Here are links provided to me by a source within CRA. Please read and provide your feedback. This is crucial information about how Canadian financial institutions will provide details about US Persons to the CRA and how Finance intends to introduce overriding legislation to enable it. This is a must-read:
The CRA has prepared documents in response to the signing of the intergovernmental agreement (IGA) related to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) to help Canadians understand the implications of the agreement from an administrative perspective. This guidance is available on the CRA website at the following URLs:
In addition, Department of Finance has also now posted on its website the Legislative Proposals and Explanatory Notes Relating to the Canada-United States Enhanced Tax Information Exchange Agreement
I glanced through http://www.fin.gc.ca/treaties-conventions/pdf/FATCA-eng.pdf
It seems to talk about what Canada wants to do for America, but I didn’t see any mention of what America would do for Canada.
“I hold a U.S. green card. How does this affect my tax residency?
If you are a green card holder (that is, a lawful permanent resident of the U.S.), the U.S. considers you to be a U.S. resident.
However, if you are a resident of Canada for tax purposes and do not hold U.S. citizenship, you should not identify yourself as a U.S. person to your Canadian financial institution.”
BULL. Maybe they should consult their masters, the Canadian Bankers Association before putting misinformation out.
Even though this doesn’t apply to me anymore (boy, am I glad I have my CLN), it makes me feel ill to read it.
I can’t digest the legaleze, so I just glossed over it, but…
2 things jumped out at me (sorry-don’t know how to cut and paste from that document)
#1) in section 2 (6) there is a $100 fine for any person who doesn’t provide a US Tax identification # (ie for citizens a SSN) when required unless application is made within 90 days. At least , I suppose, we could be grateful that the fine is more appropriate to the “offense” than the US versions of “$10,000” for everything. But who is supposed to collect this? The CRA? the police? Nobody? And we all know what is involved in applying for, let alone getting a SSN. How are they going to know whether the SSN has been applied for?
#2 In section 264 A Canadian financial Institution MAY (not shall) designate a US account as non-US in a number of situations. So might it not be easier for a bank to just ignore that bit and report TFSA’s RESP’s etc anyway?
There is more I could say, but for the sake of my mental health, I have to stop now
@ bubblebustin
Where did you find that?
@ALL
perhaps the CCLU can answer such questions…I just joined and found there is a March symposium in Toronto. http://ccla.org/home/pathways2privacy/
What the heck does this mean?
“A U.S. resident would not generally be expected to include a person that has economic and social ties that are closer to Canada than the U.S.”
@CanuckDoc says
I can’t read or digest anymore myself. So to make it easier…why don’t they just give up all the gov’t databases to the US… so when u cross customs into Canada… instead of welcome to Canada.. they just say… Welcome to the Commonwealth of the US & empty your pockets cause u got to pay for the right to breathe & live.
I do like this part:
” A financial institution complying with the agreement will not be required to ask its account holders about their place of birth.”
But they’ll have to pull my fingernails out with pliers before I’ll give ’em my SSN!
Is there ANY recourse in this thing for those who have their information given to a foreign country when they were not supposed to have shared it? Mistakes will be made and a lot of them.
I signed up for the CCLA”s symposium too.
@Maz57
I missed that bit. It is encouraging.
Does it actually say anywhere that they have to ask if you are a US person? If not, it could end up in a sort of “don’t ask…don’t tell” situation.
@maz57
*will not be required to ask*
But they will phrase the question in such a way that u may answer without thought cause I read it as… its up to the institution to figure it out. If that is not the case… why use *will not* and not use the words *are not*
But then I could be over thinking the wording
From the FAQs:
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/nnrsdnts/nhncdrprtng/fq-eng.html
9. Do I have to provide my U.S. Taxpayer Identification Number?
Canadian financial institutions have a legal responsibility to ask for your U.S. TIN in connection with certain accounts. If you are a U.S. resident or U.S. citizen, you have to provide your U.S. TIN to your financial institution when asked.
14. Does my Canadian financial institution have to notify me if information on my accounts is being reported to the CRA?
Canadian financial institutions must be open about their policies and procedures for complying with the Agreement and must be prepared to make this information available to anyone who asks about them. Although there will be no obligation for financial institutions to automatically notify their account holders about reporting to the CRA under the Agreement, financial institutions must, upon request, allow account holders to have access to the personal information that has been reported.
My word search did not find “green card” in the FAQs but from the US side of the border a green card holder is labeled as a “US resident for tax purposes” even though he/she does not actually reside in the USA. (From the saner side of the border, reside means reside.) For the USA it’s a sort of phantom residency thingy — all for tax purposes, of course. For the CRA, “US resident” means “US person” but from which side of the border are they taking their definition of resident from? It’s still not clear to me. Anyway I sent an e-mail to all Conservative MPs yesterday to let them know I would never forgive this betrayal and I would never vote Conservative again. Not that they care.
Headline: “FATCA tax deal with U.S. takes some heat off Canadian banks.” While this might true for the moment, one should know the deal signed by the Canadian government is not the end goal of the United States Government.
The Government of Canada is proud to announce that it obtained many concessions from the US in regards to registered disability savings plans, registered education savings plans, or tax-free savings accounts.
In an attempt to demonstrate sovereignty the Canadian Government included in the negotiations that it would not assist the assist the IRS in the collection of tax liabilities or penalties.
“This is strictly a tax information-sharing agreement. This agreement will not impose any U.S. taxes or penalties on U.S. citizens or U.S. residents holding accounts in Canada. The CRA does not collect the U.S. tax liability of a Canadian citizen if the individual was a Canadian citizen at the time the liability arose. This includes dual Canada-U.S. citizens. That will not change under this agreement.” Kerry-Lynne D. Findlay, Minister of National Revenue
In essence the Canadian government as well as other countries that have entered into an intergovernmental agreement to force their financial institutions to comply with a Joe Doe summons akin to the summons on all of their financial institutions. The Canadian Bankers Association should remember the when the Swiss government agreed to allow such a summons resulting in the UBS forking over names and a $780 million penalty. Other Swiss banks had to shut their doors.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “This summons is the latest step in our efforts to identify and prosecute U.S. taxpayers who think they can evade their legal responsibility to pay taxes by secreting their money away in anonymous off-shore accounts at Wegelin and other banks, and to recover the hundreds of millions of dollars that is owed to the IRS. Wegelin’s recent guilty plea for facilitating this conduct – the first such plea by a Swiss financial institution – made it possible for us to take this step and our work continues in earnest.”
FACTA is no different than a global John Doe summon on all international financial institutions except on a grander scale. By signing up, the governments of the world have signed over their authority over banking within their own borders. Once the US has collected the information they will be going directly after the banks to collect the required taxes and penalties. If they refuse, the US will impose the 30% withholding fee on the bank. After in a global economy where the US clears 95% of the international transaction, not to capitulate would suicide for the bank.
At this point there will be nothing the governments of the world will be able to do. They will have already sealed the own destiny. They will have given their authority over the international banks that that have allegiance to only the US. The Canadian Bankers Association has been lulled into a false since of security. Not only will Canadian banks be required to pay millions in penalties in order to survive, just like their counter parts in Switzerland the US Department of Justice will go after those bankers and agents who have assisted in the hiding the assets of US person in Canada and other nations.
Information is power. The sovereign nations of the world should realize this. The world needs to stand up together and say NO to US. If not, the US will take over every country’s financial institutions one at a time.
@Em
Here: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/nnrsdnts/nhncdrprtng/ndvdls-eng.html
@Worldwide
“If the camel once gets his nose in the tent, his body will soon follow.”
The CRA notes have a question on old relinquishers:
17. Does the Agreement require Canadian financial institutions to report to the CRA on any individuals who were told that they relinquished their U.S. citizenship when they became Canadian citizens?
The Agreement does not require Canadian financial institutions to report on any individuals who have relinquished their U.S. citizenship and are not residents of the U.S.
Individuals who have relinquished their U.S. citizenship may be asked by their financial institution for documentation to this effect.
Apparently banks are not required to go after them, but may require documentation. That leaves two questions:
1. What documentation? Will it be sufficient to produce your certificate of Canadian citizenship with a date showing that you became a citizen at a time when everyone was told they automatically relinquished? Or will a CLN be absolutely required?
2. Does “not required” mean they can go ahead and report you anyway?
There seems to be a lot of “not requireds” in these notes.
Hmm, it’s been a while since I asked the reception thingie at my local TD Bank about FATCA. I wonder if I’d still get the same cud-chewing expression as every other time.
@ bubblebustin — Thanks!
Also from the link bubblebustin provided:
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/nnrsdnts/nhncdrprtng/ndvdls-eng.html
What if I don’t co-operate with my financial institution?
If your Canadian financial institution has information in its records that shows that you may be a U.S. citizen or a U.S. resident and you have not given your financial institution enough information to clarify your status, it may have to report your account to the CRA as a U.S. account. If that’s the case, the CRA would exchange information about your account with the IRS.
@Deckard1138
Cud-chewing look will either turn into deer-in-the-headlights or Cheshire cat, depending on the individual’s personality and prejudices.
@Em
FYI, the CBA has removed their pages pertaining to FATCA (which included the reference to green card holders).
@CanuckDoc. Funny you should use the phrase “don’t ask, don’t tell”. That’s exactly what my (wholly) Canadian spouse said to me last night. I can imagine a scenario where some low level bank official, who has moral compass and is tasked with the due diligence job, might actually ask something like “just to be absolutely clear, you’re a Canadian, right?” You then respond affirmatively, they tick the box, and voila!, everyone’s off the hook. I think once the enormity of FATCA’s violation of Canada and Canadians sinks in, ordinary bank employees might just decide to “work to the FATCA rule”.
I think that’s why FATCA will ultimately fall flat on it’s face. Unwilling account holders, unwilling bank employees, unwilling bank bureaucracies sending info to unwilling national revenue bureaucracies, which in turn send this massive glut of erroneous info to an incompetent, understaffed IRS bureaucracy.
All this times 190 countries around the world. There are so many weak links in the chain that it’s guaranteed to break. It’s a regular “coalition of the unwilling”!
bubblebustin and Deckhard,
…and individual’s national origin.
@ bubblebustin
I didn’t know the CBA had “pages pertaining to FATCA”. Or did you mean CRA? The CRA link you provided with the “green card” question is still good.
PLEASE TAKE THE TIME AND FORWARD THIS SATIRE OF THE AGREEMENT TO ALL RABBIS IN CANADA Maybe their memories will be awakened enough to speak out against this witch hunt
THE FOLLOWING IS A SATIRICAL PROPOSAL REFLECTING THE RECENT IGA THAT HARPER SIGNED WITH THE US. IT BEARS STRIKING RESEMBLANCE TO THE IGA THAT HARPER SIGNED WITH ADOLPH HITLER 80 YEARS AGO.
1. What is the purpose of the Canada-U.S. Intergovernmental Agreement?
The Agreement will provide an alternative means of meeting the U.S. objectives under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act by relying on existing provisions for information exchange under the Canada-U.S. Tax Treaty. The Agreement requires Canadian financial institutions to identify financial accounts held by JEWISH U.S. residents and JEWISH U.S. citizens or by entities that are organized in the U.S. or controlled by certain JEWISH U.S. persons and to report that information to the CRA. The U.S. will provide Canada with enhanced and increased information on certain accounts of JEWISH Canadian residents held at U.S. financial institutions.
2. When will the Agreement take effect?
Canadian financial institutions will have to start collecting information about new client accounts in July 2014 and will report information collected in 2014 on their existing and new JEWISH U.S. account holders to the CRA starting in 2015. From then on, accounts will be reported annually for the prior year.
3. Will my financial data remain confidential?
The information will be exchanged in accordance with the provisions of the Canada-U.S. tax treaty. The treaty contains robust safeguards to make sure that the IRS will treat as confidential the taxpayer information that it receives and that it will use the information solely to administer tax laws.
4. What will each government do with the information it receives?
The information received by the CRA and the IRS will be used primarily for risk assessment purposes and to ensure that taxpayers properly report their income from accounts held in the other country.
The Canada-U.S. tax treaty limits the use of information received through exchanges such that it can only be used for the purposes of the administration of tax laws. Thus, for example, the IRS will be precluded from sharing the information it receives under this Agreement with non-tax authorities. Also, the IRS will not be permitted to use the information it receives under this Agreement to administer non-tax laws such as the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act.
5. Why does the CRA exchange information with other countries?
Exchanging information gives the CRA and other tax authorities information that is relevant for tax administration purposes and that they otherwise don’t have access to because it’s in another jurisdiction. The information helps tax administrators prevent tax evasion and ensure that everyone pays their fair share of taxes.
What the Agreement means for individuals with financial accounts in Canada
1. Will the new reporting requirement change how I interact with my Canadian financial institution?
2. On what form will I have to provide the information?
3. What types of accounts will be reported?
4. What if I only spent the winter months in the U.S.?
5. How does my citizenship affect my tax residency?
6. Will my financial institution be asking me if I was born in the U.S.?
7. Am I obliged to provide the information?
8. What type of information will be reported to the U.S.?
9. Do I have to provide my U.S. Taxpayer Identification Number?
10. I am not a U.S. person, but I have a joint account with a U.S. person. How does the Agreement affect me?
11. I am a Canadian resident and I hold accounts in the U.S. How does the Agreement affect me?
12. If I have several financial accounts, how will they be reported?
13. How do I know whether my financial institution has to comply with the Agreement and whether my account is subject to review?
14. Does my financial institution have to notify me if information on my accounts is being reported to the CRA?
15. What if a Canadian financial institution reports my account in error?
16. I am a U.S. citizen living in Canada and was not aware that the U.S. wants me to file tax returns. Will the Agreement mean that I now have to pay U.S. tax?
17. Does the Agreement require Canadian financial institutions to report to the CRA on any individuals who were told that they relinquished their U.S. citizenship when they became Canadian citizens?
________________________________________
1. Will the new reporting requirement change how I interact with my Canadian financial institution?
You might be asked about your tax residency status in connection with your existing accounts (if there is information associated with your account that suggests you may be a JEWIISH U.S. person) or when you open a new account. You might also be asked by your financial institution to provide certain evidence (such as a driver’s licence) to support a claim that you are not a JEWISH U.S. person if information associated with your account otherwise suggests that you may be a JEWISH U.S. person. Financial institutions need this information to satisfy their obligations under Canadian law and to determine whether they have certain tax reporting obligations to the CRA.
2. On what form will I have to provide the information?
The CRA has not issued a form for Canadian financial institutions to use. They can decide themselves how to get the information from their account holders. Your financial institution might ask you to fill out a form for this sole purpose or it might have a comprehensive account opening form or document.
3. What types of accounts will be reported?
Canadian financial institutions will have to report accounts which include most bank accounts, mutual funds, brokerage accounts, and custodial accounts, annuity contracts (including segregated fund contracts), and some life insurance policies with a cash value.
An account is not reportable if it falls within an exempt category such as the following government-registered plans:
• registered retirement savings plans
• registered retirement income funds
• pooled registered pension plans
• registered pension plans
• tax-free savings accounts
• registered disability savings plans
• registered education savings plans
• deferred profit-sharing plans
Your financial institution may also not be obliged to identify and report on certain accounts the values of which are below certain thresholds.
4. What if I only spend the winter months in the U.S.?
Many Canadians spend a significant amount of time in the U.S. to attend school, to live during the winter, or for other reasons, but many of them are neither citizens nor residents of the U.S. Under the Agreement, these people could be identified by their financial institution in Canada as potentially being JEWISH U.S. account holders because of information associated with their account, such as a U.S. address or telephone number. Their financial institution could ask them to provide documents showing that they are not JEWISH U.S. residents or JEWISH U.S. citizens.
Special procedures will be developed to streamline this process for such individuals. Further information will be released in the near future.
5. How does my citizenship affect my tax residency?
Canada and virtually all other countries do not tax on the basis of citizenship. The citizenship you hold is generally not relevant in determining your residency for tax purposes.
The U.S. tax system is different from most countries in that it treats all U.S. citizens as U.S. residents for tax purposes no matter where in the world they reside. Therefore, if you are a JEWISH U.S. citizen, you are a resident of the U.S. for tax purposes even if you hold another citizenship or reside in Canada or any other country.
6. Will my financial institution be asking me if I was born in the U.S.?
A financial institution complying with the Agreement will not be required to ask its account holders about their place of birth.
If a financial institution, applying the due diligence rules of the Agreement to its accounts, discovers any records connected to the account that have an unambiguous indication of a U.S. place of birth, the financial institution may treat the account as a reportable account or follow up with the account holder to obtain documentation that shows the account holder is not a JEWISH U.S. resident or JEWISH U.S. citizen.
7. Am I obliged to provide the information?
Canadian financial institutions have a legal responsibility to know where you reside for tax purposes and they are entitled to ask you for that information.
If you refuse to cooperate with your financial institution, it may treat the account as a JEWISH U.S. reportable account and report your account to the CRA.
8. What type of information will be reported to the U.S.?
Canadian financial institutions will generally have to report the following type of information:
• identifying information about the account holder (name and address)
• account number
• account balance or value at end of the year
• certain amounts paid or credited to the account
9. Do I have to provide my JEWISH U.S. Taxpayer Identification Number OR A NUMBER TATOOED ON YOUR ARM SUCH AS THIS: http://www.davealpert.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/holocaust_tattoo.jpg ?
Canadian financial institutions have a legal responsibility to ask for your JEWISH U.S. TIN in connection with certain accounts. If you are a JEWISH U.S. resident or JEWISH U.S. citizen, you have to provide your JEWISH U.S. TIN to your financial institution when asked.
10. I am not a JEWISH U.S. person, but I have a joint account with a JEWISH U.S. person. How does the Agreement affect me?
If a Canadian financial institution identifies an account as a reportable account and the account is a joint account, the financial institution will report the full value of the account to the CRA. Identifying information (name, address, Taxpayer Identification Number) associated with joint account holders who are not U.S. persons will not be reported.
11. I am a Canadian resident and I hold accounts in the U.S. How does the Agreement affect me?
If an account held by a JEWISH Canadian resident is identified as a reportable account by a U.S. financial institution, then the account will be reported on by the financial institution to the IRS, which will transmit the information to the CRA.
12. If I have several financial accounts, how will they be reported?
If you are identified as a JEWISH U.S. person, your Canadian financial institution will report your accounts individually to the CRA.
13. How do I know whether my Canadian financial institution has to comply with the Agreement and whether my account is subject to review?
Under the Agreement, a number of Canadian financial institutions could be partially or fully exempt from the requirements to undertake due diligence and to report on JEWISH U.S. account holders. For instance, smaller Canadian deposit-taking institutions, such as credit unions, with assets under $175 million, can be exempt.
A partial exemption is available for a Canadian financial institution if it is not part of a multinational group (i.e., it is not related to any entities organized outside of Canada) and at least 98 percent of its financial accounts are held by Canadian residents. These financial institutions will not be obliged to apply due diligence or report on accounts held by individuals who are Canadian residents.
If you would like to know the status and obligations of a particular financial institution under the Agreement, please contact the financial institution directly.
14. Does my Canadian financial institution have to notify me if information on my accounts is being reported to the CRA?
Canadian financial institutions must be open about their policies and procedures for complying with the Agreement and must be prepared to make this information available to anyone who asks about them. Although there will be no obligation for financial institutions to automatically notify their account holders about reporting to the CRA under the Agreement, financial institutions must, upon request, allow account holders to have access to the personal information that has been reported.
15. What if a Canadian financial institution reports my account in error?
In the unlikely event that a Canadian financial institution reports your account in error, it can send the CRA a notice of correction. If we receive this notice after sharing the original data with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS), we will ask the IRS to disregard the original, incorrect data.
16. I am a JEWISH U.S. citizen living in Canada and was not aware that the U.S. wants me to file tax returns. Will the Agreement mean that I now have to pay U.S. tax?
The Agreement is strictly an information-sharing agreement and does not involve any new or higher taxes.
Unlike Canada, the U.S. taxes its citizens who reside in other countries on their worldwide income. The U.S. citizenship-based tax regime has been in place for many years and is not altered by the Agreement. For more information, please refer to the U.S. IRS Instructions for New Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures for Non-Resident, Non-Filer U.S. Taxpayers.
17. Does the Agreement require Canadian financial institutions to report to the CRA on any individuals who were told that they relinquished their U.S. citizenship when they became Canadian citizens?
The Agreement does not require Canadian financial institutions to report on any individuals who have relinquished their U.S. citizenship and are not residents of the U.S.
Individuals who have relinquished their U.S. citizenship may be asked by their financial institution for documentation to this effect.
What the Agreement means for financial institutions in Canada
1. Under the Agreement, how will financial institutions identify accounts held by U.S. residents and U.S. citizens? What will the financial institutions do with this information?
2. Do all financial institutions have to comply with the Agreement?
3. How will Canada and the U.S. enforce the reporting of information by their respective financial institutions?
________________________________________
1. Under the Agreement, how will financial institutions identify accounts held by JEWISH U.S. residents and JEWISH U.S. citizens? What will the financial institutions do with this information?
Canadian financial institutions will be required to identify account holders that are JEWISH U.S. person, including JEWISH U.S. residents and JEWISH U.S. citizens, by following the due diligence procedures of the Agreement. The due diligence procedures vary depending on whether the account holder is an individual or an entity and whether the account was opened on or before, or after, June 30, 2014. In certain circumstances, the due diligence procedures are more intensive for accounts with a value of more than US$1,000,000. There are also a number of exemptions from due diligence available for accounts that have a low value and for certain specified types of accounts, such as federally registered savings products (for example, RRSPs and TFSAs).
Guidance on how Canadian financial institutions will be expected to undertake due diligence will be released in the near future.
Canadian financial institutions will report information on their JEWISH U.S. account holders to the CRA annually starting in 2015. Canadian financial institutions will also be required to report on account holders that fail to respond to their financial institution when contacted with a request for documentation to clarify whether they are a JEWISH U.S. resident or JEWISH U.S. citizen, in a manner similar to the reporting on JEWISH U.S. account holders.
2. Do all financial institutions have to comply with the Agreement?
The Agreement generally applies to all types of financial institutions, including deposit-taking institutions, custodial institutions, insurance companies, and investment entities. The types of entities in Canada that will meet these criteria will be further detailed in the implementing legislation. Guidance will also be provided in the near future for Canadian financial institutions.
For certain types of financial institutions, exemptions from some or all of the due diligence and reporting obligations under the Agreement will be available. For example, smaller deposit-taking institutions, such as credit unions, with assets of less than $175 million can be exempt from reporting.
A partial exemption is available for a Canadian financial institution if it is not part of a multinational group (i.e., it is not related to any entities organized outside of Canada) and at least 98 percent of its financial accounts are held by Canadian residents. These financial institutions will not be obliged to apply due diligence or report on accounts held by individuals who are Canadian residents.
3. How will Canada and the U.S. enforce the reporting of information by their respective financial institutions?
In Canada, the due diligence and reporting requirements imposed on Canadian financial institutions by the Agreement will need to be implemented through new legislation that will be proposed to Parliament in the near future. As the administrator of Canada’s tax laws, the CRA will be responsible for monitoring and enforcing the due diligence and reporting requirements in Canada for Canadian financial institutions under the Agreement.
In the U.S., the IRS will be responsible for enforcing the reporting of the information required under the Agreement by U.S. financial institutions. The U.S. will rely on its existing laws to require U.S. financial institutions to report to the IRS the information that U.S. financial institutions are required to obtain under the Agreement on accounts held by Canadian residents.
Date modified:
2014-02-06
@em
The Canadian bankers Association
These instructions don’t seem all that clear or firm to me. Maybe it is ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’?
Many thanks @northernstar and atticus for mentioning the
Canadian Civil Liberties Association’s March symposium in Toronto!
http://ccla.org/home/pathways2privacy/
VERY important to note this session:
‘A. Cockfield, Queens University, “The Privacy Implications of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).”
3:15-4:30 Panel 4: Privacy and Financial Information
“Financial information is often highly personal and is perceived as requiring strong privacy protection, yet it is also information much in demand by private sector agencies seeking to market financial services to governments, citizens and other corporations. This panel presents OPC-funded research focusing on the current privacy issues in the financial arena.”
(my NOTE: This session may be based on research funded by the SMALLEST of the 2023-14 grants that the Canadian Privacy Commissioner awarded (see Project Backgrounders
Contributions Program 2013-2014 http://www.priv.gc.ca/resource/cp/2013-2014/cp_bg_e.asp ).
I note also that there was no specific mention of this project or its contents in the so-called ‘answers’ that the federal government made to MP Hsu and MP Brison’s questions in Parliament on FATCA.
Where is Prof. Cockfield’s report on this publicly funded project available for public and Parliamentary review? And, in the original description, it was to also focus on NAFTA and FATCA. See:
“Project Description: The project will review the privacy implications of the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) in light of Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act. Specifically, the project will review implications on Canadian privacy rights and interests of any new agreement negotiated between Canada and the United States to implement FATCA. The project will also examine the interplay of FATCA with other Canadian laws that protect taxpayer privacy such as the Income Tax Act, the Canada-United States Tax Convention Act and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Finally, the project will review how Canadian banks are trying to comply with all relevant laws, and whether these banks are adopting new information technology systems to help them identify, sort, and transfer financial information to U.S. tax authorities.”
It would seem very odd if the Privacy Commissioner (who has been contacted by several individuals to express concern over the last few years regarding US extraterritorial reporting demands ) knew of the privacy issues raised by FATCA – had said that s/he was ‘following the issue’ – yet the report from this project is not in evidence on the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada website, and there have been NO comments on FATCA in the media emanating from the Commissioner’s office – despite her knowing that the IGA was imminent, and then, that the IGA had been signed.
If Flaherty and Harper are so very confident that the FATCA IGA is ‘consistent’ with the privacy and other Charter/civil rights of Canadian citizens and residents, then why no statement issued from the OPCC stating that?
and,
Most of the discussion at IBS has had a focus on the impact of CBT and FATCA on individual and family assets, but many readers might also have business concerns;
If you are a small business owner reading here, this organization; ‘Canadian Federation of Independent Business’ seems to have grasped the privacy and other implications of FATCA for small and family businesses in Canada. It may be worth contacting to enlist in pushback:
http://www.cfib-fcei.ca/english/article/5325-us-law-could-erase-privacy-protections-are-you-affected.html . Perhaps they would want to sent a representative or members to this CCLU event as well? If you are a member, or your interests coincide with theirs, you might consider checking them out, and joining them in order to make the small business impact of this better known – contact a business counsellor at 1-888-234-2232 or cfib@cfib.ca. They might even want to sponsor an information event of their own to better inform the small business sector.