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. @Barbara

   Trump talked about infrastructure today? I thought he was just complaining about the violent left-wing attacks against the “very nice people” who wanted to keep a few old statues…

   @Badger

   Fair point, I temper my criticism, I’d forgotten how different the dual citizenship rules were way back when. (For many years I believed I could not get a Canadian passport or vote because it put my US citizenship at risk, which at the time I wanted to keep.)

   There are still mysteries to this case – the fact that Dewees was expecting a Canadian refund on the order of $120k suggests more money in play than a mere professor’s salary. I’d also be curious to know whether the CRA had the ability to touch bank accounts, rather than simply impound a refund.

2. @Nononymous: Yes, Trump’s speech was ostensibly about infrastructure. Only after his quite sensible prepared remarks on that topic did it get out of hand. As for what he said about current events in America, frankly I don’t give a sh*t about his comments or America. Such events merely confirm how little I identify with that pathetic country, inhabited and run by bullies. May it collapse under its own obese weight.

3. I am so shocked and upset by what Trump said about the “very nice people” who are white supremacists that I couldn’t sleep last night. What will his son-in-law say to this and his daughter?
   I am sorry- but this man is despicable.

4. Don’t apologise for telling the truth. Despicable, a con man, a crook , a bully, misogynist, and a deluded know nothing. Pity the U.S.A and be happy if you live elsewhere.

5. @ Nononymous,

   Re: “the fact that Dewees was expecting a Canadian refund on the order of $120k suggests more money in play than a mere professor’s salary.”

   The CRA refund being $120,000 doesn’t sound right to me.

   The only place I saw $120,000 was as the amount IRS was imposing for the 5471 penalties.

   Paragraph 37 of the Complaint mentions that “Correspondence dated Mary 26, 2015 from Canada Revenue Agency indicated that “Mr. Dewees’ 2014 tax refund was being held in abeyance,” but I didn’t see any mention of the amount of this refund in the documents.

   So, I don’t think the CRA refund was $120,000. Or did I miss something?

   Re his salary, paragraph10 of the Complaint, “Mr. Dewees’ earnings were approximately $118,504 US per year on average for the years at issue [1997-2008].” I didn’t see anything about his earnings in the following years, though.

6. I may have inferred that the refund was potentially of approximately similar size to the penalty – otherwise keeping it really isn’t much of a threat. But then somewhere I saw another statement to the effect that he wrote a big cheque to CRA for the amount owing to the US. It’s a bit baffling, and not clear yet whether the CRA could or would go after his assets on behalf of the IRS (though I assume so).

7. @Polly,

   So you are saying that everybody who wanted to protest the removal of a statue was a white supremacist etc? Somehow I doubt it’s that simple. I am guessing that the evil people were a small minority.

8. @ Nononymous
   You’ve been wondering about what I’ve been wondering about. It didn’t strike me of being much of a bother having one’s refund held back but I’d be VERY concerned if Peter (CRA) paid Paul (IRS) out of the savings of this poor man. Imagine having to deal with OVDP at the same time as the death of his son … terrible!

   @ Neill
   Definitely it is not that simple. There are forces in the USA which want to create friction and chaos … perhaps as a distraction from real problems or perhaps according to an agenda which freedom-loving folks would not be happy with at all. The truth lies deeper than the MSM headlines and hype.

9. @EmBee

   There are some really odd things about this case, I agree. The poor guy got shafted, no question, but we still need more details about what CRA did and didn’t do.

   @Everyone Else

   We’re one step away from Godwin’s Law so I’ll get it over with: HITLER! There, that’s better, now we can stop talking about the US and its appalling sack of shit president.

10. IRS Medic gives a comprehensive history/evaluation of the OVD programs over the years from 2009.
    I think it’s helpful food for thought.

    Starting at 34:00 they plug Isaac Brock Society and some “brilliant people there”..
    But there’s also a whiff of why some admins might censor my posting their video here.
    Now I get it.

11. IRS Medic report on Dewees
    Note mention of Isaac Brock Society around 2:20

12. @ Nononymous and EmBee, and @All,

    I’m wondering was it necessary that Mr. Dewees first pay the amount demanded by IRS in order to contest the issue in court? Does anyone know if that’s a requirement when dealing with an IRS dispute at court?

13. Re IRS Medic and their list of forms that the IRS can penalize anyone for not reporting, it’s pretty clear that the IRS wants them just so they can throw the book at you one day if you cross them.

14. @Pacifica

    I think I saw that. He paid to contest the fines. Oops. Bad call.

15. IRS Medic has not mentioned that the 5 mutual collection agreements state that a country will not assist in collecting a liability that was incurred while a taxpayer was a citizen of that country. IMO, this makes this case sound much scarier. It’s scary enough that CRA would assist collection against a Canadian resident.

16. Good grief. The reason Canada would collect on Prof. Dewees is because he is NOT a Canadian citizen. there is no reason to go on about what Canada might do……oh…scary scary

    He also didn’t wait for the Streamlined Program in 2014 because he wouldn’t have known it would be created. We are aware that his legal counsel put other non-criminals in OVDP.

    I also cannot help but point out that immediately after Ms.Gindal indicates she tells clients not to worry, Mr. P. proceeds to mention arguing with Brockers about IRS going after minnows because they are easier to persecute than whales………I don’t remember that argument but I do remember this:

    http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2013/06/01/softquiet-disclosures-are-an-irs-trap-like-ovdi/comment-page-1/
    http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2013/06/01/softquiet-disclosures-are-an-irs-trap-like-ovdi/comment-page-1/#comment-365190
    http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2013/06/01/softquiet-disclosures-are-an-irs-trap-like-ovdi/comment-page-1/#comment-365524

    Technically, neither of these videos belong on this site. If for no other reason, for the plug at the end of both videos.

17. @Neil
    There is NO EXCUSE for KuKluxKln or Neinazis. NONE. And Trump is inciting violence with his endorsement of them.

18. In other news, the Berner Cantonal Bank (BEKB) charges US citizens resident in Switzerland an extra CHF 240 per year to maintain a bank account. See the table in this article (about 1/2 way down):

    https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/witness-accounts_swiss-expats-feel–messed-around–by-swiss-banks/43404584

    Thank you former Obama administration employees, Kathryn Keneally, Robert Stack, Mark Mazur and others.

19. @ Polly and Neil
    A similar yet less violent demonstration took place over the desired toppling of the Cecil Rhodes statue at Oriel college Oxford. It was defeated and the statue was left in place.
    https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/feb/02/students-cecil-rhodes-statue-campaign-oxford-oriel-college
    Em, I think you are right, that these moves are a consequence of misplaced anger from the inequality and lack of opportunity that many groups face in the US and the UK.
    Rhodes and Lee were part of a history that we can’t obliterate. Why not leave them in place to serve to educate? The toppling of them only serves to incite violence. The removal of a confederate flag is different, it stands for a political movement.
    Having said that I do feel Trump’s statement was wrong.

20. I can’t help wondering if the IRS Medic are acting like they’re the good guys but are, in fact, exaggerating and trying to create fear in efforts to attract potential clients.

21. I was so terrified that all my amended returns would be ruthlessly audited, especially as I held a large number of PFICs, though these various holdings only average a couple thousand £ each. Some were only worth about 60 pence! Yet my accountant felt it essential to file an 8621, even for that. Over two hundred 8621 forms between the 2007-2011 years.

    Even now I’m still a little scared that the IRS could question me until possibly six years after my due date for my 8854, which would be 15 June 2020! I had to list out all my annual tax liabilities for the years 2007-2013, so would assume that those tax years could still indirectly be open to audit till all the FBAR statutes of limitation finally close on 30 June 2020, six years after I filed my final paperwork.

    But it seems it would be hard for them to go after me when I’m no longer a citizen with any U.S.-cited assets. Would be almost impossible to collect potential taxes or penalties, especially as I made my disclosure over six years ago. I don’t believe the UK at present has an agreement to willingly collect for the IRS either, plus we enjoy a better deal with our pensions in the UK/US tax treaty.

22. It almost seems that Dewees didn’t completely appreciate the degree of threat he faced from the IRS in OVDP, plus was tragically distracted with his son’s suicide. When I heard about OVDI in 2011, I was going to do everything I could to stay the H*ll out of it, as a matter of self-preservation. If I hadn’t found Liz Zitzow, (don’t know if I can mention her here), I probably would have just attempted filing going forward (or amended the still open years) via software the ‘simple’ way and not bothered with all the PFIC crap. Would have then just renounced and hoped for the best.

    After all, nothing in Publication 54 for overseas filers mentions anything about having to file 8621 or form 3250, etc. I think what especially scared me though was that it was 2011 and realized I was just ‘wealthy’ enough to have to file 8938 on the subsequent 2011 return, fully listing out all my mutual funds and thus PFICs…thus felt straitjacketed. Otherwise, would have thought one who hadn’t had to file 8938 could have gotten away with claiming reasonable cause for filing the simple way for what are vanilla tax wrapper accounts where I live.

    So glad it’s hopefully all over…just waiting for those final statutes of limitation to finally close…

    But at least she’s enabled me to exit as cleanly as possible by dotting the i’s and t’s.

23. @Monalisa says “I can’t help wondering if the IRS Medic are acting like they’re the good guys but are, in fact, exaggerating and trying to create fear in efforts to attract potential clients.”

    I agree. Every time they mention that CRA can collect for the IRS they “forget” to say that this doesn’t apply to people who were Canadian citizens when the tax liability arose. I mentioned this in the comments on their latest video, as I have before, but many will watch the video without reading the comments.

    I understand that they are in business, so they need to attract clients. And given that they are lawyers, and not just accountants, they would see bigger problems than your typical CPA or Enrolled Agent. Also, there’s the little matter of circular 230 – so they can’t really tell people how to avoid paying the IRS when tax is due under US law. But I do think they exaggerate the risks and the reach of the IRS somewhat, especially for those with no US assets. They also could be clearer about the different level of risk faced by US-resident taxpayers and overseas Americans.

24. @MonaLisa @Karen @Patricia Moon

    This thread takes my mind back to summer 2011, late 2011 and early 2012 the “OVDI Scare” was taking place. There is NO DOUBT that the vast majority of people seeking professional advice received very bad advice. What I cannot understand to this day is why most “tax professionals” seemed to misunderstand OVDP/OVDI and adopted such a ridiculously broad definition of “quiet disclosure”. How could this have happened? Are these people incompetent, evil or something else?

    I believe that the problem/fault lay in the way that the issue was characterized. With the advent of President Obama’s “Change You Can Believe In”, Americans abroad woke up in a world where they were under attack. The attack which had its roots in USB/FATCA/Levin/Obama/Geithner and Shulman was never clearly defined but was executed by the “tax professionals” and advertised by the media.

    Because most Americans abroad (at least until then) believed that America was a just and moral nation, they believed that they had made a mistake and that the mistakes they had made were “tax mistakes”. As a result they consulted tax accountants and lawyers. The problem is that the mistake (if it really was one) was NOT a tax mistake. It was a “compliance mistake”. A person who has NOT been filing U.S. taxes does NOT have a “tax problem”. He/she has a “compliance problem”. Compliance are more difficult to solve (computers can figure out taxes). Their resolution lies in understand that there is no one right answer, etc.

    “Tax professionals” are NOT equipped professionally or tempermentally to deal with this kind of issue. Their instincts were to look to the IRS and they saw the OVDP program. But, (as has become clear over the years) they are more prone to look to the IRS than to look to the law (or they think that the IRS is the law). The law may have required filing FBAR and taxes, but it did not require entering OVDP. So, why were people encouraged to joint this program? It simply blows my mind that so many tax professionals led their clients into this.

    A post from early 2012 describing this state of affairs is here.

    https://renounceuscitizenship.wordpress.com/2012/01/05/the-taxpayer-the-irs-and-the-professionals-where-to-go-from-here/

    Also, time after time, we see a correlation between some difficult personal issues and being prone to enter these programs. The Deewees situation is absolutely tragic (but far from the worst I have seen).

    No matter how I view this, for Americans abroad to enter OVDP/OVDI was really to “commit suicide to avoid dying”.

    Compounding the tragedy is the fact that those who tried the hardest to comply were the ones who were damaged the most.

    Compounding the tragedy is the fact that those who tried the earliest to comply were the ones who were damaged the most.

    As it stands today, the people who are the most likely to retain U.S. citizenship are those who do NOT file U.S. taxes. But, that’s the America of today.

    Any person learning about this issue is emotionally vulnerable and needs to be VERY CAREFUL about who they consult. You have a “compliance” problem and NOT a “tax problem”.

    _____________________________________________________________

    Also, a review of “Petros Principles” should be considered along with any visit to a tax professional. This post links to all 12 of the principles.

    http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2016/08/05/petros-principle-12-who-is-criminal/

25. @Karen

    You include:

    I understand that they are in business, so they need to attract clients. And given that they are lawyers, and not just accountants, they would see bigger problems than your typical CPA or Enrolled Agent. Also, there’s the little matter of circular 230 – so they can’t really tell people how to avoid paying the IRS when tax is due under US law. But I do think they exaggerate the risks and the reach of the IRS somewhat, especially for those with no US assets. They also could be clearer about the different level of risk faced by US-resident taxpayers and overseas Americans.

    As lawyers their job is to explain and help people understand their legal options. If this results in avoiding U.S. tax, so be it.

    To explain or pontificate about OVDP and various “Form Crimes” does not define legal options.

    How often do you hear a tax professional suggest compliance going forward?

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