I think the whole world should just go communist. Everybody can stay home, do nothing and complain about how people in other countries are not paying their fair share into some other country’s Treasury. All these politicians should be locked up in a hospital for crazy people! Instead of fixing problems, all they want to do is figure out ways to pick other countries’ pockets.
France Taxes America: The Robin Hood Tax
The precedent here is outrageous. France is taxing Americans who hold French shares. And the example is likely to spread throughout the world. This is the beginning of a global attempt to tax the United States and make individual Americans liable for tax payments which will raise money for Third World dictators.
The UN and the European Union have long lusted after the American tax base and have wanted to find ways to get their hands on it. Now, France has led the way.
It is good to see America having to face getting some of its own medicine. The sad thing though is that the brain of the average American is too thick to make the connection. What serf in their right mind would dare to believe that they can hunt in their lord and master’s forest without getting shot?
Release the “revenuers”
*The French are simply following in the steps of Uncle Sam. Can you imagine what it will be like when Every bank in every one of the 193 countries of the world has to obtain certification of Compliance with the FATCA laws all other countries, following the benighted example of Uncle Sam, have to obtain from all of the other countries and the 193 sets of reports on bank accounts they have to prepare, in the languages of each of thouse countries with values converted to the currency of those countries?
Fatca has really pried the lid of Pandorra’s box. Let’s hope the other 192 countries open their eyes and put their collective feet down. Not very many signs of it so far, but do not give up hope.
it would be great if this is akin to a trade war—a tax war
French fries: 3%, French waffles: 4%, French kissing: 69%
French Stock-Trading Tax to Hit American Investors
Rep. Tom Price (R., Ga.), a conservative Republican, introduced legislation this week to shield securities transactions in the U.S. from enforcement of any excise tax imposed by the government of France. It also prohibits Treasury from assisting any foreign government in collecting a tax on securities transactions occurring on a U.S. exchange.
“Paying taxes to other countries is a bad idea – and we need a law to stop it,” Mr. Price said in a press release.
It is quite amusing, actually. US reaping what it sows…
The real Globalist, that the Dick Morris rails about are right on American shores with the passage of FATCA. But, of course, you know that.
(BTW he is almost banned from Fox, no less, since his predictions on the election results were so stunningly wrong),
There have been a couple other stories on this transaction tax that might interest you.
French Stock-Trading Tax to Hit American Investors
If you look at the comments there, you might recognize some familiar Brockers. 🙂
Rep. Price: Stop the French from taxing U.S. investors
Again, comments there too.
I tried to post a comment to Dicks article, but it appears that Facebook wants my details, which I will not give, and I do not have an account. Had I been able to post, here is what I was planning to say… Someone else can post it if they like.
Well, well, well. Got just three words for Rep. Price — SAUCE, GOOSE, GANDER. Actually got three more words — POT, KETTLE, BLACK. There’s nothing like hypocrisy to make that American exceptionalism pill go down. First there was Rice and Eritrea and now it’s Price and France.
@em
If the US is good at anything, it’s denying any parallel their actions may have with those they choose to condemn. That’s what makes them exceptional and oblivious to any hypocrisy in their behaviour. I don’t hold any hope that this nation will have a bout of introspection that will result in any change in predatory behaviour now that it has set on this course. I’d like to be proven wrong though!
*I love the ironic outrage of homelanders and their complete oblivious attitude. “Oh…France is taxing us for French shares in companies. Oh, what a horrible outrage”. Look no further than FATCA you smarmy homelander THIEVES! How’d you like those chickens coming back home to roost!”
@ bubblebustin
The Mayans believe that 12/21/12 will produce at least a brief increase in the vibrational energy of the world which could lead eventually to peace and enlightenment. Let’s hope it shakes some serious introspection into the Fatcanatics. If not, I think we might have to apply a jackhammer upside their heads.
Or at least burn their White House down again, eh, Em? ~evil grin~ Oops..another anti-American statement again. I think I might be on their shoot-to-kill list now. Watching the sky for errant drones.
@ The Animal
I am Em-phatically anti-Fatcanatic. They just built another huge bunker under the White House lawn in addition to the Situation Room and the Nuke-proof Room — perhaps to protect themselves from an awakened and angry citizenry? I don’t think I’d like to burn down the White House but I’d love to block that bunker’s air vent with a huge wad of 1040s. And strangely enough the Army Corps of Engineers is helping to build another bunker-like structure near Tel Aviv at what is called Site 911. Wonder what’s up with that?
Logic is often not an effective tool to use on many Americans who are hell bent on doing whatever they please even when somebody else doing the same thing causes them to become outraged.
Here’s an example of how logic doesn’t work on Americans. Many years ago I was traveling in Southern Ontario with an American friend and business associate from North Carolina. He was driving and we got off the 401 to get gas.
When he tried to get back on the Highway he started to use the OFF RAMP. I screamed, “Peter, there’s a truck coming at us and he has the right of way!”
Peter replied, “I’m an American, I ALWAYS have the right of way.”
I said, “You may be an American but we’re both going to be dead in a minute.”
He would not swerve to avoid the truck. I had to grab the wheel from him or we would’ve had a head on collision with the truck. Seeing as how we were in a Cadillac it was no contest who would lose.
Somewhat off topic but I wanted to pass this interesting article along. It’s from the Tages Anzeiger of Zurich and discusses how a US passport is making life more complicated for US job seekers in Switzerland. The problem makes sense given that the US needs to know about all foreign accounts over which a US person has signatory powers.
http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/wirtschaft/karriere/USPass-erschwert-die-Stellensuche-/story/14584947
Translated page (using Google, so a bit rough):http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=de&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tagesanzeiger.ch%2Fwirtschaft%2Fkarriere%2FUSPass-erschwert-die-Stellensuche-%2Fstory%2F14584947&act=url
What goes around, comes around.
It’s time Americans began to grasp that concept. No doubt this is the first of many such moves from many countries other than France.
Maybe the US school system needs to make the story of Pandora’s Box required reading.
Suck it up, princes and princesses.
I can think of other less polite things to say to Americans about this, but they aren’t appropriate language for a public forum.
Not saying that what they’re doing is good, but this can be seen as a smart way of telling the US that they don’t want FATCA, just like the Swiss are closing Americans’ bank accounts. One way of showing their discontent among others…
Maybe someone in Tom Price’s jurisdiction should contact him, and explain him that this might be in response to the US trying to enforce FATCA. Anyone?
I can think of a great way the Europeans can get the US to pay the tax:
Either the US pays or they will slap a 35% witholding tax on financial transactions from US companies relating to European-source income!
@Wellington
Not a problem. Thanks for put it here too. It deserves attention, I think The link has now been posted on a couple threads, both the Switzerland IGA thread and Ask your FATCA Questions. BTW, just as a FATCA article resource, I and a couple other Brockers like @Badger and @Bubblebustin are putting links to FATCA stories we find on the FATCA Questions thread, so we keep a lot of the links in one place. If you are looking for something, you can often find it there. It isn’t 100%, but there is a lot of good material.
Off topic but related to our panic regarding banking issues.
I won’t go into too much personal details but due to extreme business difficulties I found it necessary to sever all ties with the bank I’ve been banking with for over 20 years and start new personal and business accounts at a completely different bank.
I was panicked about them interrogating my American husband who needed to also be able to do bookkeeping for my business which only I own but I normally give him power of attorney on my business accounts so he can take care of all the banking. I seriously considered not allowing him to be connected to the business account but in the end decided what the heck we’ll put him on and just not let on that he was born in the USA. The fear we felt while trying to do the most mundane task should be something the American government should be ashamed of. They’ve caused honest expat Americans to live in fear.
Anyway, no issues opening the accounts at all. Although we made sure we only showed them identification that showed no trace of him being an American. At the same time I proudly showed my passport showing India as my birthplace. Who knew being Indian could be so useful and being an American something to hide.
@ omg
Yours is a story being played out in different variations in many dual households right now — IF they have become aware of FATCA that is. It is never off topic to illustrate the problems and distress that this irrational, poorly conceived, absurdly complex, punitive piece of legislation called FATCA is causing ordinary, honest people who live outside and inside the “Homeland”.
More Irony Here comes the tax wars… From Linked-in
Last week, it was Starbucks. Now it is JP Morgan.. almost $1 Trillion (reported today in the Financial Times)
The FT report that “JPMorgan’s Jersey trust had previously operated with the full knowledge and authorisation of UK tax authorities.” Yes, everything was find until the UK learned about the American “foreign tax credit”
Wanting (or should I say needing) almost a trillion dollars, JP Morgan has complied. Since U.S. firms must pay tax on their worldwide income, the U.S. firms foreign taxes is paid by the U.S. Treasury.
Both the UK and the EU are exploiting this law. By ignoring their tax treaty with the United States, they are going after American businesses.
Here is a link to the FT article http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/3cb6aa3c-4098-11e2-8f90-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2EZ4iPKA5
You got to love it…
You get what you sow, dear America. We will be looking back on 2008 with UBS prosecution, 2009 with first OVDP, and 2010 with FATCA as the opening salvos in a world wide TAX war. Here comes the blow back, and I have to wonder which treasury will suffer the most in this race for more taxes offshore.
More here.. http://bit.ly/S0dBGO
@omghesstillanamerican
Yup, who would have thunk? What a sad tale it is. America is certainly making it’s citizens toxic. Great strategy.
More on the coming tax wars.
Google Revenues Sheltered in No-Tax Bermuda Soar to $10 Billion
The increase in Google’s revenues routed to Bermuda, disclosed in a Nov. 21 filing by a subsidiary in the Netherlands, could fuel the outrage spreading across Europe and in the U.S. over corporate tax dodging. Governments in France, the U.K., Italy and Australia are probing Google’s tax avoidance as they seek to boost revenue during economic doldrums.
Last week, the European Union’s executive body, the European Commission, advised member states to create blacklists of tax havens and adopt anti-abuse rules. Tax evasion and avoidance, which cost the EU 1 trillion euros ($1.3 trillion) a year, are “scandalous” and “an attack on the fundamental principle of fairness,” Algirdas Semeta, the EC’s commissioner for taxation, said at a press conference in Brussels.
‘Deep Embarrassment’
“The tax strategy of Google and other multinationals is a deep embarrassment to governments around Europe,” said Richard Murphy, an accountant and director of Tax Research LLP in Norfolk, England. “The political awareness now being created in the U.K., and to a lesser degree elsewhere in Europe, is: It’s us or them. People understand that if Google doesn’t pay, somebody else has to pay or services get cut.”
From Australia…
Super tax flagged to beat havens
More Tax Credits coming out of the U.S. Treasury? Maybe?