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

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

1. Globe and Mail, May 13, 2014: “Bar warns of conflict if tribunals merged under Bill C-31”

   Brief mention:

   The budget bill, C-31, is still before the House of Commons but Senate committees are holding pre-studies of the bill. The timeline suggests the government wants the bill passed into law before the summer recess in June. It would be highly unusual for the government to accept amendments to a budget bill.

   In the House finance committee, MPs heard several experts weigh in Tuesday with concern over the bill’s sweeping provisions related to the sharing of tax information with the U.S. under the American Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA.

   “The deal is a bad deal for Canada,” said Queen’s University law professor Arthur Cockfield, who said the U.S. is “treating us like we’re the Cayman Islands.”
   …
   “What we’re dealing with now – these omnibus bills – aren’t in the public interest,” he said. “they aren’t serving the public, they aren’t serving Parliament and we’re opposed to them on principle.”

2. Financial Post reports on one part of today’s Finance Committee proceedings: “Don’t delay law for sharing tax information with U.S., Canada’s investment industry urges”

3. in French ….

   http://agefi.com/une/detail/artikel/fatca-lun-des-avocats-les-plus-influents-aux-etats-unis-attaque-la-loi-sur-trois-violations-de-la-constitution.html

4. … in Dutch:

   http://www.mensenrechten.nl/publicaties/oordelen/2014-40

5. This has the potential to be interesting, though it will probably amount to nothing:

   http://www.straitstimes.com/news/asia/east-asia/story/taiwan-president-dismisses-report-he-holds-united-states-green-card-201405

   “Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou on Wednesday categorically denied a report that he holds a US green card …
   … “Since it has long become invalid, the president is absolutely unlikely to pay tax to the US authority,” she said. “President Ma would like to shoulder full political responsibility and resign if it turned out to be true.” ”

   It could be sloppy reporting. It could be less than full understanding of the facts. Or… it could be that Mr Ma assumes — entirely reasonably, although as we know not correctly, because reason and the US tax code do not intersect anywhere — that a green card that has expired for immigration purposes means he is no longer a US person for tax purposes.

6. Whether or not you are a fan of Michael Moore, this may be too good to pass up. Maybe agree on one link exposing this nonsense and bombard him til he caves? 🙂

   Will You Send Me a Link or Two a Day?
   http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mike-friends-blog/will-you-send-me-link-or-two-day

   “If you read a story that you feel deserves a wider audience (and I agree), then I’ll put it up on my Twitter feed and Facebook page…. They can be from the New York Times or the Bedford Falls Gazette – the more the story is being ignored, the more I want to share it on my social media feeds.”

7. @Watcher

   An expired GC card does not mean they are no longer US persons. Just means they can’t legally live in the US anymore but they have to formally give it up, otherwise they still owe taxes to the US. They have to exit the US the same as a citizen…. here is the kicker… they want your money as a citizen… but they can’t vote or have any say about the gov’t. We were never told we had to formally give it up & pay an exit tax. Who the heck knew. If there is trouble in another country… US won’t help u… go to your birth or citizen country for aid. Fatca will hit them also if they ever had an US address or phone number… So having a GC is a toxic noose to have. I never had these problems in other countries… once it expired… we move on… we are not hunted down like criminals

8. http://www.executive-magazine.com/business-finance/finance/fatca-answering-to-uncle-sam

   An article from Lebanon. A good quote:

   More pressing in the immediate term is the issue of privacy and the safety of American citizens. “One thing the Treasury has not thought about is how do you protect US citizens? In a country like Lebanon, with Hezbollah and other US designated terrorist organizations, banks will identify US citizens, which could put them at risk,” said the BDL source.

   And:

   Further questions may arise if there is a dawning realization about negative economic impacts on the US itself. “What happens when we start shorting payments on our Treasury bonds (TBs) by 30 percent? A sovereign holder is not subject to withholding, but for a private institution, what if the interest payment is done through SWIFT to a commercial bank that has not signed an IGA? Treasury will take the interest,” said Jim Jatras, Manager of RepealFATCA.com, which is lobbying against the law in Washington. “This is the kind of thing that could promote dumping TBs, and affect interest rates and the dollar as a global currency, which are issues nobody has thought out.”

9. A new Huffingtonpost article to comment on: Canada-U.S. Tax Information Sharing Deal Open To Abuse: Watchdog
   http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/05/14/canada-us-tax-information_n_5326388.html

10. My comment at the new huffpost article was not published immediately. I received this message:
    “Due to the potentially sensitive nature of this article, your comment may take longer to appear publicly. ”

    DAMN RIGHT ITS OF A SENSITIVE NATURE, JUST LIKE THE PRIVATE FINANCIAL INFORMATION OF 1 MILLION CANADIANS IS OF A SENSITIVE NATURE!

11. Bravo WhiteKat for telling it like it is; people (especially those IN the USA) need to hear this.

12. @Calgary and @BC-Doc.

    The article on the safety of US Nationals should be on the front page. Maybe a header “Death Sentence by Fatca.”

13. Is FATCA bad news for the US dollar?

    “Bottom line: no cause for alarm

    The underlying question here, of course, is whether the dollar is going to collapse. I’ve written about that before, multiple times (here and here),and I have no reason to change my conclusion. The FATCA meme is just one more scare tactic designed to sell investment newsletters. There are real things to worry about, but this isn’t one of them.”

    http://theindependentmarketobserver.com/2014/05/15/51514-is-fatca-bad-news-for-the-u-s-dollar/

14. @bubblebustin – well that’s bad news! What should we make of that, I wonder?

15. @Bubblebustin
    I think there are more articles popping up by the Investment/compliance complex because they are getting worried. very worried \

    Let’s keep being strong like Rosa Parks was.

16. I hope this means countries are dragging their feet on purpose because they see how the tide is now turning:

    http://www.investmenteurope.net/investment-europe/news/2344934/april-push-fails-to-deliver-fully-signed-igas-for-fatca

    We can only hope!

17. Another good article: http://www.spearswms.com/news/us-tax-authorities-find-new-ways-to-bully-the-world-4268026/

18. 2014.05.15. Don Cayo: Uncle Sam Makes Canadians An Offer We Can’t Refuse, Vancouver Sun.

19. Here is another interesting article I don’t think has been posted so far http://www.everythingzoomer.com/warning-u-s-citizens-canada/?utm_source=Outbrain&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=EVZ-Feed-CAD#.U3Y6SWdzZxA

20. more from Zoomer RBC Direct Investing already withholding 15% on investments held within RRSP’s
    Does this mean the person holding the RRSP is known to the bank as a US person?
    see here:www.everythingzoomer.com/qa-problem-withholding-tax

    Gordon Pape | May 12th, 2014

    The dividend income was taxed in this reader’s RRSP. What’s going on?
    Q – In May of 2013, I bought some shares of Honda in my RRSP believing that the tax treaty would take care of the 15 per cent withholding tax. Well, I just got a statement from RBC Direct Investing that had withholding tax on the dividends I received. I called them and they said the treaty doesn’t cover “Limited Partnerships”. Is this true? I thought that the treaty covered U.S. dividends. I was just wondering what I am missing here. – Calvin B.

    A – Unfortunately, Honda is not a U.S. company, which is why its dividends are subject to withholding tax. Although it trades on New York, it does so as an American Depository Receipt (ADR) and these do not come under the Canada-U.S. Tax Treaty. (It is not a limited partnership as your broker suggested, but they are not covered either).
    To be clear, only dividends from U.S. companies are exempt from withholding tax and then only if the shares are held in an RRSP or a RRIF. U.S. dividends paid to TFSAs and RESPs will be taxed. – G.P.

21. Thanks for this, downtherabbithole!

    Perhaps Gordon Pape listened to some of us who corresponded with him: http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2014/03/15/protesting-at-the-us-consulates/comment-page-2/#comment-1235764

    Anne,

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Pape

    …Born in San Francisco, he moved to Canada as a teenager with his family in 1950…

    and: http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2014/03/15/protesting-at-the-us-consulates/comment-page-2/#comment-1236086

22. The Vancouver Sun/Don Cayo article is somewhat maddening in that it falls into the either-or trap. Either we implement FATCA as dictated, or Canada is screwed (if the courts strike it down).

    If I did facebook, I’d comment that there’s a third approach (in the event that the courts overturn the agreement): accept the IGA, but with the proposed, constitutionally consistent, Swanson amendment:

    “Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act or the Agreement, for all purposes related to the implementation of this Act and the Agreement, “US Person” and “Specified US Person” shall not include any person who is a Canadian citizen or legal permanent resident who is ordinarily resident in Canada.”

    I’m hoping that someone that does facebook, will comment along these lines. IMO it’s important for others to know there are options for Canada.

    And, of course, there’s the issue that Canada should have (might have?) been fighting for this all along.

    [Not sure if Blaze came up with the wording, so apologies to whoever did if that’s not the case. But I do believe it helps if we can give this thing a name.]

23. @Calgary411 – Yes, GP was sent a FACTA letter and factsheet in April. We have no idea where he stands or even if he is still a US Person (for tax purposes) – – he has not announced to us nor to his active public……. who knows, RE FATCA he may be on the side of the banks……

24. A bit late, but here’s a surprisingly awful pro-FATCA article from the Economist with zero mention of any collateral damage. A shame, since their previous coverage has been far more neutral than the rest of the financial press (unlike, say, Reuters):
    http://www.economist.com/node/21601880/comments

25. @Eric, I actually support the headline and I am sure most brockers do “It will soon be a lot harder to hide money overseas”

    How many Brockers hide or have money overseas? Most are no.

    My money is with my local financial institution that has strong AML/KYC rules. I can actually walk to a branch.

    Tax is taken out of all dividends and interest which is remitted to the tax authorities.

    To be any honest for years I have warned US Person expats that leaving money in the USA was actually hiding money offshore and deserved the full wrath of the local tax authority.

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