Monthly Archives: April 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=F-rsqi9IwoE

MEP Sophia In’t Veld speaking on FATCA in February.

http://www.uspirgedfund.org/news/usf/new-study-offshore-tax-dodging-blows-40-billion-hole-state-budgets

http://www.uspirgedfund.org/sites/pirg/files/reports/USPIRG_State_Tax_Havens.pdf

5. States could withhold taxes as part of federal FATCA withholding. The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) prescribes a 30 percent federal withholding tax on companies that transfer funds to foreign financial institutions that do not comply with U.S. disclosure and reporting requirements. States that collect income taxes could withhold state taxes on these funds at the same time.

Most of you have probably seen this news one place or another. The Guardian has been at the forefront:

Millions of internal records have leaked from Britain’s offshore financial industry, exposing for the first time the identities of thousands of holders of anonymous wealth from around the world, from presidents to plutocrats, the daughter of a notorious dictator and a British millionaire accused of concealing assets from his ex-wife.

More at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/apr/03/offshore-secrets-offshore-tax-haven

Here is the Financial Times:
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/7ca55c98-9d49-11e2-88e9-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2PWwSdno4

http://uspirg.org/reports/usp/picking-tab-2013

Joined by coalition of US small businesses demanding immediate implementation of FATCA.

The two nasty surprises for the NII are as follows:

1. No foreign tax credit for the NII.. this means the 3.8% tax will result in double taxation

2. As drafted, the NII rules will subject RRSP (and other CDN retirement plans) to the new tax:

a. Currently as income is earned in the RRSP; and

b. Upon distribution from the account.

Published on April 4, 2013 in Moodys Tax Advisors Blog:

New US tax law may negatively affect Canadian retirement plans

On April 2, 2013, Roy Berg and James Gifford were in Washington DC to present the Canadian perspective on the proposed regulations under IRC 1411, the provision that implements the 3.8% tax on net investment income that was enacted as part of the US health care overhaul in 2010. The IRS had requested public comments on the proposed regulations issued on December 5, 2012. Moodys submitted a comment articulating a number of our concerns.

…

Two areas of greatest concern are the treatment of Canadian RRSPs and pensions and whether foreign tax credits may be used to offset the NII. Unless the proposed regulations are modified a new 3.8% tax will likely apply to US citizens resident in Canada or Canadians who are resident in the US on the following types of income:

Income generated in Canadian retirement plans (including RRSPs, DPSPs, LIRAs, TFSAs, etc.), even though this income is not taxable under the Canada-US Treaty;
Even if #1 does not apply, distributions from Canadian retirement plans will likely be subject to the tax;
Payments made to retirees under the Canada Pension Plan (“CPP”); and
Recipients of government pensions.

Further, unless there are changes to the proposed regulations, Canadian snow birds that rely on the Treaty to “tie-break” back to Canada may have their net investment income subject to this tax.

This is good in a twisted way. Canadian politicians don’t go after their “own.” Real embarrassing for Liberal Senator Percy Downe of PEI to have a fellow party member in this situation.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2013/04/03/merchant-offshore-trust.html

A prominent Canadian lawyer, husband to a Liberal senator, moved nearly $2 million to secretive financial havens while he was locked in battle with the Canada Revenue Agency over his taxes, according to documents in a massive leak of offshore financial data that were shared exclusively in Canada with CBC News.

Senator Pana Merchant, left, was named as a beneficiary of a trust set up by her husband, lawyer Tony Merchant.

Tony Merchant of Regina, dubbed Canada’s class-action king because of the large settlements he has won for his clients, transferred money to a tax haven in the South Pacific and then onward to an account in the Caribbean, according to the files. His wife, Senator Pana Merchant, as well as their three sons are named in the documents as beneficiaries of the funds.

The transactions are detailed in a huge leak of offshore financial information received by the Washington, D.C.-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, a non-profit group that has shared the records with CBC News and media outlets in 35 other countries. It is thought to be one of the biggest ever leaks of financial data.

I thought this might be a good opportunity to remind people that Canada has bank secrecy laws too. Remember PIPEDA.

From the privacy commissioner

http://www.priv.gc.ca/information/02_05_d_08_e.asp

PIPEDA requires private-sector organizations to collect, use or disclose your personal information by fair and lawful means, with your consent, and only for purposes that are stated and reasonable.

They’re also obliged to protect your personal information through appropriate security measures, and to destroy it when it’s no longer needed for the original purposes.

You have the right to expect the personal information the organization holds about you to be accurate, complete and up-to-date. That means you have a right to see it, and to ask for corrections if they got it wrong.

If you think an organization covered by PIPEDA is not living up to its obligations, you should try to address your concerns directly with the organization. If that doesn’t work, you have the option of lodging a complaint with the Privacy Commissioner.

PIPEDA applies to the personal information collected, used or disclosed by organizations engaged in commercial activities, from banks and retail outlets to airlines, communications companies and law firms. It applies equally to small and big businesses, whether they operate out of an actual building or only online. The law, which has been fully in force since 2004, applies to private enterprises across Canada.

There are exceptions: Many private enterprises operating within British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec are covered not by PIPEDA but by similar provincial statutes.

But, even in those provinces, PIPEDA applies to organizations under federal jurisdiction, such as companies involved in banking, transportation, broadcasting or telecommunications. For those businesses, PIPEDA also applies to the personal information of employees.

Another law, called the Privacy Act, protects the privacy of your dealings with federal government departments, agencies and Crown corporations

The number of Chinese who became US citizens has declined annually over the last five years to 31,868 in 2012 from 40,017 in 2008, according to the US Department of Homeland Security…

…”I don’t really have the urge to apply for full US citizenship,” Duan said. “I like the freedom I have to travel back and forth between China.”

The IT programmer said he also has been deterred from getting citizenship by frustrated friends whose US citizenship makes buying real estate in China more difficult and also requires them to pay taxes on their overseas businesses.

According to Lin, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, which seeks to curtail offshore tax evasion, is also a factor in the decline of Chinese seeking naturalization.

“It’s a law that’s very well known in the Chinese community,” Lin said. “People are really concerned about the implications.”

Under the new law, US taxpayers holding financial assets abroad must report those assets to the Internal Revenue Service if assets exceed $50,000.

Failure to report those assets may result in a $10,000 to $50,000 penalty..

The law also requires foreign banks and financial entities to find any American account holders and disclose their balances, receipts and withdrawals to the IRS or be subject to a 30 percent withholding tax on income from US financial assets held by the banks or financial entities.

More

While watching the CTV news at 11, I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard the claim by CRA that taxes due from Canadians holding secret bank accounts in Lichtenstein prior to the signing of the DTA were uncollectable due to Canadian privacy laws. You can hear this for yourself

http://www.ctvnews.ca/video?playlistId=1.1223543

Kevin Newman interviewed a Lichtenstein official for this short clip; there will be a segment on W5 this Saturday at 7 pm. The whistleblower on the 100 Canadians with Lichtenstein accounts will be featured.

My goodness, I do believe we can use this!