http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business/The-high-cost-of-Fatca_11273476
Monthly Archives: April 2012
Who is the other Peter Dunn: Survey
Peter Dunn, blogger, Canadian citizen, Petros, former US citizen
or
Peter Dunn, Pete the Planner
You decide.
A Very Sad Case
I noticed a news feature on CNN this morning, concerning a man named Joe Stack who committed suicide in 2010 by flying his plane into an IRS building in Austin. I vaguely remembered the incident though doubt I noticed at the time that it involved the IRS because my own issues with FUBAR, etc, had yet to happen. Apparently they will air a show (“The Faith and the Fury”), about this on Sunday night; it seems to also be available on the CNN website and there is also a version on YouTube.
Among other things, Mr. Stack felt destroyed by the fact he could not work independently as a software engineer. This was due to a law which affected the 1986 Tax Reform Act. According to the NYT:
This is the government of the United States. I have nervous attacks. I cry all the time.
No the above are not words spoken by an American expatriate, although we can all relate.
Freaking Americans causing people all over the world to have nervous attacks and cry all the time!
No one can serve two tax masters
Badger made the following comment which is well worth pulling out of our busy comment stream:
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The ‘lords’ and ‘masters’ grant or deny us travel passes, and grant or deny us the ability to change our status – via US citizenship.
An update from Geneva
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – This is the day when Americans back home are scrambling to get their tax forms to the IRS, but outside the US the difficulty of remaining tax compliant is leading a growing number of citizens to hand in their passports: on average, 7 Americans a day took the oath to stop being a US citizen in 2011.
Americans meet in Lausanne as tax filing day raises new questions
Thank you Mr. Steven Mopsick!
Note the following comment from Steven Mopsick:
The law which requires U.S. Persons to submit worldwide income to US taxation must be changed. It is unfair, it makes no sense, and it has a chilling effect on commerce, jobs creation, and free trade. Perhaps more importantly, our world image has suffered enough over the last few decades. People over the world who have been on the fence about whether America has lost its mind can only be convinced with this new compliance initiative which removes all doubt.
Thought I would thank him in a more public way as follows: Continue reading
On Constitutional and fundamental rights, expatriation, extra-territorial taxation: Responses to Roger Conklin's knowledgable friend
Roger Conklin wrote: Petros, I forwarded your comments to a friend of mine who is much more conversant in the items you highlighted in your last post. I am taking the liberty of pasting his response to me. He seems to think it is more complicated. His comments are as follows: [My responses follow in blue] Continue reading
DATCA is not Dead! It lives on…
From Accounting Today, Michael Cohn reports that the IRS Issues FATCA Guidance on Reporting Interest Paid to non resident Aliens
The Internal Revenue Service has issued final regulations and guidance on reporting interest paid to nonresident aliens, along with a revenue procedure listing the countries with which the U.S. has a bilateral exchange of information agreement. Continue reading
Congress may give IRS power to revoke passports (Updated)
This story is not new, but Alex Newman has written an interesting article about why it is wrong for Congress to give this power to the IRS:
Still, despite the travel “exceptions,” experts say the whole scheme is unconstitutional and represents a blatant violation of due process rights. “It takes away your right to enter or exit the country based upon a non-judicial IRS determination that you owe taxes,” constitutional attorney Angel Reyes explained to Fox Business. “It’s a scary thought that our congressional representatives want to give the IRS the power to detain US citizens over taxes, which could very well be in dispute.”
A financial expert also told Fox that the unconstitutional provision would apply to an alarmingly high number of people — especially in the wake of the economic crisis. And in the coming years, as jobs continue to evaporate and the value of the dollar continues to sink, more and more people will likely be affected by the travel ban.
IRS Would Revoke Passports for Alleged Tax Debt Under Bill
Thatisme has also found the following article:
No Taxes, No Travel: Why the IRS Wants the Right to Seize Your Passport