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.
@Polly
I guess that I’ve been living with a sense of outrage for long that I’ve become somewhat desensitized to its effects 🙂 Boris can certainly get the issues in front of more people, which could create the critical mass of outrage to cause change. I think people are getting outrage fatigue, however, and if it doesn’t directly affect them, they almost get hostile against other efforts to outrage them.
British. Thanks — I will correct that!
Great comment, Calgary. I hope it makes it through moderation.
@Calgary
Why, why, why do they moderate comments? It renders them useless. I have been sitting in moderation over there forever. Some sites have filters for potty words which I understand but this nonsense is ridiculous. Why are they monitoring free speech? (Yes, I am crabby today….maybe they shouldn’t post my comment). I also gave Elizabeth Warren a mouthful today too. Guess I am just frustrated with nothing of substance being out there to comment on. I feel like I am doing NOTHING to advance our cause and it is frustrating. I have sent in every penny I can scrape up to ADSC, been talking to every human being I see…man, what ELSE can I do? I so wish we could come up with something HUGE!
@Charl
I guess they only want people who share their opinions.. not clue… There is nothing big we can do except do what we are doing right now… chip away… a little at a time… file a lawsuit… done… raise funds to fund the lawsuit… in progress… raise awareness to all… which we are doing… some of the people who are donating their funds are on pensions… they only have so much money… just like u… u can only do what u can… which u have… all we can all do is spread the word… raise more funds… do the best we can with whatever we have… The biggest splash made was done by the 2 brave woman who are willing to take on the Canadian gov’t… for all of us… all we can do is support them & raise funds…. so please… donate… show the US what a bunch of every day people can do when u piss the crap out of us
This is a good read, US_Foreign_Person. Covers a lot of ground. Thanks.
An interesting recent interview of Glen Roberts (sometimes Brock commenter) by Jeff Berwick about going stateless when renouncing.
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article48635.html
Very few people do this, but I certainly tip my hat to those who have the cojones to do it. Moreover, it says a lot about the nosedive in the value of US citizenship for Americans living outside the homeland.
@calgary411
I have learned a great deal in some of these articles… it showed me how naive I was about everything… our education never prepared us for this… my grandmere told us they use to teach her generation… how to budget the household & save for the future… taxes were never taught like they should be…
@Calgary411 I put the @Badger comment in there on the CNN article. I could not resist.
@Badger and @MuzzledNoMore have articulated the injustices well. However, I believe that perhaps Brockers are more likely to read such comments from start to finish. We should post such comments in yet also have some shorter condensed versions as well.
This is one condensed comment I like now: I also posted on the CNN article.
@JTepper2 says
“It’s 1 thing if a New Yorker creates a shell entity in the Cayman Islands to evade taxes. It’s another if an American who spent his life overseas, creates a legitimate company. The IRS doesn’t care about the distinction” Jonathan Tepper, Variant Perception Founder.
This is exactly the treatment of Patricia Moon – which I’ll include from the start when telling her story.
@LM Would be good if Boris Johnson contributes or even mentions ADCS. He only may public statements once about CBT and not since. Yet perhaps behind the scenes he may also speak out.
December 10. I put Badger’s comment in there but now in moderation. There are two fairly negative to FATCA comments in there now.
IRS Extends ‘Deemed Compliant’ Status of Countries for FATCA
http://www.accountingtoday.com/news/irs-watch/irs-extends-deemed-compliant-status-countries-fatca-72994-1.html
@Calgary411 In regards to your story. The USG is treating your Canadian born, lived all his life in Canada son with Canadian parents as if he were a US Person living in the US. So similar to the Tepper comment
@Charl – moderation killed my comment on the NYT article. I had one of the first comments in there. It took about a day to show up. By that time my comment was at a distinct disadvantage in the “LIKE” votes compared to others that had that day advantage. So mine and other worthy comments missed out in the most liked by readers category, and also were behind in liked by NYT because were not showing to like.
@Badger- Could not resist. Sent your comment off to Robert Wood and Laura Saunders. The Last time I did this was for the MuzzledNoMore series.
@Badger’s comments as referenced are here:
http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2014/12/09/from-amanda-klekowski-von-koppenfels-regarding-her-new-survey-in-depth-responses-can-be-provided-by-isaac-brock-society-readers-commenters/#comments
@JC In the article before this last one on CNN Money I challenged CNN regarding the moral imperative of good journalism is to hold the gov’s feet to the fire, to interview the authors of FATCA. I also alerted them of their moral obligation to inform the public of the fact they are basically no longer free to leave and financially survive. My comment posted OK, there was no moderation. About an hour later they pulled it. (I then squawked loudly to every single CNN email addy I could find. Didn’t do me any good, never heard nothin’.) And I was being so sweet! Grrrrrr x100. I do wonder why the US media really hasn’t given this issue one drop of attention.
JC,
My son’s parents (his dad and I) at the time of his birth were still US citizens. Our son was born in 1974 and we became Canadian citizens in March of 1975. We honestly did not know anything about US citizenship law, its consequences for us or our children born in Canada. Yes, I admit — another of my stupid mistakes not knowing anything about US citizenship and its consequences or loss of US citizenship or the existence of such a thing as a CLN. We only knew what we were told by the US Consulate at the time we became Canadian. My son’s dad died in the early 2000’s (we had been divorced since 1984) — before ever knowing that he would still be deemed at US citizen as we were told at the time we became Canadian citizens that we would be losing our US citizenship by doing so. I remarried in 2005.
Although, my son visits and is part of his family frequently, he (at 40 years old) no longer lives with me. He lives with a “supportive roommate” family in such a wonderful program we have in Alberta. This is done purposely to afford him a bit more independence and to make transitions easier for him after I am gone. I am his trustee for his financial dealings, which is why I am the Holder of his Canadian Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) and deal with his monthly expenses from provincial disability payments. [I have paid US taxes of $3,661 on the RDSP that I hold for my son. Also taxable would be his provincial disability payments.]
On the Jonathan Tepper article,
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/08/opinion/why-im-giving-up-my-american-citizenship-passport.html:
… a comment to a comment there:
Tor Krogius
Northampton MA 5 days ago
It is odd that the author points out that he has very little connection to America, has lived in America very little, and does not vote in America, but then complains about how difficult it is to maintain his American citizenship. I don’t get it. There seems very little there there.
If there is a posterchild for why the US should change its treatment of expats, this person is not it.
with another comment regarding my son’s situation (and any others like my son – it is by no means JUST my son) that appeared in The Economist:
@Charl I find it ironic how ex-pats are willing to put it out there– talk to the press and explain how terrible CBT and FATCA are, how the US is an outlier, and that they are being forced to renounce or relinquish their USC. The silence from the politicians is damning, in contrast. I’ve yet to read an article in the national (US) media where a politician or State Department official has gone on the record to explain how it’s a good thing that so many expats have been forced to renounce or relinquish. Cold silence.
@Charl – Did you keep the comment? Try again. I have comments from Badger and Tepper in there. Maybe you were on the radical side that day? Repost and save a copy. And if they take it down again post it here.
I have picked up on your requests – since a month or two ago – to have the journalists actually do some investigative journalism and actually interview politicians. Seems like a reasonable request. Wood and Laura Saunders would be the most informed interviewers but they don’t seem interested.
On that thought: Just Tweeted:
JC Double Taxed @JCDoubleTaxed 21s21 seconds ago
@SolomonYue Can you use your/The Republican Party influence to get journalists to interview authors of #FATCA in regards to US Persons OS?
@Bc_Doc, re: cold silence, I think it has reached embarasment level now, thus the silence and crossed-fingers that the uproar is temporary, and will die down…. when hell freezes over.
Yes, BC Doc, you won’t hear about how CBT is good, but you will hear that it has to be strictly adhered to because “it’s the law”. The disconnect is how this law is causing more people to choose to cease to remain US citizens, and what that means to the nation as a whole. It’s unfortunately a self-correcting problem when people renounce, especially when the narrative is that we are tax evaders. We certainly won’t be allowed to tarnish the US’s impeccable image by having people flee due to oppression or torture, can we?
The US is playing games with the reporting of the number of renouncements as well. Many commentors refer to 3,000 people renouncing in a year not being very many compared with the 7 million expats. If the number of relinquishments was included and an accurate count on the renouncements, people might pay more attention. Hopefully the Human Rights complaint will put the US in the spotlight.
@BC_Doc
The only person who did a tiny finger wag was Rand Paul… then it got dropped because of… he supports tax evasion… blah… blah… then he sticks his head out for a sec with another little thing… then silence… but I have seen a bunch of fat arse blow hards… saying… tax evasion… blah… blah… lets treat all expats as traitors… then the rah-rah starts… them tax cheats… homelanders want a share of what them traitors own…
Fatca’d By The US IRS
http://www.forbes.com/sites/beelinang/2014/12/14/fatcad-by-the-us-irs/
Following comments
@JC – Thanks for leading us to this Forbes article.
What I absolutely cannont understand is why the world has fallen for this blackmail. The most telling line in this article says it all:
“Indeed, the cost and complexity of implementation of the law has been extraordinary. The cost of compliance with FATCA has been estimated at over USD eight billion annually and the benefit to the IRS is forecast at less than USD 800 million by the House Ways and Means committee.”
When will the world wake up and tell the USA to take their FATCA and shove it?????????
Interesting read on the problem for immigrants in the US for all who invested after tax money…
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/finance/indian-americans-global-assets-under-tax-lens-india-may-soon-become-a-signatory-to-us-law/articleshow/45516236.cms?curpg=2