Liberty and justice for all United States persons abroad

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Tag Archives: Cook v. Tait

Help: Can the United States IMPOSE US citizenship on those born outside the US?

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8 U.S. Code S. 1401 – Nationals and citizens of United States at birth includes:

The following shall be nationals and citizens of the United States at birth:

(c) a person born outside of the United States and its outlying possessions of parents both of whom are citizens of the United States and one of whom has had a residence in the United States or one of its outlying possessions, prior to the birth of such person;

 

 

The quest for  – “Form Free Living”

Defining the direction …

This issue has been recently raised in AT LEAST the following three contexts:

 

1. In a fascinating post,  WhiteKat introduces  the issue of:

 

…  another obvious battle to be fought, which is the fight to help set people free from the chains of unwanted US citizenship.

2. A recent comment (not restricted to the situation of people born outside the U.S.) noted that:

Facts are stubborn things. Why not focus on the those facts that are most clear

1. The United States is attempting to enforce it’s laws beyond its borders in other countries. These include but are not limited to U.S. “Extra-territorial taxation” and FATCA.

2. The United States and the United States only decides (according to its laws) who is or is not a “U.S. person” and is therefore subject to U.S. “Extra-territorial taxation”.

3. Because of point 2, the United States (with the help of the media and the tax professionals) is attempting to forcibly impose “U.S. personhood”on many who have never and do not believe that they are U.S. persons.

3. Leading to a recent comment on Facebook that:

In relation to point 3 (forcible imposition of US citizenship on people who don’t want it and who have lived their lives as nationals of another country) surely another law suit must be brewing? The more I read about US nationality laws, the more it seems to me that the State Department’s position is at odds with the fundamental principles that underpin the system. Probably one for accidental Americans. Just wondering if this has ever been given any thought.

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Cook v Tait 26: Help! What does this 1924 @USSupremeCourt decision really say?

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Since 2013 I have been working on a series of posts about the 1924 decision of Justice McKenna (see his biography) in the 1924 decision of Cook v. Tait. As you know, Cook v. Tait is always cited as the justification for U.S. citizenship-based taxation. You will find the series of posts here. My goal has been to explore and understand what is the history, basis, and rationale for “citizenship taxation”. Even if it was justifiable in 1924, it is hard to justify it today.

The problem is that although, there is agreement that Cook v. Tait stands for the legal proposition that U.S. “citizenship-based taxation” is NOT illegal, the reasoning in the decision is (in my opinion) very unclear. I have read the decision may times and to this day and have never felt comfortable that I really understand the basis of the decision (if there is one). Of possible interest is what appear to be a summary by a law student of what Cook v. Tait is about.

Interestingly, in 1925 a law review article was written by a U.S. law professor (the Michael Kirsch of 1925) about Cook v. Tait. You will find a link to a CBC interview with Professor Kirsch (along with a large number of valuable comments) at a previous post at the Isaac Brock Society.

You will find the decision in Cook v. Tait from the link in the above tweet.

I invite readers of this post to:

 

1. Take the time to read the decision (more than once).

 

2. Try to understand what exactly is the basis for Justice McKenna’s reasoning.

 

What I am looking for comments are answers to the following two questions:

 

1. What is Justice McKenna really saying?

 

2. What is his specific justification for what you understand him to be saying.

 

Please think carefully about this.

 

Here is the decision in Cook v. Tait may be found here.

Thanks to the comment by @Publius, you will find the most interesting arguments advanced by the lawyers here:

 

 

 

Cook v. Tait 2: The presumption of GOVERNMENT benefit

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This post is excerpted from a post at RenouceUScitizenship.

The presumption of GOVERNMENT benefit wherever the citizen may live

This is my second post on Cook v. Tait. The following comment to the first post appeared at the Isaac Brock Society.

Very well done! That was a lot of research on your part and a great starting point for meaningful thought-provoking discussion.

Although you covered some of them, the list of liabilities for Americans abroad keeps growing as time progresses. Lawmakers like Levin, Rangel, Grassley, Schumer etc will never stop dreaming up new ways for putting the screws to ex-pats.

What I am interested to know is, what government benefits would the Supreme Court try to use to justify the “….presumption that government by its very nature benefits the citizen and his property wherever found,”?

– The right to enter the US? Anyone with a foreign  ”visa waiver” passport has this.

– The right to work in the US? Americans abroad are obviously not there to exercise this. Besides, the unemployment and underemployment situation in the US has been less than desirable for many years.

– The protection of the US? How many US citizens abroad are sitting in jail somewhere on trumped up charges while the State Department takes the line that “we cannot interfere with the other country’s justice system?” Does the US government provide the citizen with a public defender if he cannot afford a lawyer him/herself? Does the Embassy charge a fee if the Consular prepares any paperwork on the citizen’s behalf?

– If the US citizen’s property located abroad is stolen, does the US send police to investigate the crime?

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Cook v. Tait 1: Does Cook v. Tait really mean that citizenship-based taxation is constitutional in all cases?

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This is excerpted from a post at RenouceUScitizenship. Feel free to participate in the poll about U.S. the benefits of U.S. citizenship there. Could you also comment specifically on whether you believe that the U.S. government by its very nature benefits its citizens abroad.

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