland.
2017.12.11
Banque: les consequences étonnantes de l’accord FATCA, Edouard Lederer, Les Echos, France.
2017.12.10
As Australia ousts MPs with dual citizenship, Canada’s Parliament embraces many in its ranks, Kathleen Harris, Canada. (mentions MP who “assumed his U.S. citizenship was automatically rescinded because he did not meet several requirements for continued citizenship. [But when travelling to Washington] was told he was ineligible to enter the U.S. on a Canadian passport because he was a U.S. citizen. He was . . . allowed in on a one-time basis . . . it cost him $3,000 to later sort out the administrative requirements.”)
2017.12.09
The American Diaspora: Outreach and Organization, Victoria Ferauge, The Franco-American Flophouse, Japan.
2017.12.08
Foreign-owned banks to be hit by US tax rules, Financial Times, UK.
Trump Tax Plan Worries Europe, Christian Reiermann, Der Spiegel, Germany.

For articles earlier in 2017, click here.

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

  2. @Bubblebustin, USCitizenAbroad, EmBee, Shovel

    As much as some may respect Anthony and Claudine, this video is very disturbing. If a moderator had seen this when it was first posted, there would have been a discussion about removing it due to the blatant plug at the end alone. Brock DOES NOT promote any tax compliance professionals. PERIOD.

    No doubt in my mind that this is fear mongering. The only reason in my mind people will deny that is a trust has been built up due to the videos with Keith and the streaming of the FATCA hearing. It is unfortunate that this video follows.

    Without repeating what has already been said, there are other statements that need attention. Why would these two care if they “looked foolish” for promoting compliance? This is what they are supposed to do. I see that as being worried about what we think, not what the IRS thinks.

    Without question there needs to be a definite clarification as to how many calls verifying the fact someone in streamlined has been/is in an audit AND whether it is the domestic program or the foreign program.

    I also would like to know whether there is actual confirmation of the claim there are less OVDP submissions and that this is freeing up these IRS agent who are conducting Streamlined audits? The fact that future audits were expected DOES NOT provide any facts about how/when it would occur.

    It is telling, this claim that Title 26 collection techniques are possible in Canada and that it is emphasized so much.

    Yes this one is repeated but it is ironic that a lot of mention is made of the complexity of reading tax treaties and yet, it has been discussed here, on the FB groups and so on, that Canada will not collect tax for the U.S. if the taxpayer was Canadian at the time the tax was incurred. I will look for verification but the vast number of U.S. Persons in Canada are almost certainly duals. This leaves a very small subset of people with landed immigrant status who may not be protected and I say “may” because according to the Charter, they have the same rights as everyone else and considering the ADCS suit, CRA might not be so quick to violate the Charter again by attempting to collect. How can someone with the ability to ensure prior returns are done properly fail to be aware of Canada’s position here?

    Do we really know whether these audits are focused primarily on a lack of information reporting forms or incorrectly filed info forms? Again, without some actual numbers this comes across as scaremongering, pure and simple. Anyone on these forums the last five years is well aware of these information returns and knows as well, going back 20 years to penalize is not what has been happening. In fact, we have no reports I am aware of that references anyone in Streamlined being penalized at all.

    As to “soft” disclosures, how many will even owe any tax? Again, most people here do not have enough to owe tax so just exactly where is this penalty focus coming from? Who assumes everyone else is incapable of filing correctly?

    I would think twice about either using a firm for filing or trying to evaluate why such a video would be made when an error as large as not understanding the tax treaty situation between Canada and the U.S. is clearly there. As well, there is no situation where a 3520 does not require a 3520A. A 3520 is not properly filed without page 3 or page 4 from 3520A.

  3. I think the IRS and other FATCAphiles are feeling some pressure these days from all the anti-FATCA, anti-FBAR, anti-CBT talk so their malevolence levels are rising. All we can do is wait and see, if indeed we are allowed to see, what happens with audits in the days and months to come. My guess is that any audit data released will only be as reliable as the Liberty List data continues to be. At some point you just have to shrug it off and hope for the best. If they can get you when you are non-compliant and get you when you’ve made a good stab at being compliant then being non-compliant has one advantage at least — it doesn’t require brain-bustin, fussin and fumin over forms that even the so-called experts do wrong.

  4. May be relevant.

    The IRS recognizes that non-resident US taxpayers may not necessarily be a goldmine of penalties, and many entered OVDP without adequate counsel:

    “The IRS stated that FBAR penalty determinations are factual in nature and there was no consideration of the criteria outlined in the OVDP FAQ 17, which states that some late-filed FBARs may result in no penalties being assessed if the taxpayer resides outside the United States. Additionally, according to the IRS, taxpayers sometimes entered into the OVDP due to a lack of adequate counsel and misunderstanding of their tax situation, causing them to later realize it was in their best interest to withdraw from the program.”

    https://www.treasury.gov/tigta/auditreports/2016reports/201630030fr.pdf

  5. one last comment about the IRSMedic video – on YouTube I asked them whether these were foreign or domestic streamlined submissions that were being audited, and they said they were all domestic. They also acknowledged that local tax authorities will not collect for the IRS against their own citizens.

    The video is aimed at US residents – which they should have made clear in the video itself.

  6. It’s Canada’s 150th Birthday today. I’m not sure if I get a birthday wish but if I do, I wish success for ADCS and I hope it happens this year. It would make me very proud of my birth country to have our Canadian justice system reaffirm Canada’s sovereingty by declaring Part 5 of Bill C-31 (2014) to be unconstitutional. Special grateful thoughts for and thanks to our three CANADIAN plaintiffs. O Canada … do right by them … please!

  7. Unfortunately, this is the kind of US extraterritorial compliance exhortations Canadians are getting on this – Canada’s 150th birthday – a huge article in Canadian media telling us to extraterritorially comply with a foreign country’s foreign system from afar, ‘simplify’ by foregoing local government created savings like TFSAs, etc., AND falsely assuring us that the Canada US tax treaty prevents double taxation;
    http://thestarphoenix.com/business/money/americans-residing-in-canada-are-required-to-file-u-s-income-tax-returns

  8. In typical Canadian fashion I will apologize for trying to be hopeful. Badger is right. This July 1st has turned out to be as disappointing as that fateful Canada Day in 2014. Three years have passed and FATCA is still here. Three years have passed and logic has not returned. Three years have passed and apathy is becoming entrenched. Canada should have done better for its citizens and residents. Canada should have vigorously defended its sovereignty. It failed. Sorry. 🙁

  9. @Embee, no need to apologize. We have to remain strong and hopeful even while remaining vigilant and noting continuing recalcitrance on our Canadian government’s part, and the continuing punishment and overreach arrogant mindset of the US.

    Re;
    “I wish success for ADCS and I hope it happens this year. It would make me very proud of my birth country to have our Canadian justice system reaffirm Canada’s sovereingty by declaring Part 5 of Bill C-31 (2014) to be unconstitutional. Special grateful thoughts for and thanks to our three CANADIAN plaintiffs. O Canada … do right by them … please!”

    I echo that.

    Grateful for you and the others on this journey, the brave plaintiffs, the teams behind the legal challenges, IBS, Maple Sandbox, etc.

    Happy Canada my friend.
    Best wished to you and all here.

  10. Yesterday happened to be “Canada Day”. Read yesterday’s article about an American who immigrated to Canada about the same time I did, and has recently taken out Canadian citizenship.

    Two interesting online comments on the article:

    “lone

    Welcome to Canadian citizenship. And…what are you doing about the IRS situation for dual citizens??? I have finally renounced US citizenship, cost me thousands of dollars to demonstrate that I did not owe any US tax.

    argyle5663 {replying to lone]

    That’s a function of U.S. rather than Canadian policy. A lot of Canadians believe we should attach more onerous conditions on dual citizenship as well. Citizenship, after all, entails obligations as well as rights.”

    https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/an-american-in-canada-why-i-took-the-citizenship-plunge/article35528253/?ref=https://www.theglobeandmail.com&click=sf_globefb&service=mobile

  11. This new Canadian citizen may soon recognize that it is a forked tongue that said *A Canadian is A Canadian is a Canadian*. Our Prime Minister wisely did not repeat that rhetoric again in his Canada Day speech. This new Canadian citizen with an American taint (yes, taint) may still have to learn that she really is defined *a US citizen who happens to abide in Canada*. I wonder if she knew and complied with US citizenship-based taxation and FBARs in her many years as a permanent resident in Canada (and knows she still has the same responsibility after she chose and became a Canadian citizen as US law is now that of Canada with the IGA signed for FATCA)…and she now has her proud Canada Day story in the Globe and Mail.

    Read Tom Alciere’s observation: http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2017/06/25/u-s-uses-inflation-to-first-increase-the-size-of-fbar-penalty-base-and-then-increase-the-size-of-actual-penalties/comment-page-1/#comment-7931052

  12. @Stephen, I read through and before I quit, found only one other comment about US taxes;
    “Gary Little;
    Katherine: don’t forget, you will have to file tax returns with the IRS even if you never set foot in US again. Unless you renounce your US citizenship.”

    And then re taxes – another about welcoming her as a Canadian taxpayer – as if she hadn’t been already by virtue of residing in Canada.

  13. EmBee (& Badger): and “three years [plus] have passed” and we’re STILL reading half-researched articles like the one published yesterday by the Star Phoenix. This one is likely to cause a few heart attacks if read by people who aren’t as informed as we are here. The author needs to learn that the people he calls “Americans residing in Canada” represent a significant percentage of the Canadians with whom he interacts every day. They serve him in local businesses; he sits next to them on the bus; they are his colleagues, his neighbours and his friends … maybe even members of his family! They represent the ONLY subset of the Canadian population that is exposed, while on Canadian soil, to the effects of a law passed by a foreign government. The author needs to learn that “Americans residing in Canada” are not taking this US tax crap anymore. Our “tea” has already gone overboard!

    Can’t wait until our lawsuit gets to court and we can invite the journalists to find out what’s really going on.

  14. MuzzledNoMore, I look forward to more scrutiny of the FATCA IGA via the lawsuit and publicity to shine light on the torments created and sustained by US extraterritorial CBT.

    I keep meeting more and more Canadians with an existing US tax and information burden (most still unknowing), or those about to marry Americans, move to the US for work or schooling or to accompany a spouse whose work takes them there, have US born children/grandchildren, acquire a US cottage, retirement or vacation property, or who have US heirs or US family, etc. who unknowingly will be subjected to unnecessary complex pitfalls and jeopardy once they develop or acquire any US relationship.

    Those I try to warn still think I’m wearing a tinfoil hat.

  15. I think going after US citizens abroad for filing mistakes would backfire fast. It would just push fence-sitters like me to renounce. Also, trying to collect penalties (as opposed to taxes) in such cases would perhaps finally motivate Canada, the EU, or others to take another look at FATCA and the IGAs. Let’s just hope the Republicans in Congress will make all this moot.

  16. Badger: The Canadians you are meeting and informing are so lucky to have crossed your path! You can set them straight before they fall in the US trap. Thanks for all that you do!

  17. @MuzzledNoMore, I try to warn people so they don’t fall prey to the unscrupulous compliancers and the US extraterritorial threats, mostly to no avail, but I have to try anyway. Thank you too, for all your valuable efforts, and thanks to everyone here. I continue to learn so much from everyone here. And I’ll never forget all the invaluable help and information and support I received from IBS since its inception in 2011. There was no-one to turn to at all then. Least I can do is try to pass it forward.

  20. @Karen,
    It comes as a surprise but just because your subject to sec 1291 (default PFIC) excess distributions tax does not mean you will be subject to punitive tax rates. Since the tax on the excess distribution is calculated on the side the income is hidden but the taxes are not. The taxes are recorded on 1040 as extras but the income that generated the taxes is not since that’s on 8621.
    So lets say a taxpayer has a 1040 with an AMT charge of $5000 because you enter the form 8621. You do your sec 1291 calculations and you owe $4000 in excess distribution tax. The extra $4000 enters 1040 but the income does not. You tax will increase by $4000 but your AMT will decrease by $4000 so the excess distribution is tax free.
    If your subject to AMT you should want to have the maximal amount of excess distributions.

  22. @Neill,
    While I haven’t looked closely at the interaction of sec 1291 and AMT, there are other cases where PFICs are not necessarily a disaster. A sale only results in an excess distribution if it is a gain. Given the movement of the AUD in the past 5 years, it is quite possible to have a healthy gain when computed in AUD turn into a loss when computed in USD (and vice versa if your local currency is appreciating with respect to USD).

  23. @EmBee

    Thanks for all four verses of “O Canada”. I enjoyed listening to them today as I realized this is the USA 4th of July. I too am disappointed that Canada has not stood up for it’s sovereignty in regard to FATCA. However, I’m glad to be living in Canada and not south of the border as things continue to deteriorate in the USA.

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