Amid IRS Abuse, Record Number of Americans Give Up U.S. Citizenship http://t.co/OH7V8SkhRB – Who could have known?
— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) December 12, 2013
This is a great post about Americans renouncing citizenship which cites a number of interesting sources.
McClatchy news highlighted the plight of Oklahoma-born Ruth Anne Freeborn, who has lived in Canada with her Canadian husband and son for over three decades. Because of FATCA, her foreign bank was required to hand over all of her family’s financial information to the Obama administration, which her husband, of course, opposed. So, after carefully considering her options, Freeborn eventually decided to renounce her U.S. citizenship in September rather than subject her family to intrusive prying by the IRS and the federal government.
“My decision was either to protect my Canadian spouse and child from this overreach or I could relinquish my U.S. citizenship,” she told the news service, which reported that growing numbers of Americans were “ditching their U.S. passports out of frustration and fear” over FATCA. “It was with great sorrow I felt I had to relinquish, but there was no other choice for me and many like me…. My husband cannot understand why Americans are so offended by having their personal emails and phone calls monitored by the NSA yet are very comfortable requiring a Canadian to hand over their bank account data.”
The increasingly byzantine and oppressive regulations, along with more aggressive government efforts to enforce them, have also led a growing number of banks and financial institutions around the world to refuse to do business with anyone subject to Uncle Sam. As The New American has been reporting for years, Congress and the IRS have essentially made U.S. citizens into pariahs around the world in many respects. In some cases, the U.S. government has even gone so far as to terrorize and threaten governments and nations that refuse to bow to the will of Washington’s political class. Switzerland and the Swiss were among the most recent victims.
For Americans living overseas, it is becoming increasingly nightmarish. “Many banks, foreign financial institutions, are just turning Americans away — it’s easier for them not to have American clients,” explained Marylouise Serrato, executive director of the group American Citizens Abroad, in comments about the effect of FATCA and IRS regulations. “For some people it [renunciation] becomes a solution. But it’s done with a very heavy heart.”
This of course makes one wonder:
Why is the United States so cruel to U.S. citizens abroad?
@ Nick
You would be astounded at how much Shadow Raider has already done. I am in complete awe of him. Take a peek at this thread …
http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2012/07/23/shadow-raider-is-rewriting-the-united-state-internal-revenue-code/
Happy to have you here but wish so much your circumstances were better, much better.
http://hodgen.com/renunciation-trends-in-auckland/1 ‘Renunciation trends in Auckland’
by Phil Hodgen on December 12, 2013
“I received an email yesterday from a contact in New Zealand. Renunciations in the Auckland Consulate are apparently way, way up compared to last year….”
@Nick, I don’t know how to get attention either, through social media or other means. The way I can help is by providing you with the documents I have written, which include extensive information and references. You may use and edit them as you wish, if you contact your congressman, for example.
Presentation about FBAR
Presentation about international taxation of individuals
Suggestions for international tax reform
That will be excellent help for Nick, Shadow Raider.
Nick, when you click on these links, you may get the message (from docs.google.com) “Sorry, we are unable to generate a view of the document at this time. Please try again later.”
Go to the left hand side of that page and click on the “DOWNLOAD” symbol (which is the DOWN ARROW). The document will download and you can then save to your own computer to then be able to use in your own correspondence to your congressman.
@ Allou,
I’m sorry I don’t have any insight into what’s going on with the CLN turnaround time. The Europeans who have reported here have reported times ranging from 3 weeks to 6 months (most received by 3 months) with an outlier at 8 months, and one person we lost contact with.
Difference in turnaround time depend on which of the 5 Zone offices in DC handles them. Western Hemisphere was backlogged up to a year during 2012-13. I heard — through the grapevine, don’t know for sure– that that bottleneck was due to a staffing shortage at a high level in that office. Western Hemisphere is also getting swamped with the 50 years worth of Canadian relinqushers needing CLNs in addition to the renunciations and present-day relinquishments. Europe has generally been pretty fast to turnaround CLNs. It is plausible that the Europe zone is now backlogged as the everyday banking situation for USCs in some countries there is getting more and more dire.
Another variable that comes to mind is the consulate, how fast they move on sending the file on to DC. Presumably, though, if they had neglected to forward your file, they would have checked for that once they got your e-mail. Unless they were out to cause trouble – generally they’re not. I’m assuming you didn’t pick up any “attitude problem” with them.
As for your e-mails to them, I think that if you feel they’re not brushing you off with their replies, presumably the CLN will turn up soon because it seems unlikely a zone would go quickly from an average 2 month delay to an average 1 year delay.
If you feel you are being brushed off, you could contact your zone office in DC. Asian Expat had to do that because Jakarta would not follow up on his e-mails for over a year! I wouldn’t wait near that long, that’s for sure. Anyway he contacted DC and, given the circumstances, they took care of it right away.
The word on the grapevine is that the Belgium consulate is doing 5 renunciations a week (likely limited by appointment times). If Belgium is average for the 190 countries of the world, it would mean 1000 renunciations per week.
@allou
What country are you in? I was in the same situation last year. When I renounced, I was told it would take 3-4 weeks. In the end it took approx. 4 months.
@ calgary411,
Thank you for your kind words of encouragement. All the best to you, too!!
Yes, @Sad, our Calgary is a gem! <3
Or, as she said, a stubborn old broad — and I’ve earned that. Thanks, monalisa and Sad-in-the-UK.
As I try to figure out myself and my reactions in all of this (dangerous, I know, but I know of no professional who can help me with my ‘US’ problem and all it has wrought for me — and I’m sure for others. This, too, could be another benefit of the HIRE Act, giving a new category of mental health providers to help ‘US Persons’ whose lives have significantly changed after their OMG moments.), I’m trying to put more of my thoughts on such things as blame of ourselves and other outcomes. I and others have wondered if there are different types of personalities combined with life experiences that make some of us so much more involved in this than people who can slough it off, thinking it won’t affect them? It may take awhile for me to get that down. When I do, I hope it will be something shareable.
@Calgary411,
Re: ‘I and others have wondered if there are different types of personalities combined with life experiences that make some of us so much more involved in this than people who can slough it off, thinking it won’t affect them?”
I believe that for me it has something to do with being bullied several times in my life: in grade school, employment situations, romantic relationships, and most recently as an adult attending a torturous ‘boot camp’ dental hygiene school. Those experiences in combination with a very ‘feeling’ personality type and a high(almost painful) empathy for all things living (animals, trees, nature, etc), makes it impossible for me to sit back and do nothing at this half-way point in my life. Anger, concern for the world we leave behind to our children and grand children, and a strong drive to do something, has replaced fear and intimidation.
@all
I was told 4 months..July 15, 2013 for my CLN…I relinquished. It is 5 months today… I will wait until after the holidays to call. With it or without it I won’t be going back to the USA. I have no US money, investments or relatives to go back to.
When the time comes for the Cdn banks to ask me about my AP status I hope to have my CLN…otherwise I will stall as long as I can.
In the meantime. Is it just $10k in each bank you are allowed before your report. or $50K…not counting RRSPs? I have been reading different things on other blogs.
Oh, as for others facing FATCA differently… My 82 year old friend who is not a Canadian citizen but 50 years a Canadian permanent resident says she is more concerned about the imminent END TIMES coming…She is praying.
We are all so different. She is a kind and caring woman. All of us here are emphatic and caring. I guess that is why we are here to find we are NOT crazy people. We ARE caring people
northernstar,
If your Canadian bank asks you about your US status, you can ask them with what authority they ask about your nationality. According to our main bank internet sites, they too are waiting on announcement of results of Canada’s negotiations with the US. They are not likely to ask anything about regular bank accounts until that time. It has been reported a couple of times that the “Investment Banking” arms of some banks have asked; perhaps prematurely and but they already have AML / KYC procedures in place. Hopefully, hopefully, hopefully, if some things we’ve heard are correct — Canadian registered accounts will be exempt?????
(How might your 82 year-old US (and non-Canadian citizen) friend respond to her bank? Perhaps the end times will come before her financial institutions ask such question?)
We cannot second guess what terms will be based on an IGA that is still in negotiation between Canada and the US. It is thought that Canada’s, if???, will resemble the IGA signed by the UK.
These may help:
The UK-US Agreement.
Intergovernmental Agreements Monitor
Comparison of IGA Model Agreements to Final Regulations
Northern star. Not $10,000. Not $50,000. It’s $ 1 million unless your bank already knows your citizenship.
@Duke of Devon…
Really…. Well, I am not close to that. LOL.
I AM a little minnow.
http://thoughtsandpolitics.blogspot.ca/2013/12/americans-abroad-denounce-offshore-tax.html
Mentions IBS, some readers/authors here, and also says;
…”…Another issue brought up by a fellow journalist in Canada is a discrepancy in the statistics on expatriations from the U.S. government agencies. Patrick Cain has covered this in the Global News and points out that the list in the Federal Register conflicts with statistics kept by the FBI.
I intend to follow up on this inquiry in upcoming postings.”
I relinquished on 16 Sept. (Toronto) and am still waiting. I was told maybe April at the time, so am not worried yet. I was afraid she’d tell me a whole year, really. Still, does anyone know who to contact in DC? I didn’t know about these ‘zones’ or how to call over to Foggy Bottom.
I also didn’t like leaving the consulate without any proof that I just did what I did.
@ Michael Putman
I went in July to relinquish and left without any proof I did request my CLN backdated to 1993 when I became Canadian Citizen. I have my appt paper though so that is my proof I was there that date. I am still waiting.
WhiteKat,
You’ve been able to turn your life experiences and your realization of how FATCA and US citizenship-based taxation law will affect those beyond us into positive action borne of your anger that all this can somehow happen. The best use of all inside you. Thanks.
(I’ve just posted: http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2013/12/15/wondering-why-has-the-world-turned-more-upside-down-for-some-than-other-us-persons-abroad/.)