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)”

  1. With regard to the CBC radio interview and errors, they are inviting comments on their FB page.
    Since there is much education to be done, and this is more-or-less a new area of OMG moments, gentleness is appreciated.

    Tricia Moon shared Quebec AM, CBC Radio One’s post.
    3 hrs
    Please consider going to this Facebook page to help educate about tax compliance, FATCA and renouncing. They are inviting comments; this from the CBC interview. I believe many are going to need our help. https://www.facebook.com/cbcquebecam/posts/10153262768318140

  2. @ Just a Canadian
    Thank you for that information about Bill C-37. I should have noticed the CBC article was from 2007. I will meekly withdraw one WTF from the Brock pot.

    @ Polly
    I’m a cash person too. I never use a debit or credit card and usually write no more than 5 cheques per month. Small town businesses appreciate cash because it doesn’t cost them anything but the time it takes to make their periodic bank deposits. I appreciate the relative anonymity of cash, although I feel and fear the cashless society drawing nearer and nearer.

  3. @Polly

    I had to get a few thousands from CIBC a few months ago to purchase USD from another bank I don’t bank at… for school in the US for a family member… I had to make special arrangements for them to have the money from the vault brought up… had to wait a few days… I only asked for like 7K… they acted like I asked for a million dollars in loonies… sheesh

  4. @Trish – Having made a very conscious decision not to do FACEBOOK, I wonder if you know of another way to provide F/B about the Quebec AM CBC show?

  6. RO lawsuit now to be filed in May (not Q1 as previously reported). Sounds like news of second plaintiff: Marc Zell, a lawyer in Israel.

    Checking the IRS Overseas
    http://www.wsj.com/articles/checking-the-irs-overseas-1427759818

    The other challenge to the law is a court case to be filed in May by plaintiffs supported by Republicans Overseas, including Roger G. Johnson, a retired U.S. Army major living in the Czech Republic, and Marc Zell, a lawyer in Israel. Among their claims: Fatca violates Fourth Amendment privacy rights and Eighth Amendment protections against “excessive fines.”

    President Obama claimed in 2009 that he wanted “overseas banks to provide 1099s for their American clients, just like Americans have to do for their bank accounts here in this country.” Yet a 1099 tax form merely tells the IRS how much income an account yielded. Fatca makes taxpayers reveal their accounts’ underlying values and transaction records—akin to a search of their overseas finances without a warrant or other due process.

    In suing over Fatca, Messrs. Johnson and Zell are standing up to an IRS known for harassing political activists it dislikes. Their case will test U.S. law and challenge an agency that over the Obama Presidency has grown more discredited but also more powerful.

  8. (Maybe not exactly on topic, but plays are media too)

    Just reading through Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, the classic tale of dual citizenship. When Marc Antony’s buddies back in Rome fling insults at him for living the opulent expat life in Egypt, he responds with an eloquent F— you:

    Let Rome in Tiber melt, and the wide arch
    Of the ranged empire fall! Here is my place.

    And he didn’t even have FATCA to contend with! Of course, Antony’s expatriation leads to his ultimate downfall and he kills himself in the end. Wouldn’t surprise me if this was the Treasury Secretary’s favorite play.

    Okay, back to discussing FATCA…

  9. @EMBEE, USFOREIGNPERSON
    I have the feeling when I use cash that I have control over my finances. Credit cards – its like invisible money and you dont really know how much you are spending or have left. Just my feeling about it- but it seems to be that way with others as we can see when all those credit cards were handed out to people in America and many got into debt. Where did I see that? Was it a Michael Moore film? Credit card companies realised that could make more money in late fees so they handed out credit cards to high school students and people who couldnt pay up. They didn’t know how to handle their money either and it seems credit cards aid and abet that.

  11. @Barbara: if we’re talking classical “expats”, I much prefer the speech made to the Spartans by Alcibiades (who also had to flee his country after trumped-up charges, in his case sacrilege):
    http://www.classicpersuasion.org/pw/thucydides/thucydides-passages.php?pleaseget=6.89-92

    You ought not in fairness to think the worse of me because, having been once distinguished as a lover of my country, I now cast in my lot with her worst foes and attack her with all my might; or suspect that I speak only with the eagerness of an exile. An exile I am indeed; I have lost an ungrateful country, but I have not lost the power of doing you service, if you will listen to me. The true enemies of my country are not those who, like you, have injured her in open war, but those who have compelled her friends to become her enemies. I love Athens, not in so far as I am wronged by her, but in so far as I once enjoyed the privileges of a citizen. The country which I am attacking is no longer mine, but a lost country which I am seeking to regain. He is the true patriot, not who, when unjustly exiled, abstains from attacking his country, but who in the warmth of his affection seeks to recover her without regard to the means.

  15. ok my comment above was a bit mild:

    JC Double Taxed ‏@JCDoubleTaxed 14m14 minutes ago
    Boycott @GreenbackTax! They Quote The Hill article but ignore all the comments = Anti American, Anti Vet, Anti Expat! http://maplesandbox.ca/2015/what-fatca-did-to-a-u-s-military-veteran/ …

    JC Double Taxed ‏@JCDoubleTaxed 8m8 minutes ago
    IF @GreenbackTax was pro Expat they would say #FATCA is Communism http://tiny.cc/FATCA-Communism & Elevate The Hill Comments http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/economy-budget/237110-endorsing-tax-evasion …

  16. @ Polly
    RE Credit Cards – it is not just making money from late fees, it is also the tracking of all these folks – where they shop, what type of stores and restaurants they frequent, what part of the city they tend to be in and how often, their name, address, phone number, their mother’s maiden name (or other personal trivia) and, through the Credit Bureau credit check, what else they are doing with their money. This information can be sold to advertisers – – and governments! A brand new book I strongly recommend to all is “FUTURE CRIMES” by Marc Goodman (the undertitle is “Everything is connected, everyone is vulnerable and what we can do about it”). We all need to know the risks we (and everyone and every organization around us) are taking every time we (and all our friends) “leak” information via the web. Sorry to frighten but this is not an April Fool’s comment in any way…..

  17. @ Eric – RE classic expat rants – – As my granddaughter might say, “PERFECT-O!” . And thanks for sharing!

  18. Barbara and Eric: Thank you both from the bottom of my heart for providing these stunning quotes which go to show that the more things change the more they stay the same. Our community of wronged exiles surely stands proud amongst a host of good, and rather famous, company.

  19. @LM
    I agree with you. The big question is what will they do with all this information about a person, even when it is non-incriminating?

  20. @Polly,
    I urge you and everyone else to read the book “FUTURE CRIMES” (as mentioned above) – – it is quite an eye-opener/wake-up call for us all as to how the entire world of privacy and big-data-gathering is changing, and how we all put ourselves at risk/are vulnerable!!! Whether we are doing something wrong or nothing wrong, it doesn’t matter – – we live in the digital age…..

  21. @LM
    I ordered it. I hope I can make it through though. Hope it isn’t too cut and dry and has enough traction to pull one through.

  22. @Polly,
    The book is quite readable. The subject is tough, eye-opening, a bit scary, but written so that a non-techy can understand. I just picked it up from the library on Saturday and am just so intrigued/plowing through. I’ll be interested in your (or others’) thoughts…..

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