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.
@ Innocente
That so-called “relief” looks like a bunch of weasel words to me. How does a bank suss out what the IRS might consider to be a “good faith effort”. There is no actual new due date mentioned there. July 1st is still it. This is certainly not true “relief” because now the bank managers will have to do something but they’ll not be sure how much of a something will keep them in the good graces of IRS. Either the IRS will have to come up with several hundred pages describing what that something is or it will just keep ’em guessing what it might be. A “transition period” sounds ill-defined to me but by gosh Robert Stack is just so convinced the measures outlined in his notice will make everything crystal clear. Ptosh!
Herding comes to mind.
Not sure how the IRS is going to judge the good faith efforts for FFIs to comply.
Will the real test be when the first batch of data is sent in may of 2015? Will they be judge on how many US persons they rat out? Is this even some info that the IRS will have access to since in most cases, the data will come from the respective governments tax entity?
The idea of grading FFIs on their FATCA compliance effort is a joke.
The IRS doesn’t even have time to answer simple questions from guys who deliver pizza and work in the US. Where are they going to find time to chase after a pizza driver in Canada for not filing US tax returns? Even if he files a return, he’ll owe nothing since Canada has much higher tax rates. Chasing after a Canadian is going to be a net negative for them.
Most Canadians with clinging US nationality have never had US tax ID numbers, many have never ever had US passports. Remember decades ago you did not need a passport to cross the border? My husband came over the border in a car when he was 7 years old, NO US PASSPORT EVER. What is the IRS going to do just send random letters to people with no tax ID numbers connected to them?
Does Revenue Canada ever send mailings to people who don’t have SIN numbers? No they don’t.
I think this FATCA thing is going to be a complete mess for the IRS. But apparently Obamacare and FATCA are the biggest priority for the IRS. I wonder how long a tax payer in the US will have to wait now to get answers to simple questions.
After my husband became a Canadian citizen he legally changed his name. If the IRS gets his info they won’t be able to find him anywhere in their system because no such person with that birth date exists since the name changed happened in Canada.
@Innocente, to repost your valuable post;
US Treasury and the mythical Bob Stack blinked today, “U.S. Treasury gives relief to banks for anti-tax evasion law”:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/02/us-usa-tax-fatca-idUSBREA410RK20140502
This is a great tool to send out to MPs!!!
This proves that there is “no hurry.” It is a reprieve for the Government of Canada!! They can debate this in due and proper course.
@Calgary411. HELP!!! Could you bring this to the front page so it would get some traction? Its another tool to slow down the cons in Parliament.
We need to use this material that has been handed to us. The opposition parties need to be made urgently aware of it.
George, I’ll put this into a post of its own. Thanks.
Finally, an article focussing on to the plight of US immigrants:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/janetnovack/2014/05/02/welcome-to-america-now-give-us-your-money/
The author says “… going after the assets that they have built up over a lifetime of living outside the U.S. could cause a brain drain of some of the most talented people who are helping to fuel our economy.“. Hello. Too late; already in progress.
… oh, and from the very first comment on the above Forbes article: “Tell them not to let the door hit them in the ass on the way out. Ignorance of the law has never been an excuse, and I’m sure that most of these folks are con artists.“.
Sigh.
@Em
The “relief” that was granted was likely directed at the US government. As pointed out by others on this board, FATCA with its draconian penalties is a train wreck waiting to happen. I am now thinking that FATCA will remain in partial draft form for years because it is simply too risky to fully implement. It is ludicrous that a single unidentified USP bank customer could result in 30% of total US revenues being withheld as penalties for that bank and I understand why a huge financial institution like Deutsche Bank won’t allow this to happen.
@Watcher, thanks for the blood pressure spike so early in the AM by pointing out the new Forbes article. really got me PO’d.
Robert Kelly (ignoramus) says:
“Until Congress mandates a true amnesty program, without penalties or the threat of criminal charges, for people who earned money internationally before becoming resident aliens or U.S. citizens, many talented people will continue to return to their countries of origin rather than risk losing their life savings to FBAR penalties.” Tell them not to let the door hit them in the ass on the way out. Ignorance of the law has never been an excuse, and I’m sure that most of these folks are con artists.
WhiteKat says:
Wow. As someone hit hard by the unjustness of FATCA (not as an immigrant, but as a Canadian from birth who happened to have been born on US soil and lived there for the first year of my life only), I have heard a lot of ignorant comments, but yours takes the cake. I guess that is the point though isn’t it, you want your cake and to eat mine and everyone else’s too.
Why would you assume that someone who immigrates to USA, is automatically a con artist just because they had a life (and savings) in the country they immigrated from? Of course, to assume this, is a really good excuse for justifying the confiscation of legally earned money that has nothing to do with the United States.
As far as the ‘ignorance of the law is no excuse’ meme, when the law is unknown (not even by homeland Americans), no effort is made to educate immigrants (or Homeland Americans, or expatriates for that matter) and such unintuitive law cannot reasonably be inferred (as no other countries except one dictatorship state, Eritrea) have a similar law, IGNORANCE IS AN EXCELLENT EXCUSE!
Now, what is USA’s EXCUSE for enforcing a law that is counter to international norms, obviously unjust, and kept in the dark from homeland Americans, immigrants and expatriates alike? Oooops, I know the answer: USA IS BROKE, BROKE, BROKE! Got it!
@WhiteKat
BRAVO and beautifully said!
@WhiteKat
Thank you so much!
The latest kind, understanding comment from a GT fan to me:
@WhiteKat: “you are so screwed if you think you’re hiding anything. ”
Me:
Actually, I am screwed, not because I have <50K sums of money in multiple banks, but because my Canadian parents conceived and birthed me in the USA, and USA is the only country in the world (other than the dictatorship Eritrea) to consider those who permanently earn and live outside its borders, regardless of other citizenship held to be slaves …err… I mean 'US tax payers', simply for being born on US soil, unless they formally renounce US citizenship. And since most people never knew this until FATCA, myself included, to renounce after a lifetime of living as a Canadian in Canada, is a very complicated, expensive, risky process.
I would rather take my chances 'hiding' my hard earned, already highly taxed savings, and fighting FATCA in Canada with a Charter Challenge.
If the Charter Challenge fails, and USA takes me down, I will at least die knowing I was true to myself, even if Canada was not. Some things are more important than money.
Good words WhiteKat! Too bad those types of assholes won’t see the light, no matter how you school them. They have taken the blue pill and are blind. Don’t waste your time and energy on them.
@GWEvil,
Actually, I don’t feel like I am wasting my time and energy on the assholes. Other people read the dialogue, and learn from it; they are my target audience – not the assholes. 🙂
@WhiteKat – ok, yeah that makes sense
@Watcher – Excellent article ( http://www.forbes.com/sites/janetnovack/2014/05/02/welcome-to-america-now-give-us-your-money/) with a new damning spin on FBARs and the IRS. I’m sending it on to some friends who are thinking about getting greencards; all one can do is warn……
@ WhiteKat
Good point about educating the more open minded. As you direct your fire at the a$$hole with his bullet-proof vest, hunkered down in his impenetrable brain bunker, you are actually creating a scattering effect whereby you do collateral inculcation. Good plan!
@Em, Exactly. And Garth continues to let me write my oftentimes, off-topic comments, which seems to stir up some readers and generate further discussion.Rarely does anyone ever post something supportive, but at least I know people are reading. There is one poster called ‘Smoking Man’ who is known for his completely off-topic, ego centered, sometimes drunken ramblings. Personally I don’t think he is for real, but just enjoys role playing. He has never responded to any of my comments but today he wrote one of only maybe two empathetic responses I have ever had there:
Get rid of your USA citizenship…now…
Study the diamond market, convert cash to pink…. Small, essaly hidden, transportable…
Don’t hide it in a safety deposit box… Or safe. Drill a 1/2 inch hole in your bricks.. Silicon it in..
Make sure you drill down angle 30 degrees or more.
Then a piece of wood over it. Fix a Hanging planter….
If the bastards come for you, and you need a quick exit… You have it….
Think of it as insurance
Em @ LM
RE: the Forbes piece
It is so good to see someone finally addressing the plight of immigrants to the USA. For the moment, I think the FATCA afflicted residents of Canada are somewhat protected but Canadians and those from other homelands who are resident in the USA are SOL. It’s a criminal extortion racket the USG has going on and it must be revealed and reviled by everyone with any jot of justice within them.
@ WhiteKat
Speaking of scattered. I think a lot of us, well me for one, get kind of scattered sometimes and as much as we’d like to be everywhere, all at once, to aid and abet you and others in so many comment sections we just can’t get it done. Some days it takes me up to 3 hours to get caught up with Brock. (I get diverted by the links and trying to toss in comments really slows me down.) I hope you know our hearts are with you and we appreciate your efforts and everyone’s efforts all over the internet to inculcate others (just found that word and I like it 🙂 ). And wow, that’s the best Smoking Man could muster to be empathetic? Men often seem to give “fixes” when women just want them to understand there’s a problem.
“For most U.S. taxpayers, the postponement is unlikely to have much effect. “This does little or nothing to relieve the intense pressure on Americans abroad to come in compliance with complex reporting requirements that were widely ignored before Fatca,” said David Kuenzi, founder of Thun Financial Advisors LLC in Madison, Wis., which manages $75 million.”
“Ignored”?
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303948104579537924282856770
A good article by Robert Wood:
“Record Numbers Renounce U.S. Citizenship—And Many Aren’t Counted”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2014/05/03/americans-are-renouncing-citizenship-at-record-pace-and-many-arent-even-counted/
It discusses the issue of names missing from the “name and shame” list. Comments from SwissTechie and Just Me.
Many outstanding comments from Brockers on the Robert Woods article about renunciation!
One point mentioned in a comment that I think is noteworthy and really needs to get into the mainstream media because it might actually open the eyes of the homelander “good riddance” folks:
From Pastbeyond60:
“Word of advice to all homelanders…..don’t ever leave as you can never come back. You live in the land of the free as long as you don’t try to find a job to feed your family outside the US borders.”
This really presents the issue in a way that is in the interests of mainstream homelanders, provided they have attention spans long enough to read it and take a moment to think about it.
From Wall Street Journal: “The taxman’s Overseas Reach”
http://online.wsj.com/public/page/reader-comments.html?baseDocId=SB10001424052702304163604579532122415257730&headline=Wealth Effect%3A The Taxman’s