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.
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.
Thank you MuzzledNoMore and Neill for bringing it to our attention. I feel it’s something Brockers will want to sink their teeth in to.
@George
You’re dead on when you say that the financial costs associated with US citizenship imposes value on it, just as all the reporting we as non-residents must do in order to prove we aren’t terrorists and money launderers makes us suspects of both. We must be doing something wrong that the government would be so prejudiced against us.
It’s the same sort of circular reasoning that leads to American exceptionalism – that believing in America’s “manifest destiny” and #1 place in the world makes it so, and in spite of all the evidence to the contrary.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/11473983/The-UK-is-stuck-in-the-middle-as-the-US-and-China-fight-it-out-for-financial-supremacy.html
“… The dollar’s unrivalled position as the world’s reserve currency of choice has become America’s main policy tool in a wide range of areas, from tax-collecting to crime-fighting and from diplomacy to national security.
One low-level but illustrative example is the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or Fatca, which Barack Obama signed into law during his first term. In short, this forces financial institutions around the world to reveal which of their clients are American citizens with more than $50,000 in investments.
The law is designed to make life hard for tax evaders – fair enough. But it does so at huge cost and effort to global financial institutions, effectively forcing them to become the long arms of the Internal Revenue Service.“
…also mirrored on Yahoo:
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/uk-stuck-middle-us-china-221710539.html
@Watcher
Just what do they mean by “low level”?
@BB, I wondered that too. It sounds like the writer doesn’t think FATCA is such a big deal, but illustrative none the less of USA’s bully nature.
I think that Mike – the – CBT- supporter is not likely to change his instinctive American Exceptionalism bias, from his comment: “Still think the dumb Issac what’s-his-name thing is the kind of lame that gives lameness a bad name.” He has obviously looked at the IBS site, and must have seen the portrait of Isaac Brock, but may not have cared enough to identify “Issac what’s-his-name”, or more likely, does not and cannot believe that General Brock DEFEATED THE AMERICANS in the War of 1812. He knows perfectly well that America won the War of 1812 and every other war it has ever fought, until the commie demonstrators forced it to leave Vietnam without a clear military victory. In Mike’s world America always wins, when it isn’t sabotaged by traitors, and everyone in the world wants to be American, except for terrorists, who are really just jealous. Mike may even have read more about the inspiration for this site, and declares that it’s garbage because its participants seem to actually believe the myth that the U.S. was defeated by this Isaac what’s his name. Since they believe that crap, you shouldn’t pay attention to anything they say. I’m sure that Mike has a great deal of company.
@Queenston. I agree 100% and although I think the name of this website is appropriate and makes sense from a Canadian perspective, I suspect that in some ways it does us a disservice when trying to gain sympathy from Homelanders. They are put on the defence before they even gain an understanding of FATCA and CBT and the harm being done to ‘US persons’ abroad. Like Mike, any empathy they might have is shut down after reading the ‘About the Isaac Brock Society’ page. Sorry Petros, I still really like the name, but I’m Canadian.
@Bubblebustin, @WhiteKat
I’m not the author, so I don’t know what he really meant by ‘low level’, but in my mind I categorized this as implying FATCA is a supporting tactic for a strategy (such as “pressurize non-US banks to enforce the US’s ‘exceptional’ taxation model”) to implement the goal (eg “maintain US hegemony”).
I don’t believe the author thinks FATCA is no big deal — the Torygraph has published several articles critical of FATCA over the past couple of years. Not sufficient and not critical enough, of course. Not even close! But some nevertheless.
WhiteKat,
Many Brockers came to this site after having an OMG Moment, after finally realizing that our CANADIAN government was about to sell out to the big banks. The legislation, which was proposed and then passed, allows Canadian financial institutions to search for accounts held by Canadians living in Canada to identify any customers who met the criteria of a foreign country of a person required to file and pay taxes to that foreign country. The FIs will then report the financial information of these Canadians to the CRA, since the legislation requires that in cases where the requirements of the foreign country conflict with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the regulations of the foreign country shall prevail. As Canadian citizens we believed that our government should protect us. Permanent Residents also believed that they had rights under the Charter. The Isaac Brock Society was a place to share information about protesting this bill and now that it has become law, the IBS supports and educates anyone caught in the FATCA nightmare – Americans and Canadians.
Some Americans citizens in Canada and other countries intend to keep their U.S. citizenship, and hope to change U.S. law to make this a feasible choice. IBS shares information about some of these efforts. Sympathetic Homelanders are important allies in this fight, but the fight is between “overseas” American citizens and the U.S. government.
IBS is a vital lifeline to many involved in a war they didn’t know existed, or was theirs to fight, but I don’t think we should change the name or focus of IBS away from primarily attempting to influence the Government of Canada to protect Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada from discrimination and other attacks on rights guaranteed by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
God-willing the name of this site, The Isaac Brock Society, is firm and will never be changed to appease some American exceptionality.
As I am no longer a US citizen (in fact thought I wasn’t since 1975 when I became a Canadian citizen, by choice), my fight is in Canada and for all *US-defined US Persons / Citizens Abroad*. I don’t want sympathy from any *homelander* or indeed anyone from my own country incapable of critical thinking. I want only understanding on what justice should be — not a sucking up to anyone for a debt some *homelander* thinks I and others owe as our exceptional *fair share*.
@Queenston and Calgary.
Yes, I know the history and was not suggesting it would be a good idea to change the name of this website – was just seeing through the eyes of a homelander when I wrote that comment.
How does AMT – alternative minimum tax – operate in Mali
http://m.bbc.com/news/magazine-31907670
@WhiteKat
Guys like “Mike” are too dumb to hit the menu icon and too lazy to read the “about” section even if they found it. He probably lives in his Mom’s basement and disappeared for awhile to play video games. He likely derives great pleasure from his self-perceived wit. Like Taylor Swift sings, “…haters gotta hate”
@LakeSuperiorGuy,
Maybe. Also, maybe he is a retired American CPA (living in USA), pondering the meaning of life and other bullshit, who happened to stumble on to our cause.
Maybe he is a CPA who wishes he had the business windfall FATCA is throwing their way.
I would be very surprised if many americans had more than the faintest idea of who Isaac Brock was. I hardly think they would be defensive because of the name.
Just letting you know that the link to the Robert Wood article at Forbes (2015.03.11) is not working.
@NotAmused, Of course they don’t know about Isaac Brock before they visit our site, but they read the history of Brock on the HOME page when/if they visit here, just like Mike did. Then they get defensive, and don’t want to read anything else.
@Polly, I got the impression he is not a practicing CPA anymore…just a retired guy with time on his hands and curiosity.
Thanks, MuzzledNoMore. I think it is now fixed.
@WhiteKat @notamused
I led Mike to the Obama budget proposal and he thinks it’s a good idea for accidentals. Reason enough to suspect it’s merits.
@Bubblebustin,
No comment.
@Calgary411 Your story in press here:
Is This the First Nail in the Coffin of Citizenship-Based Taxation?
http://www.nestmann.com/is-this-the-first-nail-in-the-coffin-of-citizenship-based-taxation#.VQiCHY6Ucrm
In Nestmann’s article, that JC has provided the link for, regarding the proposal for relief to ‘accidentals’, Nestmann writes:” It’s a step in the right direction.”