I found this posted at ACA. In her letter to President Obama, Jane Bruno expresses “Even though no one in government ever actually responds to my comments, I appreciate that I live in a country where I am free to express my thoughts” and manages to capture what many of us feeling as a result of the US governments ‘Jihad’ against US persons living abroad:
I dealt with the question if ignorance of the FBAR law is an excuse and argued that it is because (1) non-wilful violation of the law presupposes ignorance of the law; (2) the person who does not report foreign account but is living in the country where the accounts are, does not have mens rea. See, Ignorance is an excuse in the case of FBAR.
Dear Ms. Bruno,
Thank you for your letter regarding what you believe to be the unfairness of FBAR filing and the extreme penalties for not filing. We think your concerns are quite worthy of the president’s attention but unfortunately these days he is consumed with the making and checking of his kill lists and after the videos of these kills arrive at the White House he must review them over and over again to make certain all went according to his wishes and plans. I hope you can appreciate therefore that the president is a very busy man these days and it is unlikely that he will find time to read your letter but we’ll slip it under the next kill list in the off chance that he might be able to give it a quick glance.
Sincerely,
The White House Staff
Thanks for posting the link to ACA web site and that letter. That prompts me to get off my duff and send another, even though I know I will likely get an election campaign response, or no response as the case may be. I think I will fashion something off the Open Letter to Commissioner Shulman model. He is rushing to the exit, full of self praise, and I just need to remind him that the accolades are not unanimous. 🙂 Maybe the successor will be better, not! It would be too logical to have someone who understands taxpayers need for fairness, like Tax Advocacy Service’s (TAS), Nina Olson
That letter talks a lot about fairness. I think this is the main problem here: coming up with a new FAIR voluntary disclosure program would be very unfair to the current participants and they might be afraid of the consequences of doing that i.e. having to refund a bunch of the in-lieu of penalty that probably made up half or more of what the program claim it raised.
They also find themselves between a rock and a hard place and don’t even have the guts to admit their mistake and make it right.
Nice letter — dripping with sarcasm. Sadly, I think it’s value will be largely therapeutic. The only thing that would get Obama’s attention is if 7 million expats all flocked to embassies and consulates around the world at a set time on a set day and tried to renounce their citizenship. Alternatively, if 7 million people all showed up to protest on the White House lawn at the same time on the same day — that might even get the media’s attention.
Let’s face it, theatre is what gets attention these days — look at the student protestors in Montreal. Calm, reasoned arguments — like those in this letter — are doomed to fail. Sorry to be such a cynic.*
@ christophe
Very true. They’ve painted themselves into a corner in so many ways. Any way it comes out in the wash, it will be “unfair”. To those who are biting the bullet and trying to comply, it may seem unfair that so many others may be able to ignore all this nonsense and never be identified or penalized. (I say ‘good for them’ but, really, it isn’t “fair”.) Really, wouldn’t the fair thing have been to give a REAL amnesty?
Going forward,
Let those who in no way think they are or want to be a US citizen OUT OF USA CITIZENSHIP to get on with their lives. Let those who want to retain their US citizenship do so, realizing full well their well-defined and communicated responsibilities. Look for the real tax evaders, the ones residing in the US, in more sensible, already in place ways. (And, by the way, provide a means that parents, Guardians, Trustees can renounce the US citizenship of their “Accidental American” adult children who cannot do such on their own because of developmental delay or other circumstances — if they determine that to be in that person’s best interests.)
*If a nation could receive a Darwin Award, the US would surely win:
http://www.darwinawards.com/
@Arrow..
Cynicism is a natural well founded response. To not become cynical, you almost have to be divorced from reality. You are right, everything is about theatrics these days, although I do understand the need for someone to write therapeutic letters. I have done a few myself. 🙂
@Christrophe
No, they would not have the guts, as shown by their refusal to acknowledge either Nina Olson’s TAD or the TAS Report to Congress. Or, an alternate consideration, maybe they DO have the guts and hubris to press on, as they don’t care. @Calagry411 They may not think they have painted themselves in the corner. They may actually believe their own press releases! The Aussie expression for this is, “They have tickets on themselves!”
As far as fairness goes, I would not have any resentment if the program changed right now, and everyone else got treated in better manner than me, even if it means I was more harshly treated for being dumb enough to go into the VD program. I could not be upset by someone else’s benefit. I hope that isn’t holding them up for doing the right thing, worrying about fairness for me. I would rather see those struggling with decisions on what to do, get a better deal. Especially the new immigrants to America who are figuring out that the American Dream is clouded by FWhat? forms.
It is like buying Facebook stock on the IPO and then being PO’d because the price fell 25% later. I can only be upset with my decision to buy the hype, not at those that waited and bought for less than me. Their’s was the better decision. So it goes. C’est la vie.
@Just Me,
Oh, to see the US Government admit they have made foolish mistakes. To change course now before more damage is done to the US and to innocent people abroad would, I guess, make too much sense — and the US can never admit to being wrong about a decision and making mistakes, especially for those who have left their shores.