Media and Blog Articles Open for Comments – Part 6 of 11 (Year 2019)
You can access all years at this link: Media and Blog Articles – Links for All Years
If clicking on a link brings you to the wrong page in the comment stream, click here to get to the most recent comments.
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.
2019.12.15
Canadians travelling to or through the US should pay attention to their withering rights, H.M. Jocelyn, CBC News, Canada.
2019.12.12
EU revives issue of FATCA information exchange as year-end deadline for banks approaches, Helen Burggraf, AmericanExpatFinance.
2019.12.10
13 Reasons Why I Committed Citizide, John Richardson, TaxConnections.
US tax filing requirements that Americans living in Canada should know, David Altro and Avi Guttman, Globe and Mail, Canada.
2019.12.07
Confirmed – Rep. Holding to leave Congress at end of 2020, after reintroducing Tax Fairness for Americans Abroad Act, Helen Burggraf, AmericanExpatFinance.
2019.12.06
Trump is trying to make it took expensive for poor immigrants to stay, Annalisa Merrelli, Quartz, US.
2019.12.05
Revenue Neutrality And A Move To Residence-based Taxation: Open Letter To Democrats Abroad, John Richardson, Karen Alpert, Laura Snyder, TaxConnections.
What It’s Like to Retire Abroad, Glenn Ruffenach, Wall Street Journal, US.
2020.01.01: This thread is now closed. Please comment at Media and Blog Articles Part 7 of 7
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@Petlover
Why don’t you PM him to let him know how you feel. Constructive feedback can go a long way.
@Bob
I would PM him, but he has posted several times in the group that if anyone feels the need to contact him about any of the views he expresses, then those people needn’t bother and best leave the group. He isn’t looking for constructive criticism, just an echo chamber that confirms his strongly (militantly) held beliefs about FATCA and CBT. That’s one of the major issues I have with the American Expatriates Facebook group. It’s his way or the highway – dissenters not welcome. It’s a very uncomfortable, intimidating forum, unlike Brock.
This was the actual post for discussion in the American Expatriates group I posted this morning:
Something to ponder:
Could it come down to Americans overseas deported from their resident countries as they are a burden on their resident countries’ financial systems + economies?
If Americans overseas put the US (where they don’t live) as priority over the country where they live, could it be an issue? Perhaps they may be considered a detriment to their resident countries?
If they are also a citizen of their country of residence should they be requested to give up their US citizenship to remain and properly and fully participate in the resident countries’ economies like everyone else?
Who knows. It is something on which to reflect as assessing the damage done to resident countries’ financial and economic systems has not thoroughly been analysed and discussed. It’s another angle.
(Please don’t fall into the trap of homeland American reaction vis-à-vis false outrage and false indignation, and false patriotism over this post. It inhibits any semblance of critical thinking, analysis, and ‘pondering’. Take a few moments and think about it.)
PS – All angles of this horrendous American injustice on Americans overseas and Accidental Americans should be viewed, analysed and discussed. There is the damage done to the aforementioned populations by the US and its politicians (like the most recent with Elizabeth Warren proposing to strengthen FATCA and not so recent with Donald Trump’s TCJA with the ruinous Transition Tax + GILTI) and the damage done to resident countries.
Keith REDMOND, I.P.I.T.A.
@Keith
Yes, that is the post I am referring to. This was simply provocative for the sake of being provactive and completely over the top. There was no point to this unrealistic scenario other than to get argumentative with commenters. I think it was a lousy thing to do and borders on trolling. The very idea that countries would deport Americans under that guise is ludicrous, especially when considering how much most countries benefit from the United States through trade, alliances, military protection, etc.
But, more generally speaking, the constant hyperbole of posts like that combined with the overall atmosphere in the group – where people are singled out, harassed, banned and comments are switched off regularly – doesn’t exactly contribute to a feeling of being united for a cause. It’s detrimental to bringing people of various stripes together.
Now before you try to insinuate that I’m an uptight, homelander abroad with their knickers in twist, let me just say that I left the US over 25 years ago and renounced a while back. The US gets no sympathy from me due to CBT, FATCA, FBAR and so on. That said, I wish the American Expatriates group would be a bit kinder and welcome a bit more diversity of thought without a certain admin going on the attack as soon as a member says something “not aligned with the group”. Shutting people down will never build up a united front. Just saying….
Please allow me to make it crystal clear about the American Expatriates group on Facebook:
If you are not willing or interested in standing up for the rights of Americans overseas and Accidental Americans, this group is not for you.
If you are more interested in homeland American issues and putting them as priority when you vote, this group is not for you.
If you choose to vote for those who will screw Americans overseas and Accidental Americans further, this group is not for you.
If you think it’s selfish to stand up for your rights as an American overseas and Accidental American, this group is not for you.
If you are more interested in putting American overseas and Accidental American issues in terms of Republican and Democrat and can only view it this way, this group is not for you.
If you are more interested in putting the US as a priority over your country of residence, this group is not for you.
If you feel because you have no issue with FATCA and the US imposing its tax code on tax residents of other countries, therefore there’s no need to stand up for the rights of Americans overseas and Accidental Americans, this group is not for you.
If you don’t like how I’m managing the group, this group is not for you.
If you think I’m a pain in the a*s, you are 100% correct. I have an international degree in the speciality: I.P.I.T.A. I’m going to keep the focus where it needs to be for any progress to be made. If this is bothersome to you, this group is not for you.
Should you fall into the above categories, it is best to leave this group and find a group better suited to your needs.
HOWEVER, if you are interested in being razor focussed in standing up for the rights of Americans overseas and Accidental Americans, wanting FATCA to end, and the US ceasing imposing its tax code on tax residents of other countries, this group is for you.
(It’s better to have less people in this group who are serious for change than to have more people who are a detriment to Americans overseas and Accidental Americans and impede change.)
Keith REDMOND, I.P.I.T.A
@Petlover
I have now read the posts that you mentioned. I do not think they were over the top.
The reality is that zero progress has been made towards ending CBT, FATCA, and FBAR. All efforts have been like Sisyphus pushing a boulder up a hill that repeatedly rolls back down on top of him.
So to me, Keith Redmond’s comments were definitely not over the top. And anyone who supports CBT, FATCA and FBAR (Elizabeth Warren included) is an enemy of expats. It is that simple.
November 2019 Capitol Hill Tax Reform Meetings (4-6 Nov)
DA door knocks Republicans. Does Solomon Yue know what is discussed?
https://www.democratsabroad.org/carmelan/november_2019_capitol_hill_tax_reform_meetings_4-6_nov?recruiter_id=1448
https://twitter.com/Carmelan/status/1192953101596139521?s=20
“The Canada Revenue Agency sent 900,000 financial records belonging to Canadian residents to the Internal Revenue Service in September — nearly a third more than it sent the previous year. The records were for the 2018 tax year.”
“The number of financial records of Canadian residents being shared with the IRS has risen steadily since the information sharing agreement began — from 150,000 in 2014 to 300,000 in 2015 and 600,000 for the 2016 tax year.”
2019.11.12. Nearly a million Canadian bank records sent to IRS, Elizabeth Thompson, CBC, Canada.
Last quarter’s renunciation report is now out:
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/11/12/2019-24474/quarterly-publication-of-individuals-who-have-chosen-to-expatriate-as-required-by-section-6039g
#FATCA twitter is very active today following the EU Committee on Petitions’ meeting regarding the impact of FATCA on EU citizens (Accidental Americans in particular). I stayed up last night to watch it live but if anyone wants to watch it now it’s available at the link below. Skip ahead to the 10:33 mark.
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/ep-live/en/committees/video?event=20191112-0900-COMMITTEE-PETI
A press conference followed with Jude Kirton-Darling, Peter Jahr, Sophie In’t Veld and Jude Ryan (the petitioner). Does anyone have a link to that video?
I hope this works, EmBee:
http://d1xn6xzngvf8ib.cloudfront.net/content/vod/downloads/eaeded3f-939b-4b74-a22c-946441bab611/REC_Press_Conf_Jude_KIRTON-DARLING_(S&D,_UK),_Sophia_in_%E2%80%99t_VELD_(RE,_NL),_and_Jude_RYAN,_on_%E2%80%9CAccidental_Americans__FATCA_and_its_extraterritorial_impact_on_EU_citizens%E2%80%9D.mp4
@ BB
Thank you. It’s a long link and a large file but yes, it worked. I just finished watching the video. What a great panel! Wish there had been more questions to give these 4 crusaders a chance to expand more on the trials and tribulations of FATCA. Sophie is such a gem (in there right from the getgo) and Jude Ryan presented his position very well, both in committee and at the press conference.
All I get is access denied
@ Portland
Sorry you didn’t get a chance to watch the press conference. The file (half a gigabyte) used quicktime to download and it took a long time to do so … maybe because our computer doesn’t have all the latest upgrades. I’m not computer savvy enough to know why you got an “access denied”.
Here’s a partial summary of the EU FATCA hearing from the American Expat Financial News Journal:
https://www.americanexpatfinance.com/news/item/304-fatca-hearing-europe-s-accidentals-unleash-frustration
The fee to apply for US citizenship is about to go up to $1170:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/11/13/cost-become-us-citizen-is-going-up-percent/
Still, that’s less than half of the $2350 fee to relinquish US citizenship: Surely the administrative cost of processing relinquishments can’t be twice as much as the administrative cost of processing applications for citizenship.
The US would never have to take an extra step to question someone whether they really want US citizenship, would they?
Big tweet here by
@RenewEurope
We are the pro-European political group in the @Europarl_EN
. Our mission is to Renew Europe. We are inspired to build a free and fair Europe
93,000 Followers:
Pls RT/Like on Twitter
Renew Europe
@RenewEurope
Citizenship Based Taxation is an unreasonable system that is only applied by two countries – the US & Eritrea. “We will keep up the pressure on Member States and the Commission to better protect EU citizens from unfair US taxation overreach” @SophieintVeld
on #FATCA
https://twitter.com/RenewEurope/status/1194270728247500800?s=20
Interesting article. No comment section, though.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/14/the-great-american-tax-haven-why-the-super-rich-love-south-dakota-trust-laws
This quote was infuriating, after all the Demonrats have done:
“As Democrats, we’re such a small caucus, we’re the ones who ought to be the natural opponents of this, but we don’t have the technical expertise and don’t really even understand what we’re doing,” she confessed, while we ate pancakes and drank coffee in a truck stop outside Sioux Falls. “We don’t have a clue what the consequences are to just regular people from what we’re doing.”
There are two people on TWITTER right now promoting FATCA and attacking Overseas Americans and in one case Canada as a country. A good old school Brocker beat down I think is in order.
https://twitter.com/AlexParkerDC/status/1195101374771544064?fbclid=IwAR0yuylERqVD2eFy_x5EbknyPVnS-UwsSnz6G4_fT7FMMvPqyZ7KwLcFETU
https://twitter.com/wrichars/status/1195038563240488962
Just started listening to this interview and it sounds like it will be interesting. John Richardson and Keith Redmond are featured and they have other guests to discuss FATCA and Elizabeth Warren’s proposal to enhance FATCA to help finance her health care reforms.
Listening. Just as I’ve said before, CBT is forcing US citizens to take other citizenships that they wouldn’t otherwise take. Like refugees, but not really.
@ BB
Now I’m listening to John, Keith, Jenny and you. Thanks for doing this. I’ve got to put this channel on my desktop so I don’t miss all of these good interviews.
Thanks EmBee.
I admittedly was not in a great space during that podcast. Thanks for listening.
A big thanks to John and Keith for their skillful direction in all this.