Liberty and justice for all United States persons abroad

The Isaac Brock Society

Posted on by Posted in Issues regarding US persons abroad 659 Comments

ADMISSION FEE $20 UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED (to cover costs)

  • Toronto, ON U.S. Citizenship & Young Adults: Navigating The Special Rules Imposed On U.S.Citizens Abroad Sat, June 7, 10 am to 12 noon, Univ of Toronto, St. Michael’s College, Carr Hall, 100 St. Joseph St, MAP NB: $20 individual or $40 for a family of up to four people

 

Vancouver notes (Feb 22) Updated on March 28 here

 

Toronto group Saturday, January 25, 2014, Carr Hall
Carr Hall

I received the following announcement about information sessions, provided by Toronto based lawyer, for people affected by the USA’s extra-territorial tax overreach which violates Canada’s sovereignty.  I think it is a good idea.  If you are an alleged US person and you have become aware that the US claims that you should be filing your taxes, please do nothing, do not enter the OVDI program, and above all, do not call a US cross border tax specialist (neither a lawyer nor an accountant), but educate yourself first. The paid experts will scare the hell out of you.  There are many options besides allowing a cross border specialist lead you as a lamb to the slaughter.

If you are a Canadian citizen or resident of Canada, you have specific rights and protections that even FATCA cannot revoke. This is why these informational sessions will be useful to you.  They will lay out and explore all your options.

Sincerely, Petros

Please note that the speaker would like help finding venues that are inexpensive or free.  Perhaps those living in the various cities could ask if a Church or other may be able to offer space.  Please keep returning for updates.

Here is the announcement:

Recent CBC Coverage of FATCA and Citizenship-based taxation:

irscanada

The recent CBC coverage of FATCA and U.S. extraterritorial taxation has raised awareness/concern over the plight of Canadian citizens of U.S. origin. Those who are learning about this for the first time (the OMG moment) will be experiencing a combination of shock, fear, betrayal and more. There will be lots of people interested in understanding the situation and determining whether and/or how to respond.

The following comment appeared on the blog:

Looks like the recent media coverage is creating mass panic in Canada. This might force the Canadian government to issue a statement sooner rather than later. This is good. But I feel bad for the people who are just having their OMG moment. They need some sound advice as to not to make bad decisions which would devastate them financially. While each situation is different, the Canadian government owes it to affected Canadians to provide some guidance and advice and fast. It needs to be official cannot just come from web sites like IBS or Maple Sandbox. Maybe the administrators should add some notes like they can’t be held responsible for actions that people take by following advice on these blogs. This is common sense, but might protect you from lawsuits.

We agree! The important thing it to stay calm! Do NOT panic! Do not react to this situation! Take your time to make the decisions that are appropriate to your situation! Above all else, do NOT even consider entering the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program or any other kind of disclosure program unless you are certain that it is right for you (which it almost certainly is NOT)!

Obviously NO blog or web site can provide reliable legal advice. No seminar for the general public can provide reliable legal advice! Your job is simply to begin gathering information and beginning to understand the new reality of U.S. citizenship.

What follows are a list of “Solving The Problems of U.S. Citizenship” information sessions that you can attend, for a nominal fee and anonymously! The sessions are NOT intended to provide legal advice. But, they are intended to help you identify the issues that may apply to your situation.

Do NOT engage the services of an accountant or lawyer before equipping yourself with some basic knowledge!

Solving The Problems of U.S. Citizenship – Exploratory Sessions

The topics covered are designed to alert you to issues and are NOT offered as legal or accounting advice specific to your situation.

They include:

Citizenship Issues:

– Are you STILL a U.S. citizen?

– Are your children U.S. citizens?

– What might FATCA mean for me?

Tax Issues

– Filing U.S. tax returns – what’s involved?

– Filing information returns (FBAR, Form 3520, 5471, etc.)

– Reasonable cause (avoiding penalties)

Financial Planning Issues

– investment products that are cancerous for U.S. citizens

Does it make sense to renounce U.S. citizenship?

– Renouncing U.S. citizenship

____________________________________________________________________

How To Attend …

Once a session has been marked “CONFIRMED” you are free to attend. Each session will have a $20 admission fee (to offset the cost of the room) which is payable in cash at the door. Neither taping nor video of any kind will be permitted.

first published 14 January 2014

659 thoughts on “Solving the problems of U.S. citizenship – Information sessions!”

  1. @Jgl51:
    Attached link is to an IRS analysis of an IRA distribution by a US citizen resident in Switzerland:

    http://hodgen.com/ira-distribution-to-u-s-citizen-living-in-switzerland-which-country-taxes-it/

    As I understand it, the US will tax at, say 30% but will allow a credit for the Swiss taxes at the Swiss rate, say 15%, so the effective rate would be 30%, the US tax rate.

    While recognizing that you might wish to withdraw your IRA at one time, staggering the withdrawals over two or more years might result in a lower average rates. Also, you might look at converting (parts of) a standard IRA to a Roth IRA as a way to reduce the US tax rate. This might have a similar effect to staggering the withdrawals of a standard IRA over several years.

    For your country, it might be worthwhile to search for a similar IRS analysis, possibly on the name “M. Grace Fleeman”, who wrote this one.

  2. @innocente: Thanks a lot for the research and info. I did read the document. In this case the person is no longer a US citizen but will only file the associated tax paperwork in 2015. As far as converting now, any conversion will be flat taxed by the US at 30% as a NR. I guess I will need to find a smart tax lawyer (in fact I’ll need two one in each country) who can figure this one out!!! Well it is only (retirement) money!

  3. @noone stated: “Assuming accidental Americans want out, it would be great to come up with some sort of state diagram showing path to renunciation/relinquishment (that’s the engineer in me).”

    I experimented with something like that once. It’s not perfect, but I could dig it up again.

  4. @SwissPinoy: Different topic! Do you have any experience with / knowledge of (US) IRA distribution for a non (no longer) US citizen residing in Switzerland (i.e. after renunciation / relinquishment)?

  5. @jgl51, Unfortunately not. I inherited a tiny IRA while I was still a US citizen.

    @noone, here’s the diagram that I created: https://imageshack.com/i/7gfe24p
    It’s not perfect. I need to update. At the time, I think that I got stuck on accidentals with disabilities.

  6. @jgl51
    AS far as i know IRAs and other pensions are only taxable in the country of resesidence, according to the Swiss-American tax treaty. In other words after you renounce US citizenship and live in CH you will only owe CH taxes on the distributions.

  8. @jgl51
    After renouncing you get your RMD every year and count that as income on your CH tax return, or you can close your IRA and declare the lump sum payment on the CH tax return and pay a reduced tax according to which Kanton you pay taxes in.

  9. @In no and jgl51
    I think ACA has an article on this subject on their Website. I’ll try to find it and post a link here later. For now I promised my kids I’d watch the Star Wars the Clone Wars with them on Super RTL.

  10. A good read for anyone contemplating renouncing US citizenship. Isaac Brock Society is mentioned in Part 2.

    International Man (blog) – How I Renounced My US Citizenship and Why, Part I:

    http://www.internationalman.com/78-global-perspectives/1070-how-i-renounced-my-us-citizenship-and-why,-part-i

    How I Renounced My US Citizenship and Why, Part II:

    http://www.internationalman.com/78-global-perspectives/1072-how-i-renounced-my-us-citizenship-and-why,-part-ii

  12. For Kingston it’s Saturday is Feb. 01 rather than 02! The Second is a Sunday. So, it’s the Delahaye Room of the Kingston Frontenac Central Library on FEB. FIRST. Located at 130 Johnson Street, Kingston, Ontario.

    Please email me if you want any information about coming to this meeting from surrounding locations. Brockville, Athens, Seely’s Bay, Smith Fall’s, Napannee, Trenton, Belleville. All of you perhaps affected by FATCA should try to attend. atticus in canada at gmail dot com.

    This is a downtown location. The library has a tiny cafe on the main floor but, there are also numerous eateries, cafes, restaurants in walking distance from this location should you arrive early or if you would like somewhere to eat after the meeting.

  15. Just for general interest, some specifics with some on the online classifieds:

    Here are the updated listings (all but one, having some trouble with the edit)

    http://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-community-events-Americans-Abroad-Tax-Reporting-Issues-W0QQAdIdZ559837906QQfeaturedAdZtrue

    Views 104 enhancement: Homepage Gallery; Top Ad; Community: Events

    http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/tor/eve/4292126892.html

    http://toronto.backpage.com/Classes/us-citizenship-abroad-and-taxes/20533392
    Supposed to cross-list in NOW Magazine

    http://yourclassifieds.ca/ontario/events/us-citizenship-abroad-taxes/45C48D0202dc22606Bjum181AFD4
    Scrolling ad on front page;
    this will show in all 114 Metroland papers in Ontario so creates visibility for the “cause” even if not the meeting specifically

    http://www.canetads.com/view/item-1739718-US-Citizenship-Abroad-Taxes.html

    Views 89

    http://www.eventbrite.ca/e/us-citizenship-abroad-taxes-tickets-10234063359?aff=eorg

    Views 111

    http://www.classifiedads.com/announcements-ad82665539.htm

    Views 10

    http://www.eclassifieds4u.com/toronto/ca-americans-abroad-taxes-ad-nlmkp246862

    http://www.redleafads.com/americans-abroad-taxes-a81656.html

    http://www.free4uclassifieds.com/display_full_ad.php?ADID=101002
    address not updated yet

  19. Yay, Tricia, and I’ll better your twitter toes will be typing out tweets too. You are good at that also. Thank you!

  20. @Tricia
    Fantastic job. It is like an avalanche.

    @ChearsBigEars
    That is amazing news. A hearing in congress on Americans abroad getting kicked offmvank accounts.

  25. @northernstar

    Hate to be cynical, but that is just a typical Dem approach. Call for hearings, or a Commission to study the problem of their own making, but nothing is done. I expect this to be as successful as Maloney’s HR 597 which went no where..

    It was blogged about here on Isaac Brock, back in February of last year.

    They will still be talking about hearings when the last American living abroad renounces their citizenship!

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