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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)”

  1. The president’s overhaul would consolidate seven tax brackets into three, double the standard deduction, eliminate the alternative minimum tax and estate tax, and lower corporate taxes.

    All of which are potential wins for some, but the gains could potentially be wiped out by the loss of property tax deductions, said the head of Long Island’s largest business group.

    Gov. Andrew Cuomo also warned of a devastating impact on the New York economy with on average a $5,300 per household hike in federal income taxes….

    “It is literately taxing the taxes you pay,” he said. “It’s ludicrous.”

    Republican Congressman Peter King tweeted, “Any tax reform legislation must retain state and local tax deductions. Hard working New Yorkers must not be taxed twice.”

    http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2017/09/28/local-reaction-to-trump-tax-plan/

    If I were still a US citizen, and a constituent of Peter King, I’d be inclined to write to suggest that what New York needs is to negotiate a bilateral treaty with the Federal Government, allowing NY residents to claim Federal tax credit for their NY state taxes, provided they’re not US citizens.

    That way it’s not double-taxing.

  2. JC: Your letter to Trump that references Calgary’s son’s situation is the best thing you’ve ever written and you’ve written some great stuff!

    Calgary: It’s great you wrote to Trump yourself, too!!

    I’m so glad Solomon Yue and Michael DeSombre have these two letters in the pile they’re presenting at the White House on Monday. I hope they’re joined by dozens more over the next day and a half. I believe this is truly our last chance.

  7. Calgary, from the ACA RBT proposal:

    “…Any individual claiming RBT would be required to file an annual certification stating under oath that
    he/she is a US citizen or resident alien and fulfils the residency requirements for the taxable year
    (including the 5-year rule, above), and does not have income related to a “restricted country”. Failure to
    file an annual certification would terminate the individual’s status as a non-resident American. The
    concern is that without some on-going responsibility to maintain the status, individuals might return to the
    US, live in the US and improperly avoid paying US tax…”

    “…Issuance of a Departure Certificate would require proof that the individual in question has met all federal
    tax requirements. This is similar to the requirement for US resident aliens and nonresident aliens (with
    certain exceptions) to obtain an IRS tax clearance document, commonly referred to as a “sailing permit”…”

  8. That *Made in the USA* tattoo on our asses (and those of our children) is indelible and costly.

    What doesn’t seem in the US cards is a moral show of what *US freedom / Land of the Free* means with a free amnesty for US-deemed US citizens who are accidental collateral damage, no meaningful connection with the US Empire, consent not given for a USC (however deemed).

    How will anyone *without requisite mental capacity* be able and at what yearly cost file an annual certification that would terminate the individual’s status as a non-resident American?

    RBT, with strings attached, rather than common sense:

    Provide a free path to renunciation and an end to the entrapment into yearly complex and costly administrative paperwork through the US tax compliance industry (for the Land of the Free) for those who have not consented / will not consent (with requisite mental capacity at the age of majority) to some (automatically) acquired accidental USC.

  10. @MuzzledNoMore Thanks for the compliment. I bashed the draft each day for over a week.

    I really have no idea if Trump would read it so it is more directed at the community of those impacted. We don’t know if legislation would be successful so I gathered some Executive Order and administrative changes that could help. I pointed out the lawsuits as if it all gets blocked then we go back to relying on and funding the lawsuits.

  11. On Republicans Overseas Facebook Page.

    https://www.facebook.com/republicansoverseas/photos/a.197014807148989.1073741828.187406564776480/741296296054168/?type=3&theater

    The Republicans Overseas global teleconference with Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform, was informative, insightful, interesting, and actually encouraging.

    It is true that TTFI is not in the current GOP Tax Reform package. The territorial taxation for corporations proposal is included. US corporations have been lobbying Congress on this issue for the last 10 years. Trump campaigned on this issue and now he has to deliver his campaign promise. It also is true that GOP members of Congress felt uncomfortable with TTFI due to the fact it has not been fully scored and vetted.

    Congress will use the Regular Order, which allows congressional hearings to pass the tax reform. This means TTFI could be added to the package if overseas Americans participate in this process. That was the reason Mr. Norquist suggested Congress needs to hear from the 9 million overseas Americans, especially GOP members. The best argument is that overseas Americans will vote in 2018 and 2020. Mr. Norquist expects very a few Democrats will vote for the tax reform because Democrats don’t believe in tax cuts.

    RO has excellent arguments for TTFI inclusion: TTFI will create stateside American jobs when the 35% premium, due to CBT and FATCA, for hiring Americans to work overseas is eliminated. Overseas Americans are the most effective advocates for, and exporters of, American-made goods and services. TTFI is not only revenue-positive, but also supports the America First initiative by eliminating tax loopholes for foreign billionaires. Mr. Norquist also suggested to Solomon Yue, RO Vice Chairmen, that he solicits the support of President Trump’s Director of the National Economic Council Gary Cohn.

  14. EmBee: That Washington Post article is fabulous! I hope the author (Chairman of RO-Thailand) has sent it in for inclusion in the Yue/DeSombre package. Maybe somebody who has yet to write their letter could include a link to it.

  15. “Trump Prepares to Pick His Own Auditor at the IRS”

    IRS Commissioner John Koskinen’s term expires on Nov. 12 and he is unlikely to be reappointed. He was hired by President Barack Obama and is loathed by congressional Republicans, who tried to impeach him in 2016.

    Trump hasn’t nominated anyone to replace Koskinen. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, whose department includes the Internal Revenue Service, is said to be in the early stages of the selection process, according to two people familiar with the matter.

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-28/trump-gets-to-replace-his-auditor-as-irs-head-prepares-to-leave

  16. Sadly, that well written article about FATCA and its effect on US small businesses and exports was not from the Washington Post, but the Washington Times, which most thinking people view as a second tier right wing propaganda sheet. Hopefully that newspaper is still on Congressional staffers’ reading lists. Nevertheless, it would be even nicer to see such an editorial make it into the Washington Post or The Hill.

  17. @ Barbara
    Oops, sorry, that was me getting Post and Times mixed up. Still a good article though. I actually view the Washington Post as a government propaganda catapult … very apparent with their recent Russophobia campaign.

  18. @EmBee: I agree that the Washington Post is a propaganda rag in its own right. It was painfully obvious during the election last year, when it shamelessly boosted Hillary Clinton over Sanders and later Trump, in every single article, not just editorials. But based on its once great past reputation, it’s still the paper “on record” in that city. It would be nice to get more coverage from them. I’ve written to a few journalists there about our issues, using the 300+ letters to the Senate Finance Committee to suggest a human interest angle, but have never even received a reply.

  23. An organization called “Americans Against Double Taxation” has been launched to pushback on the proposed elimination of deduction for state/local taxes.

    http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/americans-against-double-taxation-launches-campaign-to-protect-state-and-local-tax-deduction-claimed-by-43-million-taxpayers-300523811.html

    A similar campaign, called the Coalition Against Double Taxation, succeeded in defeating earlier attempts to eliminate this deduction:

    https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-08-04/even-reagan-couldn-t-kill-this-tax-deduction

    Ironically, one of the contributors to the CADT was one Donald Trump.

    An opportunity to make common cause with these campaigners against double taxation? If the taxbreak is eliminated, will some compliant expat taxpayers potentially be subject to triple taxation?

    The American tax system is truly insane.

  24. “……………If millions of consumers are fretting that the Equifax data breach has potentially put everything from their Social Security numbers to credit card data into criminal hands, one party seems noticeably less concerned: the U.S. government.

    The IRS last week hired the credit reporting company to provide fraud prevention and taxpayer identification services, Politico reports, citing a government database that lists federal contracts…………..”

    ‘IRS hires Equifax despite massive data breach’
    https://www.cbsnews.com/news/equifax-irs-hires-despite-massive-data-breach/

  25. Given the poor judgement of the IRS awarding this contract to Equifax after massive breach of consumer information;on what basis can our home country governments defend the automatic shipments of our local personal and financial data to the IRS? For ex. in Canada, how can our CRA and Ministry of Revenue spokespersons possibly assure us that the personal and financial data of ordinary law abiding Canadian taxpayers, their joint accountholders and associated others who are not in any way ‘US persons'(ex. Canadian estates, business partners, employers, etc.) they remit to the IRS under FATCA without permission, is secure?

    ‘IRS awards Equifax $7.25 million contract to prevent fraud’
    http://thehill.com/policy/technology/353712-irs-gives-equifax-multimillion-dollar-contract-to-prevent-fraud

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