It just gets weirder:
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national-news/2014/05/15/407761/Ma-promises.htm
TAIPEI, Taiwan — If President Ma Ying-jeou is indeed subject to U.S. taxes, he will take political responsibility by resigning, the Presidential Office said yesterday.
Next Magazine yesterday released a report claiming that the president has to pay taxes to the U.S. under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), saying that Ma is poised to turn himself into an “international laughingstock” by becoming the first R.O.C. president subject to U.S. taxes.
That the president of Taiwan has to pay taxes to the U.S. is an unacceptable shame to this nation, and more importantly, Ma has been dishonest, making all sorts of excuses to evade the fact that he became head of state while holding a valid Green Card, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang said in response to the Next Magazine report. “If Ma has a sense of shame and responsibility, he ought to step down immediately.”
Former DPP Chairmen Frank Hsieh and Yu Shyi-kun made similar remarks while speaking to the press.
The Presidential Office would like Su, Hsieh and Yu to promise that they will apologize to the nation for their unfounded remarks, Presidential Office spokeswoman Garfie Li said.
Next Magazine, IRS Beijing
A Next Magazine reporter apparently sent an email to IRS Beijing, claiming to be a Green Card holder named “Mark Y. J. Ma” born on July 12, 1950, and asked whether or not he — “Mark Y. J. Ma” — is subject to tax payments under FATCA.The magazine explained that the inquiry was explicitly written using the president’s Green Card details.
IRS Beijing reportedly responded by saying that even if a person’s Green Card expires, “it doesn’t necessarily mean that (the person is) no longer (a) U.S. resident for tax purposes” and that the person “is required to report and pay (U.S.) tax on (his or her) worldwide income regardless of where (he or she) lives,” unless that person has voluntarily renounced his or her Green Card status “in writing” to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) or if that status has been “administratively terminated” or “judicially terminated” by the USCIS or a U.S. federal court.
Response to Report, ‘IRS Reply’
According to sources, the president applied for a Green Card under the name “Ying-jeou Ma” as opposed to “Mark Y. J. Ma.”Furthermore, the president was born on July 13, 1950, not July 12, 1950.
Experts said that legal action can be taken against the reporter for attempting to impersonate the head of state.
Sources said that IRS Beijing wrote a “general response” as opposed to a specific response to “Mark Y. J. Ma,” judging from the content of the reply.
Additional reports here:
http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?cid=1101&MainCatID=11&id=20140515000077
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2014/05/15/2003590395
And, for good measure:
http://hodgen.com/expatriation-and-the-expiring-green-card/
So, will he or won’t he? Inquiring minds would like to know.
@GeorgeIII, you weren’t very nice to Bubblebustin dissing her advice to contact your MP for clarification. So, she fell into the OVDP trap, and perhaps if she knew then what she knows now would have done things differently. Regardless, she is quite the fighter, and is FREE to wash her hands of FATCA now, yet has hung behind in the trenches with the rest of us, and written many amazing letters and comments.
Besides, I think she was being sarcastic with her suggestion to you.
@WhiteKat
Like you, GeorgeIII is in the resist and never cross the border camp, but unlike you, has little understanding and respect for other’s choices. My position would likely be the same with or without OVDI, for reasons too complex for me to reiterate here. Actually, I was serious about suggesting he contact his MP, but didn’t realize that he might be too afraid to do so.
Thanks for the recognition, WhiteKat. @GeorgeIII without victims, there is no crime.
Sorry about typos. Typing on my phone.
@GeorgeIII
I believe things NEED clarification and signed in blood. Everyone has a different story. If one was listening to Hannah yesterday then it all seems to be no big deal. I still can’t sort out why they feel they are off the hook re privacy concerns if the CRA reports rather than the banks. (Among other million things that they obfuscate trying to sell the kook-aid [misspelling intentional]).
Also some of us do have to pay US taxes. Some of our stories are not all as clean as others. Family, business, grandchildren, parents in nursing homes. The list goes on.
@Bubblebustin, Although resisting filing US tax returns and FBARS, I may still cross the border. If they put me in jail, will you help raise money for my bail?
@WhiteKat
Can we share a cell? I am worried, never looked good in orange.
WhiteKat who? Lol! Just kidding, yes I would. But it ain’t going to happen, so it’s easy to say.
@ WhiteKat
Just wear your protest tennis shoes for good luck and you’ll be fine but if it happens (and it won’t) I’ll definitely help to bail you out. I’m resisting the same as you except I’m also resisting (easily actually) any tiniest urge to cross the border.
http://m.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/2014/05/15/407764/AIT-nixes.htm
Green cards automatically expire after 1 year if not used !!!!!
@ChearsBigEars: Green cards automatically expire after 1 year if not used
For immigration purposes, but not for tax purposes.
http://blogs.angloinfo.com/us-tax/2012/12/31/giving-up-your-us-green-card-make-sure-it-is-done-correctly-or-pay-the-price/
“Many clients who come to see me are under the mistaken belief that simply because their green cards have ‘expired’ they are no longer US tax subjects. This is incorrect. The tax law is very precise on this topic. Under the US tax rules, once resident status is acquired, it is deemed to continue unless it is rescinded or administratively or judicially determined to have been abandoned.”
If Ma gave up the green card affirmatively, he’s off the hook. However, if he just let it lapse…
@Watcher …your post……May 15, 2014 at 4:02 pm and referenced link….
““Many clients who come to see me are under the mistaken belief that simply because their green cards have ‘expired’ they are no longer US tax subjects”
errrr. everything on all sources (IRS, IBS, maple sandbox, franco american flophouse, american thinker, centre for Freedom and prosperity, UN, etc etc) makes me think of a differnt prhasing
Tax subjects? null points (well eurovision in last few days)……………. no……. TAX SLAVES!!
IBS pls stay strong, stay well , stay sane, stay on line………. we need all of you
my goal this weekend: watch “12 years a slave”
@Publius I know the post was removed, but for clarification as I just wrote above as well, AIT cannot and will not confirm the status of ANY America, that is private information. And even though a Greencard has expired it does not get the tax payer off the hook. If Ma owes any taxes to the US government the people here are going to go nuts, because it means since his presidency now in it’s 6th year I believe, that he has maintained a US persons’ status which under local law for politicians is illegal!
Ok well now this is interesting…. According to the article AIT has now confirmed he does not have a Greencard. Which is really wierd.. I don’t know if I can trust this story or not, and if they really did confirm, shame on AIT for releasing and supporting this clown of a president. Here we go again of US involving in local politics of another country… So Publius, I guess you might have been correct afterall.. http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national-news/2014/05/16/407832/AIT-verifies.htm
This is just insane! I will be chiming in with a comment on that article today.
@Charl, Sure, we can share a cell. Does snoring keep you awake? BTW, I look awful in orange also; it clashes with my red hair.
@Em, contrary to popular belief, neither I nor Atticus wore tennis shoes when we protested outside Ottawa trailers.
@Bubble, thanks, I knew I could count on you.
To give an example of what nofatcataiwan’s talking about (“those with status, such as having a US passport, are considered wealthy and the enemy”), here’s some comments last year from the head of a Taiwanese real estate agency which is looking for customers in the U.S. market:
http://www.appledaily.com.tw/appledaily/article/headline/20131030/35399650/
@Just Me: well, it’s a double-edged sword. Highly-politicised publicity is good at warning people who aren’t yet in a U.S. tax mess (intending immigrants, new returnees who haven’t yet started moving their assets out of the U.S.) against getting into a mess in the first place. But for people who are already in a mess, it just cements the attitudes of the bureaucracy and the public against them, meaning that their government will take no action to protect them and the “man on the street” has no sympathy for them.
Ah hahaha no we wore our standard issue protesting army boots, as I remember! 😉
At any rate I am a person who does not have the option of never crossing the border again and I wouldn’t take that option if I did. I have a ton of family there, some of whom cannot travel as I can. I don’t think after losing citizenship I’d enjoy not ever seeing those family members again. How much blood should I have to give because of this? I would not ever have owed a red penny in taxes.
One of the provisions I would like to see as amendments at the very least is that for those who have had to renounce since FATCA steams forward and Parliament was clear we are “collateral damage” as per the New York lawyer is an “all clear” type of visitor visa. So we aren’t further harssed. We’ve been put through enough and are innocent and law abiding.
I will write to my MP and other MP”s as I think Allison’s suggestions that an amendment could be made that would let the banks carry on reporting but, NOT reporting on Canadian citizens or residents, only on those temporarily here is doable. It is workable and it lets the banks and Canadian citizens both be able to work around this thing.
Atticus, you only need a Canadian passport and not a visa to enter USA, perhaps your slip-up. Since I renounced I have visited the USA twice and one of the times the Homeless Insecurity guy seemed to take a little extra time on the computer. I think my Canadian passport number is cross referenced to my cancelled US passport. Anyway both times no questions were asked. A repair to our “collateral damage” should be to give us back US citizenship if one thinks it is worth it.
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In sorta-related news, Taiwanese media report that Kuan Chung-ming on the central bank’s board of directors refused to renounce U.S. citizenship for nearly a decade after he first took up his post in 2002:
http://www.setnews.net/News.aspx?PageGroupID=6&NewsID=24525&PageType=3
Anyway he’s listed in the Federal Register for March 2012:
https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2012/04/30/2012-10274/quarterly-publication-of-individuals-who-have-chosen-to-expatriate
Now the all-important question, in case FinCEN didn’t already get around to answering it when Stanley Fischer was at the Bank of Israel: if a U.S. Person central banker doesn’t file an FBAR, should his fine be 300% of M1, M2, or M3?