Want to renounce U.S. citizenship in Toronto? Consulate can take you in September, 2015 http://t.co/TfPKRdrFIX pic.twitter.com/gaaZ5QQmMu
— Patrick Cain (@Cain) November 18, 2014
Thirty-five-year-old Rocky Martin travelled from his home in Sundre, Alta., to Tijuana, Mexico to get rid of his U.S. citizenship.
And he saved himself about $1,800 by doing so.
Martin, born in Canada, inherited U.S. citizenship from his mother, who registered him as an American born abroad when he was a baby.
“I’d heard rumblings that I was supposed to be filing taxes, but I’d never taken action on it. Then about a year and a half ago, I decided I should look into this a little further,” he said.
He didn’t like what he found.
The first quote he got from a Calgary accounting firm was that he’d need to pay $15,000-$20,000 to become U.S. tax-compliant.
“I didn’t sleep well for days,” he said. “That’s all my life savings, all for the purpose of showing them I don’t owe any taxes.”
After shopping around for accountants, the lowest quote he got was for about $4,000.
But as the Internal Revenue Service prepared to crack down on U.S. citizens abroad who weren’t paying taxes, Martin became uneasy.
“I just didn’t feel comfortable with the bully on the block having this big stick, and threatening to beat me the whole time with it.”
He was thinking of renouncing his U.S. citizenship – his ongoing tax preparation bill was going to be $500 a year.
Read the complete article here.
The article includes links to the Alliance For The Defence of Canadian Sovereignty FATCA lawsuit.
I wish he’d commented the “reasonableness” of sacrificing Canadian citizens to protect the banks. Oh well at least there was something.
I’m so pleased to see another thorough article by Patrick Cain — now many chapters of this story! And, thanks, Rocky, for telling your important and incredulous story in your interview with Patrick for Global News — how you figured out how to save money on your renunciation fee — and have a mini-vacation thrown in for good measure. May be the best vacation you’ve had so far or yet to have! Had you waited for Calgary or Toronto — the full new fee and no vacation for you. Brilliant move!
Cheryl, I think that Patrick well leaves it up to his reader what to conclude about any reasonableness of protecting the Canadian banks over actual Canadian people, whether citizens or permanent residents of Canada. He must report and the courts will judge the rest with the crucial litigation on behalf of all US-defined *US Persons in Canada* to determine just who and what is protected under the Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
(We’ve recently seen in the documents brought forward in US FOIAs that we are NOT just collateral damage of all of this, but indeed we have been targeted and thus criminalized in our own country, Canada. My interpretation, but the courts to decide — the Canadian government, in my view, is complicit with the plans set forth in the documents discussed here .)
Finally. It’s nice to see that there’s at least one Canadian journalist who’s not a Harper/bank ‘presstitute’. But what’s this business about not being able to renounce or relinquish at a consulate outside your region now?
It’s called more obfuscastion and deliberate slowing down the flow of US citizenship renunciations –no matter what the US Department of State bloody says, bubblebustin!
That’s a real krackerjack article by Patrick Cain. Our thanks to Rocky for putting one of our most interesting stories forward. Loved how the ADCS got featured.
That was a very good article from Patrick Cain.
Renunciation tourism is certainly becoming a growing niche market. Travel agencies will soon be bundling holiday trips with renunciation appointments.
Except, Samuel Adams, there is now word that we must expatriate in ‘our own necks of the wood’, in order to curtail the ingenuity of the likes of Rocky Martin?:
https://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2014/11/04/my-november-4-2014-conversation-with-toronto-consul-general-of-us-new-renunciation-appointments-extended-to-september-2015/comment-page-2/#comment-4272312
Right, Stephen: http://www.adcs-adsc.ca/ the only logical answer.
@Calgary411, “We’ve recently seen in the documents brought forward in US FOIAs that we are NOT just collateral damage of all of this, but indeed we have been targeted”
Its called “Death by excel or powerpoint.”
I would suspect based on my “prior life”…….that some young hot shot straight out of College did an excel spreadsheet and came up with the targeting to generate a few billion in penalties and make a name for him/herself.
The revenue generated is rather simple by design. In the past no one had the gaul to do it, it was just inconceivable…….
But again I guess some young hotshot wanted to make a name and they did it…
We had those overly ambitious up and comers where I was employed for sure, George. My mom would have called them, and now I get to, WHIPPERSNAPPERS! There are other synonyms.
I am going the relinquishment with a vacation route. We are travelling from Ontario to Vancouver to visit relatives over the Christmas holidays. I have an appointment booked with the Vancouver consulate in December. @Calgary411—I can’t believe some consulates are now restricting renunciations to local residents. They sure want to make this as difficult as possible. I am just hoping they don’t soon start charging a fee for relinquishment too. The renunciation fee is outrageous and unaffordable for many unfortunate “US persons”.
@Somerfugi, ” They sure want to make this as difficult as possible. ”
Yep and I guess it will get harder and harder.
I think that we will see more and more take on temporary, very temporary, foreign government employment for the sole purpose of relinquishment!!
It should be the duty and sovereign obligation of the Government of Canada to offer one day of paid employment to every accidental in Canada!!!
Hi All,
Bermuda, told me at the time that they would only deal with Hamilton Residents. (Not Ontario 🙂 ) So, I just kept emailing all around until a found a couple that could do it for me. The Consulate in the Bahamas was really good and I would have gone their if my wife would have been able to accompany me, but she had prior commitments that she was unable to come. So instead I went to Tijuana as it was logistically easier for me to get there. It is such a shame that I had to go through this whole process to do this.
Hopefully this doesn’t red flag my CLN. But they cannot prevent me from getting it. It is just a silly story that this all came to be this way. For anyone who is interested. I donated a portion of my “savings” the the Charter Challenge. I just felt that the irony was to delicious to pass up.
Calgary411, thanks for passing Patrick Cain’s information onto me so I could tell this story.
Cheers.,
Rocky
aka: krackerjack121
Rocky
@ krackerjack121
WIN, WIN, WIN — You got a vacation. You will eventually get that CLN. And, your wife got some Mexican vanilla. One more WIN — We got a great story. 🙂 I didn’t realize you are so young. No wonder you had all that energy to beat the $2350 toll. Thank you for donating some of your savings to ADCS, a perfect way to complete the freedom journey.
I have reread the article and now agree that is is very good. However, I wish that regular Canadians would see these stories and I’m not sure they will follow the links etc. That’s where my disappointment lies. I am impatient . Actually as I have only been involved for a few months I don’t know how you all have been slugging it out for so long without completely decompensating. I to would like to thank Rocky for coming forward. Please let this thing go to court soon.
@Cheryl, “I don’t know how you all have been slugging it out for so long without completely decompensating.”
I am not a long termer like some but an inbetweener…..
At one point I started drinking a bottle of wine each and every day until my body started speaking to me and said no mas……
You too will have your ups and downs but the cause is just and victory is ensured…..
I have learned that as a place America is not exceptional. Rather many of its people exhibit exceptional ism.
And many of those exceptionals became the dispora when the dream of America flamed out.
@Somerfugl
Can you say when you made your December Vancouver appointment? I ask because it seems Vancouver has not been on the ball lately with appointments, so I’m curious as to what kind of wait you have.
TIA
@ Cheryl
I found Brock a few months after it was created but the “old” (actually young, energy-wise) hands came from an expat forum where they were being censored for bringing up the “R” word. Let’s just say they didn’t take kindly to that and we’ve all benefited from their determination to get the word out and to help as many people as possible. Doesn’t matter when any of us joins the journey, only that we keep marching on together. BTW, my impatience probably exceeds yours. We ALL want this FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) to be over with.
Wow! Now they want to tell us to go expatriate in our neck of the woods?
Just another gross violation on the right to expatriate from the ‘land of the free’.
@mjh…..well most homelanders no longer consider the homeland home of the free!!
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/under-obama-u.s.-personal-freedom-ranking-slips-below-france/article/2556322
I know this doesn’t directly relate to our plight, but I will share this article anyway:
http://www.cp24.com/canadian-couple-who-gave-birth-in-hawaii-slammed-with-nearly-1m-medical-bill-1.2108178
Meet the newest future taxpayer for the US! Her parents, Canadians from Saskatchewan, were on vacation in Hawaii. The woman was six months pregnant; she went into labour unexpectedly on the second day of the vacation.
Blue Cross, her insurer, is refusing to pay the medical bill of $1 Million dollars. Well, at least the little girl has the option of easily renouncing her US Citizenship before her 18th birthday…
@Cerium398
At $1 million dollars, it sounds like the hospital has a problem. The Saskatchewan couple likewise should refuse to pay it. It’s a ridiculous amount.
@George
A lot of my family back stateside will agree with that sentiment as well.
From the article:
So the State Department knows what the real story is, yet is still trying to lock the exits?
Must be nice not to be have to be troubled with having a conscience.
@tdott
I sent in all the paperwork to Vancouver in late August and requested a December appointment. I got a call several weeks later saying that they were only booking October appointments and had no idea what would be available in December due to holidays. The woman I spoke to said she would call me back when she knew. She did phone back a few weeks ago and gave me a December 19th appointment.
She did mention that Vancouver was getting very busy and thought wait times would be getting a lot longer.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybrew/saskatchewan-family-struggles-with-insurance-after-213910416.html
Poor kid doesn’t know it yet but she’s in for a life time of presumed guilt, double taxation and thousands of dollars in tax preparation fees.
There needs to be a world wide travel advisory warning pregnant women around tthe globe of the risk of traveling to the U.S.
HDxlch
Their goal is One World Government, with all taxed the same and all equally poor. This makes the D.C.Pukes feel superior to the rest and they are depending on the stupidity of American Voters to carry off the first part. The Playbook is the Manifesto constructed by Karl Marx and his homosexual lover in the 1870’s as rebellion against the very class they were born into. Saul Alinsky paraphrased the manifesto and took out the reference Lenin and Stalin used to describe those who voted them into power the first time, using their phrase Useful Idiots.
They will use the so called ”rich” to appeal to the selfish jealousy of those ”useful idiots” to get them to approve the worldwide taxation and the confiscation of the assets of the real middle class, not the people the D.C.Pukes mean when they say ”middle class”. When Obama or any democrat says the ”middle class” they are referring to those on the dole-i.e. medic aid, food stamps, snap cards, EBT cards and all the other programs to redistribute the assets of all the rest of the world.
EVERYONE===BE AFRAID==BE VERY AFRAID=== ANYTHING YOU CAN DO TO REMOVE DEMOCRATS FROM POWER IS IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION=== Obama will keep power by force if he can, just as Lenin and Stalin and Hitler did. he will use the willing idiots to help hiom with promises od something for not working except to keep him in power.