@all
I’ve been away for a couple of weeks backpacking in the Rockies — no wireless, no newspapers, no email, no cell phones — heaven.
Many of you are asking about credit unions. I have written a 2000-wd magazine piece on how credit unions in BC (and nationally) are dealing with FATCA. I can’t share details with you now, but the piece will be published in BC Business magazine on Oct. 1. The magazine is hoping this will spark significant reader comment, and everyone at IBS is welcome to go online and submit a letter to the editor. Here’s what the BCB Editor said in a note I got this morning:
“You can just let them know to look for your story in our October issue, which will be out first week of October. It should be online by Monday, Oct. 8. If they want to send a letter to the editor, they can address it to:
bcb@canadawide.com
and put “letter to the editor” in the subject line.
Thanks — Here’s hoping for a lively discussion!”
So — go for it Brockers. And don’t hesitate to take a shot at the piece if it doesn’t meet your expectations. After 40 years of doing this, I’ve got a very thick hide. My one almost-daily panic is that magazine deadlines are such that the story must be submitted at least two months before publication — and a lot can change on a file like this in a couple of months. I’m praying the whole thing isn’t irrelevant by the time it sees the light of day.
BTW — on our backpacking trip, met a couple from Virginia. They were astounded when we filled them in on FATCA, FBARS, citizenship-based taxation etc. — they knew NOTHING about this issue and were horrified that their government is inflicting this kind of pain on expats.
ConfederateH,
Most everyone on this site is trying to deal with the injustice of citizenship-based taxation in their own way. Some of the people on this blog are libertarians, some are progressives, and some just plain don’t give a shit enough about politics to think about where they fall within the so-called political spectrum.
Moreover, some people here are desperately trying to hold on to their US citizenship (for whatever reason) while others have already chosen to shit-can it entirely. In any case, citizenship-based taxation is an injustice for every single American living outside the US. It is tyranny–full stop!
So why don’t you think about directing some of your fire onto some of the tyrants who are really responsible for this mess, ie. Carl Levin, Charlie Rangel, Chuck Grassely, Chuck Schumer, Barack Obama etc rather than continuously sniping at their victims who are doing whatever they can just to survive?
@all
Thanks for those kind words everyone (you too, ConfederateH — whale away some more if you like). I just got back from a fabulous weekend hiking up in Cathedral Lakes, from where you can easily see the US border. Didn’t spot any drones.
I’ll have to go read the piece again to remind myself what I wrote all those weeks ago. I will now contact a few of those folks I quoted and get an update on what’s happening between Canada and the US on FATCA. I know the magazine is looking for a lively discussion this (go for it, ConfederateH) so I hope you can make the comments section work. More later, I got some work to do.
DW*
@Arrow,
I have been hiking just the other side of the border up Hanagan pass area, on the back side (east of) Mt Shuksan and Mount Baker. I assume you were back packing in the Cathedral Park area. I have been noticing the helicopters flying along the valleys looking for Canadian hikers trying to sneak in on Bellingham milk runs, I guess. The weather has been spectacular, and have met many Canadians on the trails who have mentioned the area you were in. Think I will do that next year. I just came off Heliotrope ridge yesterday, and half of Vancouver was there hiking.. I joke. 🙂
@just me
Our weather has been absolutely superb. Enjoy it while it lasts!
@expat4ever
Freedom of speech can have its hostages.
For those of you whose plan B strategy (in case Canada signs an IGA) involves moving your business from the big banks to a credit union, check out this recent bulletin from Credit Union Central of Canada, dated March 15 2013.
http://www.cucentral.ca/Connections/FATCA%20Final.pdf?Mobile=1&Source=%2F_layouts%2Fmobile%2Fdispform.aspx%3FList%3D90136837-906b-44bb-b693-3a88b0e17451%26View%3D0ae362af-43d6-405e-855d-11791cd3d9b8%26ID%3D20%26CurrentPage%3D1
“For non-exempt credit unions, FATCA registration is required before January 2014.”
Required by whom, I wonder?
@ A broken man,
I wondered about that to. I think what they mean is that if there is no IGA, then FFI’s have to register individually, so a non-exempt credit union has to register with the IRS before Jan 2014 if Canada does not sign an IGA. In other words, FATCA does not go away if there is no IGA.
Does anyone know of any Ottawa area credit unions with assets less than the 175 mill threshold for FATCA.
I just realized that the one I deal with (Alterna) has 2.3 billion. Damn! I am tiring of this game of cat and mouse already.
I don’t know what the Credit Union situation is like in Ontario. But here in the Prairies there have been many mergers and smaller credit unions joining larger ones. The small Credit Union I started with has merged with other Credit Unions and changed it’s name 3 times already in the last decade. It’s on the brink of yet another partnership which will see the size increase substantially again. The only constant thing is change and I would expect the boundaries will certainly continue to expand. Just wondering when they will start partnering across Provincial borders too. I’m sure it will be coming. Choosing a smaller Credit Union may work for now but there would be no guarantees that it would stay small.
In mid-June I was way far north in Norway, at a town called Andenes (from which we took a ferry to Tromso for the midnight marathon, 500 km north of the Arctic circle). Stopped at a campground to check out a beach but the owner came out and said we could not park there. He had slightly southern accent and I asked where is was from originally. Washington DC. I mentioned FATCA and he knew all about it. He had already renounced his citizenship. I suspect in his case there was major taxation issues as it would take some wealth to run the place and he would have to report his income from his business overseas (in the case, it really is overseas). Also Arrow I have been all over the North Cascades on all major high routes but that was when I was in my twenties.