FAIRBANKS, Alaska (BSP) Nicolas (Claus) Santa, Bishop of Myra, has been in federal custody since his arrest at the North Pole on Christmas Eve, 2011. Fish and Wildlife agents apprehended him and seized several tons of exotic woods forbidden by the Lacey act. Santa has been charged with multiple counts of money laundering, illegal exportation of currency, illegally importing into the United States toys made of contraband–rare woods, ivory and other banned substances, as well as violating slave labor and child labor laws. A grand jury has also indicted Santa on 190 counts of criminal failure to file the Foreign Bank Account Report (FBAR). For those charges alone, Santa risks a sentence of 950 years in prison and fines equal to 300% of his wealth. Santa was laundering money from his illegal trafficking in toys.
Monthly Archives: May 2012
Question about Visa Waiver Program (ESTA)
A reader, Alex, has a question regarding the Visa Waiver Program (ESTA):
Does anyone have experience or information about people with ESTA citizenships (countries who are in the visa waiver program) who renounced and then wanted to return to visit USA as a tourist?
Toronto Star’s Michael Lewis, Saverin article: It’s about “Benign Actors”
Michael Lewis at the Toronto Star covers the Saverin story and quotes me from an Isaac Brock Society comment.
See, Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin’s taxing connection to U.S.-Canadian dual citizens
Lewis also cites Nina Olson (emphasis mine),
U.S. National Taxpayer watchdog Nina Olson in a public letter warned that the IRS is driving “benign actors” underground with draconian penalties and a byzantine international tax reporting regime.
New WSJ article on FATCA
Tax Rule Provokes Foreign Banks’ Ire
Takeways:
Whatever lobbying Democrats Abroad and ACA is basically completely ineffective and disregarded if you believe what is said in this article. I might send an email to Joe Green himself to get his reaction. An unnamed Treasury Department official appears to view the Democrats Abroad FBAR/FATCA survey as a “joke” because its anonymous. It appears Treasury has very much made up its mind on this issue prior to next weeks hearing.
US Immigration to make an important, money-saving announcement
Fellow Isaac Brocker, Blaze has heard the following:
To help save the economy, the U.S. Government will announce next month that the Immigration Department will start deporting seniors instead of illegal’s in order to lower Social Security and Medicare costs.
Older people are easier to catch and will not remember how to get back home.
She noted that the US is kicking out all the Grandmas on the bus so they can seize their life savings because they didn’t know they had to file FBARs before they were deported.
ABC News’ Enjoli Francis reports on the Eduardo Saverin Expatriation
Enjoli Saverin has covered Eduardo Saverin’s expatriation, and in the process, has given the Isaac Brock Society the spotlight.
Facebook’s Eduardo Saverin Joins Americans Renouncing Citizenship
Facebook co-founder renounces U.S. citizenship – Brilliant Dan Mitchell article
Great analysis! Thanks Dan.
https://twitter.com/#!/renounceus/status/201047860702224384
An International Tax on the Rich?
Don’t know if any of you are familiar with Patrick Weil. He is a researcher at CNRS here in France and he has written extensively on citizenship and integration issues. He’s done some amazing work (I have read almost all of his books.)
A few days ago this article by him appeared in La Tribune, Une taxe internationale sur les ultrariches.
Technology entrepreneurs giving up U.S. citizenship? A U.S. tech startup webforum reacts to one case
On Hacker News, a tech entrepreneurship community that both Phil Hodgen and I frequent, there was a discussion a couple of days ago about one entry in the Q1 2012 loss-of-citizenship list which matches the name of a well-known entrepreneur. (Edit: to clarify, I’m not talking about Eduardo Saverin, the news of whose renunciation just popped up on Bloomberg; I wrote this post before that news came out. This is about another guy, follow the first link in this post if you want to know his name).
Regardless of whether or not that name is indeed him, the news sparked some interesting comments. This should serve as a reminder to us: the Isaac Brock Society is not the only collection of people out there who object to the United States’ citizenship taxation policy. There are many others, most of whom are just going about their daily lives while trying to grin and bear it, and who may never give us “extremists” more than a passing glance — but whose overall silence should not at all be taken to imply acquiescence to this unjust state of affairs, as the mainstream media do every time when they say “1,800 renunciants is such a small number compared to the six million Americans abroad”.
Chinese Bank in America
Look who is getting into America’s banking system now.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/3-big-chinese-banks-enter-us-banking-market-185200086.html