Liberty and justice for all United States persons abroad

The Isaac Brock Society

Media and Blog Articles – Part 1 of 11 (to 26 May 2015)

You can access all years at this link:

http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/media-and-blog-articles-links-for-all-years/

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.  You could mention such articles in the comment stream for this page, or if I see one on another thread, I can copy the link to here. I’ll keep adding to the list, but not deleting, so we’ll end up having sort of a “bibliography” too.  [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.

Note also: JC suggests 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.

26 May 2015:  This thread is now closed.  It continues at Media and Blog Articles Open for Comment, Part 2 of 2.

2015.05.26

New Survey finds US expat voting could impact 2016 Presidential Election, Greenback Expat Tax Services, NASDAQ GlobeNewswire.

This congressional committee wants to hear all your FOIA gripes, Colby Itkowitz, Washington Post, US.

The black money recovery skills of IT department are nothing to write home about, Vivek Kaul, The Daily Reckoning.

2015.05.25

The Intersection of US Federal Tax Law with Collection of International Information- – Including Other  Federal Agencies, Patrick W. Martin, TaxExpatriaation, US.

2015.05.23

America the not so brave:  America has led the global assault on tax dodgers and their enablers.  But the reality still lags behind the rhetoric, The Economist, UK.

Cash Banned from Chase Safe Deposit Boxes, Matt Chilliak, Live and Invest News.

2015.05.22

US Steuergesetz hat unerwartete globale Konsequenzen, Colleen Graffy, Geopolitical Information Service.  Also at Consequences of US widening net to catch tax dodgers, Colleen Graffy, World Review.

The horse may have bolted … but, Angelo Venardos, Asia Asset Management.

Important Correction:  Passports Required to Enter and Leave US — but SSNs May be Optional, Patrick W. Martin, Tax Expatriation, US.

2015.05.21

Americans working abroad face unexpected financial issues, Sarah O’Brien, NBC, US.

Senate tax reform groups get more time, Bernie Becker, The Hill, US.

2015.05.20

Malaysia will defer FATCA reporting, FSI Tax Posts.

America’s Self-Inflicted Wound, Moises Naim, The Atlantic, US.

Janice Mays:  The Tax Guru Who Guides House Democrats, Alex Brown, National Journal, US.

Sen. Rand Paul Launches Filibuster in Protest of Patriot Act Renewal, C-SPAN, US.

Articles from earlier in 2015 are at this link

Articles from 2014 are at this link

Media and Blog Articles Open for Comment, Part 2, is at this link

Media and Blog Articles Open for Comment, Part 3, is at this link

3,971 thoughts on “Media and Blog Articles – Part 1 of 11 (to 26 May 2015)”

  2. @Calgary 411
    I agree with you. They do not report the 182 days in USA over 3 years.

    I think because they did not do their research well or it is too complicated. Staying 4 months every year would take snow birds over their limits.

  3. Yes northernstar, Calgary411, it is an oversimplification of the rules, but at least it will get those affected to look into it further rather than be left flatfooted later.

  4. Neither the US nor the Canadian government want to publicize and clarify the situation for snowbirds, or the border surveillance.

    The US wants Canadian travel and tourism dollars, and real estate investment in the US, and any tax dollars they can get anyway they can get them.

    Canada doesn’t want to illuminate how it assists the US in making prey out of Canadians by passively leaving Canadians in the dark about US predatory tax laws and serious shortfalls in the Canada/US tax treaty, and about its collusion in the joint surveillance of citizens and information sharing/spying with the US. The Canadian federal government colludes with the US to make Canadians vulnerable instead of making them aware of US pitfalls to avoid.

  5. @George

    U will be surprised what big brother knows… Someone I know got a ticket in the US for driving over 10 yrs ago… when he was crossing a few yrs ago from Canada to the US… US customs person mentioned the ticket he forgot about… he went to the town to pay the ticket… they had him come back because they had to dig out the info from the files in their basement… I would never think this info would be at customs

  6. Yes — they’d better if they have more sense than Mr. 1% (may he have been filing his 8840 with the US). Some of the commenters sound like they know more about it, perhaps as veteran snowbirders, than any CBC news report.

    tarftarf100

    I know a number of people who go down every year and told me they can only stay 6 months at a stretch.
    Boy,were they ever mistaken.

    swamprat

    @tarftarf100

    No they weren’t. It’s been that way forever and if ANY Government even tries to screw us, there will be hell to pay.

    Want to know why? Because we have money, and like you lefties are so fond of saying, “the 1% rule the World.”

    BTW, it’s 23 C and sunny.

    No one identified the real problem as US CBT versus Canadian RBT and that Canadian snowbird could be defined by the US, a *US Person residing in Canada* and all the consequences of proving they are not subject to US tax and reporting returns.

  7. Related to our issues? (comments closed): http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/01/13/canada_being_sued_for_billions_under_nafta_investor_protections.html

    Canada being sued for billions under NAFTA investor protections
    Study charts foreign corporations’ growing use of NAFTA’s investor protections to sue governments over environmental and economic regulations.

    The claims against Ottawa for damages under the Chapter 11 investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism in NAFTA total billions of dollars, according to the summary of cases by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), an Ottawa think tank that has often criticized federal policies.

    Canada’s experience with NAFTA investor protections has taken on a higher profile in the controversy over inclusion of a similar mechanism in the free-trade pact being finalized by Canada and the European Union. The Canada-EU deal has sparked concerns in Europe among political groups who see ISDS measures as a danger to governments’ ability to regulate on behalf of public safety, the environment, health and other priorities.

    “NAFTA’s investor-state mechanism and similar investment rules in other international treaties have been rightly criticized for giving multinational corporations too much power while constraining the fundamental role of democratic governments,” says Scott Sinclair, the CCPA senior researcher who authored the study being released Wednesday.

    Canadians and their elected officials should be paying more attention to the impact of investor protection measures, Sinclair says in Democracy Under Challenge: Canada and Two Decades of NAFTA’s Investor-State Dispute Settlement Mechanism.

    Currently, Canada faces nine active ISDS claims challenging government measures that allegedly interfere with the expected profitability of foreign investments, the report says.

    …

    The federal Conservative government has said critics are overstating problems associated with ISDS measures in free-trade pacts. “Investment protections have long been a core element of trade policy in Canada and Europe, and will encourage job-creating investment and economic growth on both sides of the Atlantic,” a spokesperson for International Trade Minister Ed Fast said during the debate over the Canada-EU deal.

  8. re: snowbirds Many will have a very rude awaking on this whole snowbird issue. My hope is a lot will pack up and find somewhere else to go. The US has been very shortsighted on this issue. The trucker “tedcamp” comment was interesting, seem to indicate a lot of time outside of Canada. Would think they would be careful about such things, health care and Canadian residency are important. He may be in serious trouble with the US as well.

  10. @ calgary411
    TPP, TTIP, FIPA, TISA and CETA are all NAFTA-like “agreements” which bypass public input. It’s despicable that our governments can expose taxpayers to billions of dollars of risk by means of corporate lawsuits. How sleezy does it get when a company doesn’t know how to make honest dollars producing and selling products and then resorts to making dishonest dollars by litigation instead? Small wonder our governments were so heartless when it came to exposing their taxpayers to the risks of the US FATCA law too.

    BTW, former Deputy Prime Minister under Paul Martin, Paul Hellyer, has called what Harper has done and will do when he secretly signs the CETA agreement “high treason” and has warned us that CETA cannot be undone. The Canadian sovereignty goose will be well and truly burned to a crisp then.

    http://theindependent.ca/2014/06/18/trade-treaties-bloom-sovereignty-wilts/

    Current treaties have evolved into constitutional-style documents that constrain governments, and in ways only loosely related to trade. These agreements tend to build on the ones before them. How? Any protections for domestic industries, for public services, or for regulatory capacity achieved in a specific agreement become targets for elimination in the next slate of talks. That’s hardly surprising given the drive for all of these agreements comes from transnational corporations both in Canada and abroad.

    There are three reasons why large corporations do so well out of FTAs. First, their lobbyists have sufficient access to the negotiations to, in their own words, “define the challenges and help the negotiators overcome them.” Secondly, the small, elite group of investment lawyers who write the agreements for governments also service the ISDS process, sometimes as judges, and sometimes as lawyers for the corporations. That conflict of interest gives them a vested interest in writing agreements in legal language that encourages lawsuits. Finally, our elected federal representatives from the three major parties, instead of being outraged by the blatancy of this bias, appear to have gone along with the process. Their criticisms have been tepid.

    Meanwhile, civil society groups are not only denied input into the negotiating process, but are not allowed to see what’s been negotiated in our name. We are supposed to be content with summary statements that camouflage or misrepresent the real intent of these treaties. It’s only through leaked documents that we’re able to find out what’s really at stake.

    Who is defending the public good here?

  12. @ calgary411

    I noticed a comment there by Terry Sexsmith about MEPs (Message Event Proposals) which really resonates with all of us who got the very tardy e-mail reply from Joe Oliver and I’m sure resonates with Bubblebustin after her recent meeting with John Weston.

    Terry Sexsmith wrote that a former Harper-era PCO official said, “We discussed every single issue and micromanaged every news release – everything.” Note: PCO = Privy Council OffIce.

    He also wrote that another senior official (former PCO) said, “Anybody that could still think for themselves realized what the objective was here – control. It’s hyper-extreme control, complete with threats and everything else.”

    Looks like the CRA just can’t resist setting up another propaganda catapult like the super-duper big one the Harper regime has in place.

  13. news.yahoo.com/highlights-obama-tax-wealthy-100142066.html
    Now there wont just be inversions. Wealthy people will leave and renounce to save their wealth for their kids/keep it in the family.
    (France tried this and french movie stars protested and like Gerard Depardieux left for Russia! Hollande finally gave up that plan.)

  16. Um… with regard to having both a US passport and a CAD one, I think they were always linked since a couple years after 9/11. So I do not have to show the US one because the CAD one is linked. My suspicion about having my CLN now linked to my CAD passport is just based upon the evidence I gave in my last post. I am sure nevertheless that US intelligence could even be monitoring my email at work. I donated tonight to the cause.

  17. @Neill
    Double negative. What are you saying? He`ll get it passed or he wont? I`m amazed that he keeps barking up the same tree.

  20. Those Democommies just won’t quit until the get control of every single nickel and dime on the planet.

  21. The U.S. doesn’t yet acknowledge that ruling by coercion and threat ultimately only makes things worse. Instead of addressing the problems that make people and corporations renounce their ‘citizenship’ they just add to problems by waving more sticks. Any business management book would tell them that is NOT the way to gain cooperation and good will. It is beyond belief their politicians can’t see this.

  22. @Old English
    Add to that the fact that people are more mobile and global today. It is much easier to move.

  23. @JC
    Yes, they’re pandering to their audience. The line that took me aback was “Any money transferred to an offshore account would be considered taxable income that has not yet been taxed”. That’s insane. So if someone transfers money to their child who is studying abroad in high-tax France, they would become suspected tax cheats? Another poorly drafted piece of legislation.

  25. Trade minister Ed Fast seems to think the Canadian government should be willing to fight for Canadian sovereignty when it comes to steel. Too bad they don’t feel that way about other applications of US laws in Canada.

    “We have been clear: the application of protectionist Buy America provisions on Canadian soil is unacceptable and an affront to Canadian sovereignty,” Mr. Fast said in a statement.

    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/feds-to-invoke-rarely-used-law-in-buy-america-row-with-alaska/article22517328/

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