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. @Neill, calgary411, bubblebustin: I suspect the journalist is misinterpreting the popup notice on Birla Sun Life’s website which says
    http://www.birlasunlife.com/

    In particular, the information herein is not for distribution and does not constitute an offer to buy or sell or the solicitation of any offer to buy or sell any securities or financial instruments in the United States of America (“US”) and Canada to or for the benefit of United States persons (being persons resident in the US, corporations, partnerships or other entities created or organised in or under the laws of the US or any person falling within the definition of the term “US Person” under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended) and persons of Canada.

    However to access the site they only require you to declare that ” I/We hereby confirm that I/We am/are not a U.S. person, within the definition of the term ‘US Person’ under the US Securities laws/resident of Canada.”

    Also, UTI posted this a couple of weeks ago, but nothing about Canadian citizens either: they’re refusing “US persons including Qualified Foreign Investors registered in USA and Canada and residents of Canada” (though if some journalists were reading quickly they might misinterpret it to mean “residents of Canada” are included in “US Persons”)
    http://www.utimf.com/Funds/ApplicationForm/UTI-Income-Scheme-Loose.pdf

    In general Indian mutual funds for a while have already been refusing to accept Canadian residents and Securities Act of 1933 U.S. Persons (but note that A HREF=”http://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/17/230.902#k”>Regulation S does not include U.S. citizens abroad as U.S. Persons for purposes of that act).

  5. http://www.vancouversun.com/Douglas+Todd+Ameri+Canadians+point+fury+Uncle/10178232/story.html
    “With the Canadian government’s decision to comply in July with a Washington tax crackdown on “U.S. persons” around the world, many Ameri-Canadians are feeling rising anger, fear and even hatred toward their powerful country of origin.”…

    …….”Anti-FATCA websites in Canada, such as the Isaac Brock Society, are urging Americans to renounce their U.S. citizenship — and to show their positive commitment to Canada. …”….

  6. Very good article from Douglas Todd. I wouldn’t go so far to say that

    Anti-FATCA websites in Canada, such as the Isaac Brock Society, are urging Americans to renounce their U.S. citizenship — and to show their positive commitment to Canada.

    I believe we provide at Brock information for persons to make their own decisions and support for whatever decision they make. We are, as Deckard puts it, a “ragtag group” from different platforms and viewpoints. As we are all going through the same “OMG” phenomenon, we are the ONLY ONES who can understand what another *US Person Abroad* is going through in this incredible unjust mess and the ONLY ONES who can give real support to a fellow *US Person Abroad*. That support is the backbone of IsaacBrockSociety.ca. (Or, at least, that’s the way I see it!)

    Many Brockers do, through Alliance for the Defence of Canadian Sovereignty, believe in standing up for Canadian sovereignty and are appalled that the Harper Conservative government has legislated waiving, by national origin, our rights that ALL Canadians should have under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and other Canadian law, now overridden by U.S. FATCA law.

    I hope someone agrees and will put a like comment to this article as this old gal doesn’t “do” Facebook.

  7. @calgary411, I posted your comment, very well stated. BTW I cannot figure out how get rid of my US address on facebook. That is where I went to graduate school.

  8. kermitzii,

    Thanks so much for posting my comment! Wish I could return the favour and tell you how to get rid of your US address on facebook. However, I am back to “this old gal…”.

  10. @Notamused
    I have been reading some of the comments on various FATCA articles in german press, and it is amazing how many people misunderstand CBT. They think it is fair somehow. They talk of tax agreements between countries and dont have any idea of how truly almost irrelevant these deductions really are. They should all be advised to read Marilyn`s letter to Obama to grasp the dire consequences.

  12. As per the Reed Amendment. If anyone has a CLN go to the USA now, if so desired. … You may not be able to go if the law is passed.

  13. Looking up this, the Reed amendment has been kicking around in many inept versions since 1996. It is supposed to deny re-entry for those who renounced for tax reasons. But even for the most obvious case, Eduardo Saverin, the wording of the amendment led to doubts if the case could proceed. @northernstar, after I renounced I had to certify to the black hole IRS (that IRS lives in) that my US tax returns were compliant and all zero dollars were paid for the past 5 years. I am an optimist I doubt if that Congress will get any act together to change the current situation.

  15. @Bubblebustin

    “When charging $2350 doesn’t stem the flow, will they start threatening us with the Reed Amendment?”

    You betcha.

  17. @JDL

    Great UK link . Comments show quite a few do not understand or have a misinterpretation of the law. One actually calls us tax dodgers. I learned about a 2002 US law that I had not heard of before.

    “The funniest (scariest) thing which shows the US went way beyond the realms of hubris into a world of total fantasy under Bush (and are now in 1984 with Obummer), was a law passed through both houses and supported by both sides in 2002. You probably didn’t hear about it.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A…

    To whit, the law empowers the USA to invade the Netherlands subject to a US citizen being tried at the Hague as a war criminal.

    As in, because us US citizens are all “exceptional”, we are above the laws of the ICC that apply to everyone else. Sound familiar? If you cast your minds back 70 years or so?”

  19. This, appearing in the Vancouver Sun Staff blog, seems to be an extended version of Douglas Todd’s September 5th article: More from Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun, September 7, 2014: “Millions of Americans in Canada downplay links to Uncle Sam”

    The Canadian census reveals about 350,000 Canadian either claim an American ethnic origin or say they were born in the U.S. But this represents only a small fraction of all Ameri-Canadians. Scholars’ estimate about three million Canadians have American roots, including those born in Canada to a parent with a dual passport.

    Many such Ameri-Canadians, however, don’t identify strongly with the U.S.

    That’s in part because, as Jedwab has found, nearly half of those in Canada with American roots are third-generation or older. Their ancestors began coming to Canada in the 19th and 20th centuries, he said, to obtain free farmland, open businesses or work in the oil industry.
    …
    many don’t realize some of the most influential Canadians were born in the United States.
    …
    Now — with FATCA causing investigators to scour the globe to hunt down more than seven million broadly defined “U.S. persons” it claims should be paying taxes to Uncle Sam — even more people in Canada with U.S. connections are finding another reason to bury their American identities.

    My previous comment on one of Mr Todd’s statements (in the September 5th and this version) stands: http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/media-and-blog-articles-open-for-comments/comment-page-49/#comment-2902116

  20. Washington Post has a very long article today about US police departments have been given authority since 9/11 to seize money from a stopped car without reason (supposedly for drugs or terrorism), and the people in the car are guilty unless they can prove their innocence. I can imagine the IRS doing the same thing to Canadians. I cannot find a place in the article for comments though; the Americans should be informed that this policy goes around the world.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2014/09/06/stop-and-seize/

  21. @Polly
    Yes, it’s frustrating, but also understandable. The USA have, by and large, managed to fool the rest of the world with their image of a free, democratic and lawful society. People who aren’t intimately familiar with the facts about CBT/FATCA/FBAR etc. simply can’t believe it; they are unable to reconcile their notion of the USA as the “good guys” with the reality of what the USA actually have become.

  22. @notamused
    Yeah- especially the older generation.
    But the problems also: what alternative do we have? What major force do we have against things like ISIS? Or the other corrupt governments in the world.

  24. @Polly
    Well, I think we wouldn’t have problems like ISIS in the first place if it weren’t for the USA destabilizing countries whose interests aren’t completely in line with those of the USA. And for all their mass surveillance it would appear that no one at the NSA had ever heard of ISIS until they suddenly turned up in thousands. No, I think it’s better if the USA occupy themselves with fast food, shopping malls and prime-time TV — and just leave the rest of the world in peace. But I digress…

  25. @notamused
    You might be right. But they say Saddam wanted to sell oil for dollars- then America would have really been ruined. So they are fighting for life itself. Maybe they just don`t want an equal playing field.

Comments are closed.

%d bloggers like this: