Anti-FATCA/CBT Publicity and Protest Materials for use On-Line and Hard Copy

76 thoughts on “Anti-FATCA/CBT Publicity and Protest Materials for use On-Line and Hard Copy”

1. Pingback: The Isaac Brock Society

2. BBC News: “Why are Americans giving up their citizenship?”

   http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24135021

3. The link to the Canada Word document actually points to the PDF version. Could somebody update the link for the word version as I would like to create a similar copy for New Zealand.

4. Thanks, Osgood. I just fixed the link to point to the word document.
   Great to hear that your’e making a New Zealand sheet!

5. Is there a version in French of the FATCA Fact Sheet?

6. @Osgood, thanks. Someone will fix it shortly.

7. @Voyons, oooops, I meant to direct my last comment to osgood.

   Regarding, a French version, I am not aware of one.

8. Did by any chance someone living in France suggest that she/he was going to translate it? If it has been done in general it should be possible to Canadianize it. It could come in handy on November 9 in Eastern Ontario.

9. @ Voyons
   Pop into Victoria’s blog and ask her. It’s a very friendly flophouse.
   http://thefranco-americanflophouse.blogspot.ca/

10. Went to franco-americanflophouse site but couldn’t figure out how to contact Victoria to ask a question

11. Hi there, Here’s my email if you’d like to chat: v_ferauge@yahoo.com

12. @Voyons, and Victoria

    The Canadian Fact Sheet is quite different from the original Fact sheet. I am thinking that it would probably make more sense given these differences, to translate the Canadian version into French, rather than translate the more generic version and then try to marry it to the Canadian version.

    I may know someone who can do this. Would you like me to ask them?

    Do you want this done before the Carleton place even on Nov 9th?

    If so, perhaps putting the French version on the back of the Canadian Fact sheet would be the way to go about this (rather than having twice as much paper).

13. It is always good to have a French version if possible, specially since the petition itself is only in English. There is a French-speaking community in Eastern Ontario, and while they mostly also speak English, it is a good gesture to remember their existence.

14. @Voyons,

    I will let you know asap if I can find someone to translate the Canadian Fatca fact sheet into French.

15. Perfect.

16. @Voyons,

    Sorry to disappoint but one of the two people I had in mind to help with translation is out of country on vacation, and the other – my daughter – is tied up with school work, so won’t have a chance to look at it for a another week or so, and even then says she would need an editor.

    Even if we can’t get this done for Saturday, I still think it is worthwhile pursuing.

17. @ WhiteKat

    In the end while I was able to communicate with Victoria, she didn’t have time to see to translation of the document into French. So it is back to Canada if we want a French version for Radio Canada or Quebec newspapers.

18. My husband and I have always lived a frugal life which is the reason my inheritance from my Canadian parents still sits untouched in a savings account which collects darn near nothing in interest. Our plan was to only dip into that “final gift” when we reach our “dwindles” (I.e. when we will need to pay for assistance to keep our life comfortable — not posh — just comfortable). But then along came FATCA and all the certainty about our future evaporated. Now when my husband waffles about spending money for a new winter coat, a new snow shovel, etc. he is starting to hear what I’m sure will become a very common refrain from me: “Go ahead and buy it. That will be a few less dollars the IRS will be able to steal from us.”

    Of course, when or if it comes time for a lawsuit over FATCA we’ll be there to help financially but in the meantime I wanted to do something right now so I reworked the graphic FATCA fact sheet to fit a half page ad which I will place in our local newspaper but I want to make sure I didn’t screw anything up. So, could someone PLEASE PROOF READ this for me to make sure I didn’t seriously misinterpret anything from the original fact sheet? (I added a few of my own touches.) Spellcheck says it’s okay but spellcheck isn’t perfect.

    The owner of our local paper (a neighbour) is quite gun-shy about anything which could get the newspaper sued again. However, I don’t really see how anything in this that could be liable. Anyway, we like to support our local businesses so placing this ad would give our local newspaper a bit of revenue but the main idea is to alert everyone in our area about FATCA. I can make minor changes but I have the space restraint that the newspaper receptionist provided me with. At that size of ad they even allow a second colour free so I formatted it with black and red type, just like the original graphic fact sheet. Here is the text …

    URGENT WARNING

    U.S.A. to Invade Canada – AGAIN!

    The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act is a U.S. law effective July 1, 2014. FATCA will force all financial institutions in the world to report to the IRS the account records of anyone the U.S.A considers to be a ‘U.S. person’.

    How could I be a U.S. person?
    The U.S.A. considers you to be a U.S. person if you:
    * were born inside the U.S.A.
    * were born outside the U.S.A. to U.S. parent(s)
    * are a naturalized U.S. citizen
    * hold a U.S. green card
    * are a visitor to the U.S.A. and meet the substantial presence test (some Snowbirds)
    You are a U.S. person even if you are also a Canadian citizen or permanent resident and have lived in Canada most of your life.

    What happens if I’m married to a U.S. person?
    If you have joint accounts with your U.S. person spouse, those accounts will be subject to FATCA reporting.

    What information will FATCA collect?
    FATCA requires all Canadian financial institutions to compile annual reports for the IRS which include the account balances of all their U.S. person clients.

    What will the U.S.A. do with the FATCA reports provided by Canadian financial institutions?
    The IRS will use FATCA reports to verify the information that U.S. persons provide on their FBAR (Foreign Bank Account Report) and other tax forms. It will then assess penalties for unreported or incorrect information. The IRS will exchange this information with other U.S. agencies such as the NSA, FBI, CIA and DHS.
    The vast majority of U.S. persons living in Canada are not aware that U.S. tax law requires them to submit these annual FBAR reports and many are not even aware that they are required to file and pay U.S. taxes, in addition to their Canadian taxes.

    What does FATCA have to do with me if I’m not a U.S. person?
    Your bank or credit union will search your accounts looking for indications that you or anyone with signing authority on your accounts, such as your spouse, might be a U.S. person. For example, receiving funds into your account from a U.S. source is viewed as having a ‘U.S. connection’. You will be required to present evidence that you are not a U.S. person. Failure to provide this evidence could result in your account being deemed a U.S. person’s account and subject to FATCA reporting. It might result in closure of your account.

    Why should I care about FATCA if I’m not a U.S. person and have no U.S. connection?
    FATCA is extremely expensive for financial institutions and the Canadian government to implement and maintain. It is likely in violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (article 15) so affected Canadian citizens could launch class action lawsuits against Canadian financial institutions and/or the Canadian government. It is foreseeable that the costs of implementing and enforcing FATCA will be passed on to all the clients of the financial institutions and all Canadian tax payers.

    Why would Canadian financial institutions and the government agree to FATCA?
    FATCA will impose 30% withholding on all U.S. source income to financial institutions if they do not agree to FATCA. Canadian banks are pressuring the government to sign an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) with the U.S.A. to legitimize FATCA in Canada.

    FATCA can be stopped! Contact your MP and ask what he or she is doing to STOP FATCA!

    For more information visit: isaacbrocksociety.ca – maplesandbox.ca – repealfatca.com

19. @Em. Thank you for a wonderful contribution! The wording looks fine to me.

20. @ WhiteKat
    Thanks for checking it. I’ll get it submitted sometime in the next few days. My husband is helping me get the ad from photoshop into a file the paper can use. It feels good to be doing something to (hopefully) alert a few thousand people.

21. ooops!

22. @Em
    This FATCA fact sheet looks good. Let us know if your newspaper takes it and how much it costs. I thought of doingmthis in my local small town paper. If it works for you I would be interested in doing it my way.

23. @ northernstar
    Will do! The receptionist said it would be about $400. If this goes well I have another cause, getting the fluoride out of our water supply, that I would consider doing an ad for too. Talking with our town CAO got me nowhere on that. Luckily he’s on his way out so I might have more luck with his replacement.

24. @Em
    Let me know if you do it. There are quite a bit of American persons up my way keeping a low profile. I would like to make them and every one else up here aware of FATCA.

25. @ northernstar
    THE DEED IS DONE! The ad is supposed to appear next week and as a bonus it will be posted in an affiliated newspaper in another town (two for the price of one). I went with the 1/2 page ad because I wanted to provide as much info as possible and for it to all be readable. Hopefully it will look good when the newspapers come out. The two newspapers combined should reach about about 10,000 people. I feel like I’ve done my best now to alert people in our area.

    If anyone wants the pdf file of this ad I’ll send it to calgary411 to post. Otherwise my comment above shows the exact text I gave the newspaper.