Petros provides a recap of the progress of isaacbrocksociety.com at 30,000 views. Warning: While last week’s status report felt like a high school prep talk, this one reads like a business meeting.
Monthly Archives: January 2012
Deer in the headlights
I have been in the US on holidays for a month now. We purchased a little getaway place in Florida last spring in hopes that we could already be set up to go as snowbirds in 3 to 5 years. No real estate agent ever mentioned any new laws that state that foreigners might have to file tax returns on their worldly income if they stay longer than 120+ days in the US or that the IRS gets inheritance tax benefits in case any of us should parish. Many of our Canadian neighbors are upset about the prospect and I need to send them proof of this law that took effect at the first of 2011. There was once a link to an article about it on the expat site but I am not able to find it. Does anybody have information about this or a link that I could forward to my neighbors? Continue reading
A workman is worthy of his hire
Here is a comment from a cross border tax specialist
Petros, $250-$300 for a cross border US tax return an accountant that does not understand cross border tax. A good tax accountant would not even prepare a Canadian return for that fee. Check what H&R Block is charging for Canadian tax returns and remember they are essentially uneducated form fillers.
Ten Reasons the United States is no longer the land of the Free: Washington Post
From Just Me:
10 reasons the U.S. is no longer the land of the free
the opportunity to add reason number 11..
FATCA and citizenship taxation.
There are lots of comments, and mine will get lost, but here is what I added for what it is worth….
Why I Think Peter Spiro is Right about Renunciations
In his book Beyond Citizenship: American Identity After Globalization Peter Spiro takes a good hard look at what citizenship is worth in the world today. He concludes (a bit reluctantly I think) that:
Becoming a citizen entitles one to little more than the right to vote, eligibility for some public benefits programs, and freedom from any threat of deportation.”
A Censored Forum is an Oxymoron: Why the Expat Forum is not a safe place for conversation and what we can learn from our experience there
Until now, I’ve been cheeky and sarcastic in my tone. Now I just want to say a few honest words about what has happened, and the history leading up to it.
The Expat Forum has banned me
Out of the Mouth of a Frenchling
This is the conversation I had with my younger Frenchling (French/American daughter) last night after she opened her bank statment. She has a little account with our French bank that we opened to give her pocket money:
Frenchling: Mom, what do I do with this? (bank statement)
Continue reading
Taxpayer Advocate Services Report to Congress also addressed Taxpayer Rights, questionable we have all of these…
National Taxpayer Advocate Recommendation. In light of the IRS’s unique role as the federal revenue collector, the National Taxpayer Advocate recommends that Congress develop new budget procedures designed to fund the IRS at a level that will enable it to meet taxpayer needs and maximize tax compliance, with due regard for protecting taxpayer rights and minimizing taxpayer burden.
Citizenship-based taxation, the U.S. trade deficit and the destruction of U.S. capital
This post is cross posted at renounceuscitizenship.
Trade, Deficits and Trade Deficits
Let’s begin with the basics.
Q. What is a “trade deficit”?
A. A “trade deficit” occurs when a country buys more of a country’s products than it sells to that country. What would be an example? The United States trades with China. The U.S. buys goods from China (check out Walmart). The U.S. also sells goods to China. It’s just that the U.S. spends more buying goods from China than it receives for goods sold to China. Is this a problem? I don’t know, let’s figure it out. Continue reading