Yearly Archives: 2012

Breitbartby Mike Flynn 2 Aug 2012
President Barack Obama, along with many Democrats, likes to say that, while they may disagree with the GOP on many issues related to national security, they absolutely share their admiration and dedication to members of our armed forces. Obama, in particular, enjoys being seen visiting troops and having photos taken with members of our military. So, why is his campaign and the Democrat party suing to restrict their ability to vote in the upcoming election?…

WKSU News August 3, 2012
Obama campaign sues Ohio over military voting
Fifteen military groups are opposing a federal lawsuit in Ohio brought by President Barack Obama’s campaign because they say it could threaten voter protections afforded to service members. Obama’s campaign and Democrats argue the law unfairly ends in-person voting for most Ohioans three days earlier than it does for military and overseas voters. They say such disparate treatment is unconstitutional, and all voters should be able to vote on those days. Organizations including AMVETS asked a judge late Wednesday to dismiss the lawsuit. They say federal and state law recognizes military voters need extra time. They fear a court could find that service members shouldn’t be treated differently. Most Ohioans have until Friday evening before Election Day to cast a ballot in person. Military voters have until Monday.

Hey Obama, what about “equal treatment” with day care, medicare, unemployment benefits, income taxes, property or even retirement savings?  Maybe this explains why certain interests don’t want for expats to be able to easily vote at their local base or consulate.   Under the concept of “equality”, why can’t all voters have the option of voting “in person”?

Q Canada opposes the planned U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) aimed at American tax evaders in this country. Explain your concerns?

A FATCA is the poster child for the problem of extra-territoriality. One can understand the rationale. They want to cut down on tax evasion. Fine. We understand that and are sympathetic to that. It’s the way they have chosen to go about doing it which is a real problem. It’s hugely unworkable. It extends U.S. territoriality into Canada. It threatens to erode Canadian sovereignty. Ultimately … FATCA would have turned individual banks, individual financial institutions, into arms of the IRS [Internal Revenue Service] in the United States. If FATCA came through in its current form, before a Canadian citizen could open up a bank account at a Canadian bank, you would have to prove you were not an American citizen.

http://business.financialpost.com/2012/08/02/canadas-banking-system-very-strong-canadian-bankers-association-head-terry-campbell/

Researching the subject of “second home” in relation to American expats reveals that a “second home” is any home that is outside of America.  Costa Rica is said to be the most popular place for Americans to retire to their “second home“.  South-East Asian countries are seeing foreign retirees as “second home” purchasers.  Spain is considered as being one of the most popular places in Europe for a “second home”.  All of this gives one the impression that the a “second home” for Americans is any home that is not in America.

Yet, if an American living abroad seeks to buy their one and only single-family home in America, they are told that such is a “second home” or even an “investment property”.  With citizenship-based taxation on world-wide income, isn’t the one and only American home in America of an American their “first home”?  I would think so, but I’m told not.

I’m currently in the process of attempting to get a mortgage for my one and only single-family home in America as a “second home” and the entire effort is being threatened with a total collapse.  The problem is that the building insurance will only recognize it as being an “investment property”.  No problem, one would think, but this means that the American home of an American cannot be financed as a “second home” since it is insured as an “investment property”.  I explained that I might visit the property every now and then or even retire to it eventually.  Nope, that’s an “investment property” because it will be rented out, I was told by the building insurance.  I explained to them that I could leave the property unoccupied and live in it whenever I visited the area.  Yet, then it won’t be insured and if it’s not insured then it cannot be financed.

I thought that I was doing a good thing.  I wanted to invest my tiny American inheritance into America by getting a mortgage to help the troubled housing market and I fought my way past all the puzzling hindrances all the way to closing, such as foreign address issues, language issues, currency issues, tax issues, etc., only to learn that it might not close because my American home is a first or secondary home investment property conflict doomed for failure, thanks to the building insurance which states that “it’s the law”.

If that wasn’t bad enough, banks in Switzerland are telling me that they won’t finance my “second home” in Switzerland for the sole reason that I’m considered to be a “US person”.  Never mind my high credit ratings in the US and Switzerland.  Never mind that I have no criminal record in the US or Europe or anywhere else.  Never mind my qualifying income.  Never mind that I was honorably discharged from the US military.  Never mind the current inability to purchase a first or second home in America without it being defined as an “investment property”.  So, what now with one day left to go?

Well, following the advice of the lender, I went to another agency and answered the questions asked without volunteering any additional information, receiving the HO-3 Policy required to purchase a “second home”.  The price is the same and the conditions are pretty much the same, with the only difference being that the property insurance meets the requirements of the loan without the “abroad” identity being identified.

Chris Banescu at the American Thinker laments,  Win an Olympic Medal, Pay the IRS, and concludes that citizenship-based taxation puts US athletes at a disadvantage, citing American for Tax Reform:

Not only do our Olympic athletes have to pay taxes on their medals and prizes – chances are their competitors on the field will face no such taxation when they get home. Because the U.S. is virtually the only developed nation that taxes “worldwide” income earned overseas by its taxpayers, our Olympic athletes face a competitive disadvantage that has nothing to do with sports.

I thought this article might be interesting to some of you:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/us-election/tea-partys-canadian-born-rising-star-makes-waves-with-texas-primary-win/article4454006/

Ted Cruz the new Republican nominee for US Senate in Texas happens to have been born in Calgary and lived there for several years(I happen to believe even under Canadian nationality law of the era he is a dual citizen). Additionally Cruz was personally endorsed by several other “Tea Party” Senators including three of the four recent authors of that FATCA letter to Geithner(Jim DeMint, Mike Lee, and Rand Paul).

I will also note that all of the Washington “establishment” journalists are quite upset with Cruz’s victory complaining he is “hardliner” who will “gum up” the US Senate along with Rand Paul, Jim Demint, and Mike Lee.

ForbesThis is a guest post by Jochen Vogler, CFP, an executive director at Bellecapital International AG, an SEC-registered Zurich, Switzerland-based independent asset manager.

It’s summer, and Americans with wanderlust will find their dollars very welcome as they spend them at the London 2012 Olympics and in other distant lands. Those trying to open an overseas bank account will get a much chillier reception.

Increasingly, non-U.S. financial institutions, including those in Switzerland, Germany, and the United Kingdom, don’t want custody or management of assets owned by either American citizens or residents. If you had a foreign bank account in the past, you may have already received a letter asking you to leave within a few months or even weeks.

What has made U.S. investors so unpopular with most non-U.S. financial institutions? It started in the early 2000s with modest success and picked up in 2008 during the UBS investigation when the fiscally challenged government began looking for chances to increase tax revenue. The prime targets were U.S. taxpayers with undeclared assets overseas. Various agencies, especially the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Justice, set out to find and prosecute these non-compliant individuals.

This resulted in several so-called voluntary disclosure programs–updated versions of rules in existence since the first half of the 20th century. The latest (and third) one seems to have an indefinite life span. The previous two programs generated 33,000 disclosures and $ 4.4 billion in revenues since early 2009.

Banks that in past decades catered to clients who wanted to keep assets offshore, came under close scrutiny. UBS was the first major case in 2008 to 2009; Bank Wegelin was another. Today there are supposedly at least 11, some even say 40, Swiss banks on a target list of the Department of Justice for full review and potential indictment….

It is understandable for the US government to take action against money laundering, but the little innocent people cannot be harmed as a result of such.  US policy is making it difficult for American citizens to refinance their mortgages simply because they are “US Persons”, and such discrimination is a federal crime in the United States.  One would think that America would be more interested in protecting its citizens instead of harming them with flawed policy, but such doesn’t appear to be the case.

I wrote this up after I sent my ballot off for the local primary in my home state.  Will re-post later on the Flophouse.  A couple of comments first.  1.  Not everyone should vote in U.S. elections – if you don’t consider yourself a U.S. citizen (but the U.S. is trying to claim you) or you are in the process of renouncing relinquishing, then probably best to avoid it.  2.  Not everyone is thrilled by the voting methods being offered to overseas voters – this article is a good summary of their objections.

I just sent off my ballot for the primary election in my home state in the U.S.  For those of you U.S. citizens abroad who have tried to vote in the past and found it to be a frustrating and fruitless endeavor, this year I urge you to give it another shot.  Here was my experience.

My starting point was the Overseas Vote Foundation.  I used their wizard to answer a few simple questions and got a printable packet of documents that I then mailed to the government agency in the U.S. responsible for handling these requests for my voting district.

In a few short weeks, I received a new voter registration card in the mail at my Versailles address. A few weeks after that I got a mail from them that asked me how I would like to receive my ballot (paper copy or on-line).  I asked for a paper ballot but it didn’t seem to have been taken into account because, although I have been watching for it in the mail, it didn’t come.  With the date for the primary fast approaching, I was wondering what do.

In the end, I didn’t have to do anything.  They contacted me.  Here is the email I received – a gentle reminder that said:

Dear VICTORIA FERAUGE:
The deadline to return your ballot for the 2012 Primary Election is fast approaching and we have not yet received your ballot.  You must submit your ballot packet on or before 8 p.m. (PT) Election Day, August 7, 2012, for your vote to be counted!
You can go online to access King County’s secure electronic ballot delivery system where you may log in, mark, and print your ballot packet.

So I did as they suggested. I logged on, filled out my ballot using their very nice, user-friendly on-line interface, printed it out, signed it, scanned it and sent off the .pdf this morning.  Green.  Done.

Outstanding!

I sent along a Thank You note with my ballot.  Hey, when you catch people doing something right, it’s important to say so.  This was better than “right” – it was perfect.  I’d like to say again (publicly) to King Country Elections that they did a really fine job this year making life easier for us overseas voters who want to participate and have a voice in homeland politics.

Now, that is my experience with my state’s election officials.  It might be different with yours.  Nevertheless, there is progress and you may be pleasantly surprised.

So give it a try and register.  Americans abroad have a few issues on the table right now and this is one way (among others)  we can make those issues known and put pressure on homeland politicians to sit up and pay attention.