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. osgood,

   Thanks for adding to the comments for Mr. Solidfacts. Absolutely the right answer — I actually don’t mind being on the list to say we are done with the, yes, ‘utter bullshit’ of going through the hoops of compliance to a country we have no connection to. I do mind Mr. Solidfacts saying that my family is just a blip in the reporting of only ‘covered expatriates’ — we know otherwise from all who have reported here. Three from one family — come on now. Add all of our net worth’s and we’ll still not meet the qualifications for one ‘covered expatriate’.

2. 8.15 Forbes link above not working:
   http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2014/08/15/dear-mr-president-why-im-leaving-america/

   Anyone else want to write to Obama?

3. I don’t get where confiscating the hard earned money of a covered expat is any more justified than taking from somebody who is not rich.

4. My comment at Accounting today (perhaps they will take it down)

   The IRS IT competence is a farse. They possess Weapons of Mass Security Breaches (WMSB’s) and blow away all semblance of care with the security of US citizen data. Imagine what can be done by the underworld with such data.

   Now, the IRS is REQUIRING antagonistic foreign govts to assemble such data and more via FATCA. Imagine what China, Russia, Kosovo, UAE, and Azerbajzan will be doing with their US person FATCA data.

   The IRS and FINCEN are an enormous threat to the security of US citizens and US persons.

   http://www.accountingtoday.com/news/irs-watch/irs-contractors-access-sensitive-taxpayer-info-background-checks-71667-1.html#read

   A number of Internal Revenue Service contractor employees who did not undergo the required background checks had access to taxpayer data, according to a new government report.

   The report, from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, noted that IRS policy requires background investigations for contractor personnel who have or require access to Sensitive But Unclassified (SBU) information, including taxpayer information.

5. http://www.welt.de/wirtschaft/article131288881/US-Steuerabkommen-Fatca-ist-eine-Einbahnstrasse.html

   An article in German, yet readable with Google Translate: Some excerpts:

   US tax treaty FATCA is a one-way street .

   Germany, it seems, has embarked on a pretty bad deal.

   Huge costs. 386 million euros alone cost the German financial sector, the introduction of FATCA. In addition, 30 million euros annually administrative burden.

   Foreigners must pay in the United States no tax on capital gains or interest. Since they are exempt from tax, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service Internal Revenue Service (IRS) does not collect any information about it. What you have not, you can not share.

   The situation is similar when foreigners open shell companies in the United States and there hide money. Some states, such as Delaware, Nevada and Wyoming are very generous when it comes to the reasons of companies. Every person, whether Americans or foreigners, can register a company there without much cost.

   USA is a tax haven for foreign investors

   Very few tax evaders are finally so careless to park their black money in accounts under their name. Numbered accounts are however not unmasked by the FATCA data exchange.

   It is alleged that some companies shy abroad already from hiring Americans. Too great was the fear of doing something wrong in the complicated and elaborate Steuerpapierkram with the American authorities.

   Says a positive point is opening of Switzerland which Germany had not done previously.

   Sounds like foreigners with accounts in the U.S. get a superior deal – exemptions from capital gains and interest tax -compared to Americans with accounts in foreign countries.

6. http://www.europac.net/commentaries/neighborhood_bully_america_recklessly_throws_its_weight_around

   Does anyone understand the reference in this article…

   “The law also requires that institutions report on all their non-American customers who have ever worked in the U.S. or those persons who have a “substantial” connection to the U.S. ”

   Is this correct?!!

7. @Heidi, no, the article is wrong. The real list of ‘US indicia’ as provided by the horse’s rear end is here:

   http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-11-34.pdf

   (i) identification of an account holder as a U.S. resident or U.S. citizen;
   (ii) a U.S. place of birth for an account holder;
   (iii) a U.S. residence address or a U.S. correspondence address (including a U.S. P.O. box);
   (iv) standing instructions to transfer funds to an account maintained in the United States;
   (v) an “in care of” address or a “hold mail” address that is the sole address shown in the FFI’s electronically searchable information for the account holder; or
   (vi) a power of attorney or signatory authority granted to a person with a U.S. address.

   That said, a few financial institutions may exceed this. It’s certainly not unknown for some banks to refuse accounts based on someone having been liable for US taxes in the past — former green card holders, for example. And who can blame them given the fascist way FATCA was written and enacted? But no, the actual law does not try to pick up “anyone who ever worked in the US.”

8. @JC

   I am glad to see that “the woodie” published the letter to Obama. A short cut version could go something like this:

   Dear Mr. Obama,

   I refuse to be your slave!

   John Q Expat

9. @JC, from your article, “Very few tax evaders are finally so careless to park their black money in accounts under their name.”

   In my own words I would expand and say;

   Very few tax evaders are finally so careless to park their so called “black money” in accounts in their own country, where the tellers down the road know them by name and have all their “know your customer KYC” details.

   That my friends needs to be in the Canadian Court filing. 🙂

10. @Heidi, the theme of the article is correct but instead of saying green card it says worked.

    But here is the money quote;

    “In a June 28th article, The Economist quotes an international tax lawyer saying that FATCA is about “putting private-sector assets on a bonfire so that government can collect the ashes.””

11. @JC
    Honestly? What do “taxes” have to do with it? Taxes are paid by a citizen for services from the government. Expats are supposedly paying “taxes”- but they aren’t really taxes. if they were, we would be getting something for it, no? What people in ANY country of the world would be paying taxes to a government that gave them nothing in return for it? I think maybe we should begin to make that differentiation. These are NOT taxes. They might the called “taxes” but when you get nothing in return – then what should it really be called?

12. Thanks, JC! I fixed the Forbes link.

13. @George
    Thanks. I guess the article got the semantics wrong. Worked is not necessarily a green card.
    We have eu friends who have done a medical 1 year internship there, they were very concerned after reading the article.
    What have the US done to themselves, the word on the street is ‘don’t go there’
    ‘The ashes’ is a perfect analogy.

14. http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2014/08/15/dear-mr-president-why-im-leaving-america/

    This is an supurb article from Mr. Woods over at Forbes – – the letter to “Mr. President” absolutely articulates the situation that hubby and I were in and, I’m sure, the situation of many here at IBS. Also, really good comments.
    I’m just wondering whether this article (the letter to “Mr. President” plus all comments) should be forwarded ASAP to every single member of the US congress.
    And maybe such mass-mailings to all members of congress should be done on a regular basis, sending them (weekly?) some of the best articles out there that state our case or talk about our efforts (like the Human Rights complaint).
    I mean, these homelander folks know virtually nothing that is going on outside their domain (except for the wars they have “assisted” (or perpetrated). They do not read newspapers from abroad, nor get any TV or Radio news coverage from anywhere other than inside the USA (and war or terrorist zones). So how would they ever know what is really going on in the world outside their domain – – what is going on with their fellow-citizens abroad that they (the Congress) has had a hand in creating?

    Anyone want to take on this approach? May not be too hard once all the email addresses are inputted into a mailing list………..

15. Virginia Hillis, Gwendolyn Deegan Sue Ottawa Over New FATCA Tax Rules.
    Found this on an interesting blog, Multicultural Meanderings. The blogger, Andrew Griffith, is the former Director General of the Citizenship and Multiculturalism Branch of Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

16. @pacifica777
    Can you provide a link to this blog you mention?

17. @LM, The first line links to it.

18. @Polly-

    I have seen some of the posts saying that U.S. tax law has nothing to do with benefit. U.S. tax law is objective, so we need to focus on subjective areas:

    * Human rights complaint
    * Violation of U.S. Constitution
    * Double taxation without representation – if were properly represented would not suffer all the tax and compliance complications.
    * Violation of the sovereignty of other nations – by neutralising their retirement account plans for instance.
    * #10 of The Right to a Fair and Just Tax System, NOT fair and just for U.S. citizens living abroad, and very much not so compared to those living in the U.S.

19. @ Polly, @JC

    These issues are quite complex.

    I believe the argument of no benefit of US taxation is a good one. Yet we need other arguments as this one in and of itself has not provided enough traction.

    The Human Rights Complaint will provide a different angle on the whole issue. Some/many people when they hear the word “tax” just shut down and don’t want to hear any more. Human Rights complaint will gain a new audience, especially when they learn that it is against their ‘do no wrong’ USA. I am awaiting the text of this to become public to see how I may use it in Australia and elsewhere.

    My #10 above, refers to the US IRS Taxpayer Bill of Rights, which says the Right to a Fair and Just Tax System. This introduces some subjectivity into it all. We may say it is our right to a fair and Just tax system yet compared to US citizens living abroad the compliance, penalties, and tax is much higher than those just living in the U.S. Kind of using their own rules against them.

20. @JC
    The word “tax” makes it legal. But people who are taxed pay their taxes for GOOD reason. There was some professor here who did a study on the morality of taxation. He found out that the highest taxes were paid in Denmark. It was also the country of the least tax evasion. How did that make sense? When he interviewed the citizens they were all so pleased with what the government were doing with their taxes. One guy said “If I get sick- I go to the hospital and all is taken care of.” Another woman said “We have an excellent education system for my child.” These people loved paying their taxes because they were getting so much in return. Now THAT makes sense. This is what “taxes” actually are- a payment to a government for services. Thats what the money is supposed to be used for. Thats what “taxes” are. But when you are ordered to pay taxes for NO services- then I don’t think that should even be called “taxes”. And I just heard the really lame defense of CBT by Kirsch here. It doesn’t hold water.

21. At jc we also need to focus that its a citizenship issue and not a tax issue. Why because if you are not considered a citizen the tax goes away. Citizenship based taxation of other nations citizens abroad goes against the very grain of the master nationality rule and international law.

    The problem is that most homelanders refer to themselves as half Dutch one quarter Korean and one quarter Mexican or other nonsense like that. Then they think that entitles them to live there.

    It is a generally settled matter unerring international law that one country may not claim another countries citizens in that other country. This must be applied to taxation as well

22. Fuerst Ittleman David & Joseph, PL seem to think Robert Stack needs some help with his propaganda push. Also known as, “Don’t renounce, just pay us tax lawyers loads and loads of money to help you Comply!”
    http://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/international-tax-compliance-update-re-02727/

    the rules for filing income, estate and gift tax returns and for paying estimated tax are generally the same whether the U.S. citizen is living in the U.S. or abroad …To avoid paying taxes to the U.S. government and the civil and criminal penalties associated with not disclosing foreign income or accounts, many U.S. citizens living abroad consider raising their right hand and reciting an oath renouncing their U.S. citizenship. As we have reported, over the past years there has been a significant surge in the number of Americans renouncing their U.S. citizenship. However, in terms of dollars and cents, this may well be a worse option than paying their taxes and reporting their foreign financial accounts to the IRS. This raises the question: is paying a significant amount of expatriation tax and giving up one of the most desired citizenships in the world really worth it?

23. @Eric; Narcissism is on parade!! “and giving up one of the most desired citizenships in the world really worth it?”

    Most desired?

    US Citizenship is the mark of Cain. It makes you a target of terrorism whilst traveling. It ties you into a country that is a financial basket case.

    Who “desires” US Citizenship? Take a look at the illegals poring into the US, they are poor and from squalid locations.

24. @George
    Is there any citizenship in the world that is worth the threat of 300% taxes? Could cost an arm and a leg and your grandmother too? If it was any other country – wouldn’t people feel exactly the same and be renouncing in droves?

25. @Polly, Pick out the EXCEPTIONAL Country. 😉

    Signature Line on Canada Tax Return;

    I certify that the information given on this return and in any documents
    attached is correct, complete, and fully discloses all my income.

    Signature Line USA Tax return;

    Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have examined this return and accompanying schedules and statements, and to the best of my knowledge and belief, they are true, correct, and complete.

    Signature Line UK Tax Return

    I declare that the information I have given on this tax
    return and any supplementary pages is correct and
    complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

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