These come from a comment to an earlier post.
If you are a U.S. person concerned about #FATCA retweet this now! isaacbrocksociety.ca/2012/07/26/hun…
— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) July 26, 2012
Those who are NOT Twitter literate, please send the following link to everybody on your email list and ask them to forward it on:
The comment notes that:
Harks back to the days of the Nazis scouring through records looking for Jewish “indicia.”
Thanks Carl Levin.
Note particularly the first video. Choose your lawyers and other advisers carefully. Any U.S. connection can cause problems.
Send this (LINK)
http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2012/07/26/hunting-u-s-citizens-abroad-how-the-banks-help-the-irs-fatca-training-videos/
to every “US Person” you know, every “US Person” columnist you know and to your MPs. NOW!
@Joe Smith
Who are the NDP members who have a particular interest in FATCA?
http://hoangmai.ndp.ca/
Craig Scott: craig.scott@parl.gc.ca
Hoang Mai: hoang.mai@parl.gc.ca
From Craig Scott:
This is an issue I got to work on my first evening in Ottawa, and will work with our Revenue Canada critic Hoang Mai to try to push back. He and Finance Critic Peter Julian have already met with US Ambassador.
If you have specific story of being tagged with tax fines for non-filing, can you email hoang.mai.a1@parl.gc.ca as they are keeping a database of examples.
At what point do people start realizing that the government is perfectly aware that FATCA is going to cause a massive backlash against Americans and American businesses operating offshore? These guys know this and they don’t care.
At what point do people start realizing that the government is perfectly aware all these tax increases and class warfare rhetoric are going to negatively impact growth and the business climate? These guys know this and they don’t care.
At what point do people start realizing that the government is perfectly aware that when Obama tells American businesses “you didn’t do that” that they are going to negatively impact growth and the business climate? These guys know this and they don’t care.
At what point do people start realizing that the government is perfectly aware that pissing away trillions every year on liberal boondogles is going to negatively impact growth and the business climate? These guys know this and they don’t care.
At what point do people start realizing that the government is perfectly aware that “green energy” promotions are nothing but Chicago style Democrat cronyism and patronage and going to negatively impact growth and the business climate? These guys know this and they don’t care.
At what point do people start realizing that the government is perfectly
aware that fomenting racial and sexual discord are going to negatively impact growth
and the business climate? These guys know this and they don’t care.
So why are they doing this? I have a good idea why, and it has nothing to do with unfairness to 6 million expats, those guys are nothing but muppets. The government doesn’t care about them or any other muppet for that reason, and there isn’t anything you can do about it, slave.
@ConfederateH, I also realized that most politicians don’t care about anything other than being elected. But there are a few that care. Too bad that democracy doesn’t let the wise minorities rule.
@confederateH. So why, in your opinion, are ‘they’ doing this? You often skate around your ‘message’, but unless I’ve missed you telling us, I haven’t yet heard who ‘they’ are and what they’re doing. Are they extraterrestrials from Bizarro world? Spit it out please, so that we may stop wasting our time on the muppets and focus our energy on the real villains.
For this and other posts,
-please note that some of us are not Twitter literate–it might be helpful to have alternate links.
-we might like to share the videos in their raw form–it would be nice to see the http://www. addresses so that we could forward the raw items to friends or politicians.
These videos are powerful and are perfect complements to the Obama foreign account attack ads.
Wow. Amazing videos. The arrogance. How can citizens of other sovereign nations watch this without disgust, much less fall into lock step?
They repeat several times ‘average balance of 50,000 dollars’ to trigger reporting. I was under the impression that any single day above 50,000 was the trigger. Anyone know for sure which is true?
list of all members of Canadian Parliament in Excel format at
http://howdtheyvote.ca/data.php
This is what I sent to each and every member of Parliament.
Dear Mr. Prime Minister and Members of Parliament:
Are you aware of how the US intends to have Canadian banks violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by having them report Canadian citizens to the IRS who the US considers to be “US Persons?
Please help. Please see below.
my name
Harks back to the days of the Nazis scouring through records looking for Jewish “indicia.”
Thanks Carl Levin.
http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2012/07/26/hunting-u-s-citizens-abroad-how-the-banks-help-the-irs-fatca-training-videos/
Apparently got through the Spam filters. This is one of a number of auto-responses received.
Many thanks for your message to my office. Due to the high volume of e-mails received in our office, we are not always able to respond to every message. Your message is important, and helps me undertake my work as an MP, and as the NDP Health Critic. Our highest priority is to respond to constituents in Vancouver East, so please make sure you have included your address, phone number, and full name, so that my office is able to assist you efficiently. My community office at 2412 Main Street is also available to serve you. Our hours are Tuesday to Friday, 10am to 4pm. The number is: 604-775-5800. If you are writing regarding a meeting request or invitation, thank you in advance, and we will take the appropriate action as soon as possible. Thanks again for being in touch. The huge amounts of feedback I receive really helps me with my work as a Parliamentarian. Sincerely,Libby
I’m sorry, but these videos are hilarious. Sounds like training for gangsters: “Aha, we found you have a US account! If you don’t cooperate, we’ll turn you over to Fat Cat!”
@shadow raider, I agree. There’s something surreal and funny about them, like you expect the music from SNL to start playing at any moment.
Dear Banker:
I am a Canadian citizen. F___ off.
Yesterday, someone from my Member of Parliament’s (federal) office called me (thanks to a lovely and persistent woman in my MLA’s (member of legislature assembly – provincial) office who kept at them until someone did). Although he told me that they had received many calls and letters, in fact, it appeared to me he didn’t know much about all of this, even to the point of thinking that several countries practice citizenship-based taxation (not a good sign) – which I emphatically corrected. At any rate, at one point he said if I’d been here for decades and hadn’t had anything to do with the US how would the IRS ever find me? I know I let a stunned silence fill the air for a bit before I could muster up the words to tell him, without being rude, “that’s what FATCA is for. My bank will inform on me to the US.” Then he says but Flaherty has said that our banks will not be tax collectors for other countries. And I responded that the silence out of Flaherty’s office has caused the banks to assume that they will have to comply with FATCA because neither they nor the average citizen has heard anything different. I told him to do a job search with the word FATCA in it and he might get an idea of how banks are gearing up for this. There was a bit of a stunned silence on the other end this time. I told him I was tired of getting form letters and reading that Flaherty is in ‘talks’. I said we need more than that now, it’s gone on too long. He said he is going to try and get more information than just ‘in talks’ from Finance and get back to me.
I’m not holding my breath, but OTH, it did give me an opportunity to vent a little and inform someone else about what’s really happening out there. And who knows, maybe that information will actually make it to the MP, Blake Richards, and maybe he’ll even give a crap.
Just more proof that banks, governments, CBA and US persons are ALL deer caught in the headlights of the oncoming FATCA train.
*Your provincial MLA(who seems more responsive) can play a role too by letting Alison Redford, Doug Horner and co. that he or she will refuse to change the Alberta Privacy Act which governs non bank financial institutions in Alberta.
@outragedcanadian, Great job! I think this shows that politicians are not really aware of the problems. I would like to have a chance to talk to my own representative and tell him all about citizenship-based taxation, FBAR and FATCA.
*@outragedcanadian Many of the MPs are home for the summer. My husband who is totally frustrated with our situation contacted our MP’s office and requested a meeting in person. I felt that it was helpful giving our MP a face to remember and am hopeful that he will follow through on his efforts to help me.
@bubblebustin
I’m starting to feel like this horrifically ironic FATCA train’s real purpose is to pull enough rickety cattle cars to carry six million U.S. expats…
*Yesterday, I was seriously upset about a certain US policy that has negative consequences for Americans abroad. I was ready to take the train to Bern to cut all ties with the US, but I’ll try a different approach today. Last chance?
*Joe Smith Perfect! You and Dan have the right attitude.
@outragedcanadian, Bravo! Kudos for persistence and extra points for style. 🙂
Welp, sucks for all you… fortunately China refuses to comply with any of this bullshit