cross-posted from citizenshipsolutions blog
written by John Richardson
Introduction: Penalty as a part of American Culture
"U.S. tax, form and penalty club": Google "IRS penalty as part of American culture" and see a wide range of results https://t.co/eR0QTZ2sOH
— Citizenship Lawyer (@ExpatriationLaw) June 25, 2017
The above tweet links to a wide range of examples of America’s culture of penalty.
The purpose of this post is to explore how inflation results in the facilitation of enhanced penalty collection in America today.
What is inflation?
In its simplest terms:
“Inflation is defined as a sustained increase in the general
level of prices for goods and services in a county, and is measured as
an annual percentage change. Under conditions of inflation, the prices
of things rise over time. Put differently, as inflation rises, every
dollar you own buys a smaller percentage of a good or service. When
prices rise, and alternatively when the value of money falls you have
inflation.”
(Note his use of the words “goods and services“. Are
FBAR penalties and the S. 877A Exit Tax consumer goods or
government services?)
Inflation can either be helpful or can be hurtful. Some benefit from
inflation and others are hurt by inflation. At a minimum, inflation will
always erode the value of cash.
Effect of inflation on owners/lenders of cash: When it
comes to cash inflation will hurt the owners/lenders of cash. This is
because inflation will erode the value of cash.
Effect of inflation on borrowers of cash: Inflation
will help he borrowers of cash. This is because inflation erodes the
value of the cash that must be repaid.
The use of inflation as a means of confiscation
Inflation is the “silent destroyer” of those who hold their wealth in
cash. The late Sir John Templeton (one of the
earliest renunciants of U.S. citizenship) often
referred to “the folly of holding cash“. (There is some
speculation that Sir John Templeton’s renunciation of U.S. citizenship
was a direct result of the the U.S. CFC (“Controlled Foreign
Corporation”) and Subpart F income rules rules that were enacted in
1962.)
The use of inflation as a means of creating wealth
The prudent use of debt of and inflation can result in the creation of
wealth. Consider the situation of home owners in Toronto and Vancouver
and rapidly rising real estate prices. Let’s see how inflation was used
to create wealth for those who borrowed money to invest in residential
real estate.
Example:
Mr. X. buys a home in 2008 for $500,000. The $500,000 is paid by:
1. Equity: Investing $125,000 in cash (25% down); and
2. Debt: Securing a mortgage for $375,000.
The effects of inflation are:
To increase the FULL value of the house AND Second to decrease the value
of the debt. This principle of “leverage” (the use of other peoples’
money) has made home ownership a good deal for many middle-class people.
How inflation can INCREASE the size (bringing more people into) of an IRS “penalty base”
Example 1: Mr. FBAR
The FBAR penalty base has – meaning the number of people potentially subject to FBAR penalties – increased enormously.
There are two reasons for this:
1. Inflation: As you know Mr.
FBAR was born in 1970. In approximately 1970, the standard FBAR penalty was set at $10,000. In 1970 one could buy a house for $10,000. In 1970 $10,000 was a significant amount of money.
By 2009 – with the advent of the “FBAR Fundraiser” – inflation had significantly
eroded the value of $10,000 to the point where almost all Americans
abroad (necessarily committing “personal finance abroad“) exceed the $10,000
threshold. Inflation had vastly increased the FBAR penalty base!
The $10,000 is NOT indexed to inflation
2. More Americans Living and Travelling Abroad: In
1970 fewer people had “foreign accounts” and because fewer people had
$10,000 the number of people subject to FBAR penalties was relatively
small. But now, Global mobility and more Americans living abroad have
increased the number of people who likely have offshore bank accounts –
also increasing the FBAR penalty base. Think of it: Every American
Teaching English Abroad is now potentially part of the FBAR penalty
base.)
Example 2: The
S. 877A Exit Tax
Generally, one will be a “covered expatriate” and
subject to the S. 877A Exit Tax if one has a net
worth of two million USD.
The two million is NOT indexed to inflation!
Sooner or later everybody will become a “covered expatriate”!
These are two examples (there are many) of how inflation will result in
an increase in the size of a “penalty base”. These are also two examples
(of many) which also have a disproportionate effect on Americans abroad.
These examples also indicate the potential for Americans abroad to play
a significant role in the U.S. Federal budget!
To allow inflation to increase the size of a “penalty base” is
to allow people to be subjected to a penalty that the penalty was NOT
intended to apply to!
Inflation is now being used to INCREASE the amount of penalties
on those who are now part of the larger penalty base!
After allowing inflation to increase the size of the penalty base,
Congress is NOW using inflation to increase the magnitude of the
penalties imposed on that penalty base. Yes!!
The incorporation of anticipated penalty revenue in the Federal
budget
On November 2, 2015 Congress (“It’s 11:00 p.m. – do you know what your
Congress is doing?) passed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015.
The overall purpose of the Act was obviously to assist in the management
of the Federal budget. Interestingly, anticipated penalty revenue is
calculated into the budget.
The Bipartisan Budget Act included Sec. 701 which was titled:
SEC. 701. CIVIL MONETARY PENALTY INFLATION ADJUSTMENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Civil
Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of
2015’’.
The purpose of the “Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act
Improvements Act of 2015” was to impose a mandatory increase in Federal
penalties. The increase is to be tied to inflation and is a an
anticipated source of revenue contributing to the Federal budget.
Penalties and American Culture – Three points are worthy of note:
1. After having relied on inflation to increase the size of the penalty
base, the Government is now using inflation to increase the actual
penalties imposed on people who are part of that penalty base.
2. This speaks volumes about American culture. Penalties are an
important part of American culture. By imposing an “inflation
adjustment” on penalties, Congress is acknowledging that “penalties” are
really just another “good or service” (a “good” consumed by an American
and/or a “service” provided by the U.S. Government).
3. American culture has become a “culture of penalty”where “penalties are an unremarkable and normal part of day-to-day life!
Mr. FBAR receives a gift – an inflation adjustment to his penalties!!!
FBAR penalties are both a “service provided” by the U.S. Government and
a “good” consumed by those who with offshore accounts. As a result, FBAR
penalties are NO LONGER the $10,000 minimum. FBAR penalties are now subject to an inflation
adjustment.
You will find the FBAR penalty adjustment tables here. For example, the $10,000 standard FBAR penalty has increased to $12,663!
(Okay, so we have an approximate 25% increase in the penalty without any
adjustment to the $10,000 penalty base.)
Note that the inflation adjusted penalties apply (not just to
FBAR) to a wide range of U.S. penalties!
#YouCantMakeThisUp
Appendix A – Table Of Contents and SECTION 7
“Judiciary”
Public Law 114–74
114th Congress
An Act
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for a right to an
administrative
appeal relating to adverse determinations of tax-exempt status of
certain
organizations.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bipartisan
Budget Act of 2015’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of this Act
is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
TITLE I—BUDGET ENFORCEMENT
Sec. 101. Amendments to the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit
Control Act
of 1985.
Sec. 102. Authority for fiscal year 2017 budget resolution in the
Senate.
TITLE II—AGRICULTURE
Sec. 201. Standard Reinsurance Agreement.
TITLE III—COMMERCE
Sec. 301. Debt collection improvements.
TITLE IV—STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVE
Sec. 401. Strategic Petroleum Reserve test drawdown and sale
notification and definition
change. Sec. 402. Strategic Petroleum Reserve mission readiness
optimization.
Sec. 403. Strategic Petroleum Reserve drawdown and sale.
Sec. 404. Energy Security and Infrastructure Modernization Fund.
TITLE V—PENSIONS
Sec. 501. Single employer plan annual premium rates.
Sec. 502. Pension Payment Acceleration.
Sec. 503. Mortality tables.
Sec. 504. Extension of current funding stabilization percentages to
2018, 2019, and
2020.
TITLE VI—HEALTH CARE
Sec. 601. Maintaining 2016 Medicare part B premium and deductible levels
consistent
with actuarially fair rates. Sec. 602. Applying the Medicaid additional
rebate requirement to generic drugs.
Sec. 603. Treatment of off-campus outpatient departments of a provider.
Sec. 604. Repeal of automatic enrollment requirement.
TITLE VII—JUDICIARY
Sec. 701. Civil monetary penalty inflation adjustments.
Sec. 702. Crime Victims Fund.
Sec. 703. Assets Forfeiture Fund.
TITLE VIII—SOCIAL SECURITY
Sec. 801. Short title.
Subtitle A—Ensuring Correct Payments and Reducing Fraud
Sec. 811. Expansion of cooperative disability investigations units.
Sec. 812. Exclusion of certain medical sources of evidence.
Sec. 813. New and stronger penalties.
Sec. 814. References to Social Security and Medicare in electronic
communications.
Sec. 815. Change to cap adjustment authority.
Subtitle B—Promoting Opportunity for Disability Beneficiaries
Sec. 821. Temporary reauthorization of disability insurance
demonstration project
authority.
Sec. 822. Modification of demonstration project authority.
Sec. 823. Promoting opportunity demonstration project.
Sec. 824. Use of electronic payroll data to improve program
administration.
Sec. 825. Treatment of earnings derived from services.
Sec. 826. Electronic reporting of earnings.
Subtitle C—Protecting Social Security Benefits
Sec. 831. Closure of unintended loopholes.
Sec. 832. Requirement for medical review.
Sec. 833. Reallocation of payroll tax revenue.
Sec. 834. Access to financial information for waivers and adjustments of
recovery.
Subtitle D—Relieving Administrative Burdens and Miscellaneous Provisions
Sec. 841. Interagency coordination to improve program administration
Sec. 842. Elimination of quinquennial determinations relating to wage
credits for
military service prior to 1957.
Sec. 843. Certification of benefits payable to a divorced spouse of a
railroad worker
to the Railroad Retirement Board.
Sec. 844. Technical amendments to eliminate obsolete provisions.
Sec. 845. Reporting requirements to Congress.
Sec. 846. Expedited examination of administrative law judges.
TITLE IX—TEMPORARY EXTENSION OF PUBLIC DEBT LIMIT
Sec. 901. Temporary extension of public debt limit.
Sec. 902. Restoring congressional authority over the national debt.
TITLE X—SPECTRUM PIPELINE
Sec. 1001. Short title.
Sec. 1002. Definitions.
Sec. 1003. Rule of construction.
Sec. 1004. Identification, reallocation, and auction of Federal
spectrum.
Sec. 1005. Additional uses of Spectrum Relocation Fund.
Sec. 1006. Plans for auction of certain spectrum.
Sec. 1007. FCC auction authority.
Sec. 1008. Reports to Congress.
TITLE XI—REVENUE PROVISIONS RELATED TO TAX COMPLIANCE
Sec. 1101. Partnership audits and adjustments.
Sec. 1102. Partnership interests created by gift.
TITLE XII—DESIGNATION OF SMALL HOUSE ROTUNDA
Sec. 1201. Designating small House rotunda as ‘‘Freedom Foyer’’.
TITLE VII—JUDICIARY
SEC. 701. CIVIL MONETARY PENALTY INFLATION ADJUSTMENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the ‘‘Federal
Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of
2015’’.
(b) AMENDMENTS.—The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment
Act of 1990 (28 U.S.C. 2461 note) is amended—
(1) in section 4—
(A) by striking the matter preceding paragraph (1)
and inserting the following:
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than July 1, 2016, and not later
than January 15 of every year thereafter, and subject to subsections
(c) and (d), the head of each agency
shall—’’;
(B) in paragraph (1)—
(i) by striking ‘‘by regulation adjust’’ and inserting
‘‘in accordance with subsection (b), adjust’’; and
(ii) by striking ‘‘, the Tariff Act of 1930, the Occupational
Safety and Health Act of 1970, or the Social
Security Act’’ and inserting ‘‘ or the Tariff Act of 1930’’;
(C) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘such regulation’’ and
inserting ‘‘such adjustment’’; and
(D) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(b) PROCEDURES FOR ADJUSTMENTS.—
‘‘(1) CATCH UP ADJUSTMENT.—For the first adjustment made
under subsection (a) after the date of enactment of the Federal
Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of
2015—
‘‘(A) the head of an agency shall adjust civil monetary
penalties through an interim final rulemaking; and
‘‘(B) the adjustment shall take effect not later than
August 1, 2016.
‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT ADJUSTMENTS.—For the second adjustment
made under subsection (a) after the date of enactment
of the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act
Improvements Act of 2015, and each adjustment thereafter,
the head of an agency shall adjust civil monetary penalties
and shall make the adjustment notwithstanding section 553
of title 5, United States Code.
‘‘(c) EXCEPTION.—For the first adjustment made under subsection
(a) after the date of enactment of the Federal Civil Penalties
Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, the head of
an agency may adjust the amount of a civil monetary penalty
by less than the otherwise required amount if—
‘‘(1) the head of the agency, after publishing a notice of
proposed rulemaking and providing an opportunity for comment,
determines in a final rule that—
‘‘(A) increasing the civil monetary penalty by the otherwise
required amount will have a negative economic
impact; or
‘‘(B) the social costs of increasing the civil monetary
penalty by the otherwise required amount outweigh the
benefits; and
‘‘(2) the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
concurs with the determination of the head of the agency under
paragraph (1).
‘‘(d) OTHER ADJUSTMENTS MADE.—If a civil monetary penalty
subject to a cost-of-living adjustment under this Act is, during
the 12 months preceding a required cost-of-living adjustment,
increased by an amount greater than the amount of the adjustment
required under subsection (a), the head of the agency is not required
to make the cost-of-living adjustment for that civil monetary penalty
in that year.’’;
(2) in section 5—
(A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘to the nearest—
’ and all that follows through the end of subsection (a)
and inserting ‘‘to the nearest multiple of $1.’’; and
(B) by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
‘(b) DEFINITION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in paragraph (2),
for purposes of subsection (a), the term ‘cost-of-living adjustment’
means the percentage (if any) for each civil monetary
penalty by which—
‘(A) the Consumer Price Index for the month of October
preceding the date of the adjustment, exceeds
‘‘(B) the Consumer Price Index for the month of October
1 year before the month of October referred to in subparagraph
(A).
‘‘(2) INITIAL ADJUSTMENT.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subparagraph (C), for
the first inflation adjustment under section 4 made by
an agency after the date of enactment of the Federal Civil
Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of
2015, the term ‘cost-of-living adjustment’ means the
percentage (if any) for each civil monetary penalty by which
the Consumer Price Index for the month of October, 2015
exceeds the Consumer Price Index for the month of October
of the calendar year during which the amount of such
civil monetary penalty was established or adjusted under
a provision of law other than this Act.
‘‘(B) APPLICATION OF ADJUSTMENT.—The cost-of-living
adjustment described in subparagraph (A) shall be applied
to the amount of the civil monetary penalty as it was
most recently established or adjusted under a provision
of law other than this Act.
‘‘(C) MAXIMUM ADJUSTMENT.—The amount of the
increase in a civil monetary penalty under subparagraph
(A) shall not exceed 150 percent of the amount of that
civil monetary penalty on the date of enactment of the
Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements
Act of 2015.’’;
(3) in section 6, by striking ‘‘violations which occur’’ and
inserting ‘‘civil monetary penalties, including those whose associated
violation predated such increase, which are assessed’’;
and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘SEC. 7. IMPLEMENTATION AND OVERSIGHT ENHANCEMENTS.
‘‘(a) OMB GUIDANCE.—Not later than February 29, 2016, not
later than December 15, 2016, and December 15 of every year
thereafter, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
shall issue guidance to agencies on implementing the inflation
adjustments required under this Act.
‘‘(b) AGENCY FINANCIAL REPORTS.—The head of each agency
shall include in the Agency Financial Report submitted under OMB
Circular A–136, or any successor thereto, information about the
civil monetary penalties within the jurisdiction of the agency,
including the adjustment of the civil monetary penalties by the
head of the agency under this Act.
‘‘(c) GAO REVIEW.—The Comptroller General of the United
States shall annually submit to Congress a report assessing the
compliance of agencies with the inflation adjustments required
under this Act, which may be included as part of another report
submitted to Congress.’’.
(c) REPEAL.—Section 31001(s) of the Debt Collection Improvement
Act of 1996 (28 U.S.C. 2461 note) is amended by striking
paragraph (2).
SEC. 702. CRIME VICTIMS FUND.
There is hereby rescinded and permanently canceled
$1,500,000,000 of the funds deposited or available in the Crime
Victims Fund created by section 1402 of the Victims of Crime
Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10601).
SEC. 703. ASSETS FORFEITURE FUND.
Of the amounts deposited in the Department of Justice Assets
Forfeiture Fund, $746,000,000 are hereby rescinded and permanently
cancelled.
Appendix B – BIPARTISAN BUDGET ACT OF 2015 – Complete
Legislation
I’m so incredibly grateful to have relinquished & to be done with this nonsense. Just reading that article gave me a headache & acid stomach.
I feel terrible for those who cannot extricate themselves or loved ones. 🙁
Too bad all 9 million of us do not live in the part of the world.
The beatings will continue until morale improves!
Not sure whether the IRS uses outside collectors for FBARS and other such penalties, but this article is indicative of the mindset at work. It appeared in the “New York Times” –June 23rd– and the”Miami Herald” (owned by the NYT) –June 26th. (Nina Olson also quoted).
“Outside collectors for IRS are accused of illegal practices”
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/23/business/dealbook/irs-private-collectors.html
I remember thinking to myself for many years how iron fisted US governments must be any time I went to buy beer anywhere in the USA. The store clerks are so scared of the massive fines they face that to this day I get asked to prove my age before purchase, and occasionally still rejected because I don’t carry “in state” ID until a superior is summoned. And I’m safely into the 50s now. Sheesh!
PierreD: What’s your beauty secret, that you’re still being carded in your 50s? This old gal needs to know!
This entire story is and continues to be sickening. I too am so grateful to have renounced several years ago and to have been able to completely extricate myself from this web of nightmares. Sadly, friends and business contacts haven’t been so lucky and many of them are now embroiled in protracted legal cases, with demands that they pay millions, even though they, in two cases, have never lived in the United States and were total “accidentals” one having spent twelve days there after birth and never returned, the other only five days! Still, the corrupt system has gone after them both and they are fighting it as hard as they can. One thing both of them have said is that thy won’t pay anything, no matter what the threats. One, who has business interests in no less than sixteen countries will cut off all activity with the U.S. and stop all investment from his associates into the U.S. arm of their business.
If I didn’t witness all of this for myself I wouldn’t believe that it could be possible, but then, look at the U.S. today and the state of how it is governed. Who could believe that is possible? The best advice, stay away from that place and advise others to do the same.
@Andrew
Very glad to hear that you got out and sympathies to your friends. The longer this goes on, the more unreal it seems to me to hear of such unfair treatment/obviously not what was intended.
If you are able, could you describe how your friends came to the attention of the IRS? Did they try to comply, turned over by FATCA? If there are cases before the courts, any pleadings etc? Would like to follow if possible………
@Patricia Moon
I don’t know the smallest details of how my two friends ended up with these problems, but I do know that it all started when they received a FATCA letter from their banks and tried to comply with the “help” of an accountant specialized in US expatriate tax matters. I know that one of them is being asked to pay a large sum on the sale of a property (land and former primary residence) that would not have been subjected to capital gains taxes in Canada. The same thing happened to former London Mayor Boris Johnson and even he ended up paying his “fair share” to the gangsters in the US. The other one, as far as I understood, is caught up in this mess because he has part ownership of a US subsidiary of his company and he registered himself there as “Irish”, which he is 100%, not as a US person due to his accidental birth there over fifty years ago. This is what has him in the crosshairs, for failing to file, as a US person would have to, a tax declaration for both the US subsidiary, as well as for the entire company worldwide. A total mess and something that could only happen to those unfortunate enough to have been “accidentally” born in the United States. “So sad!” (as Trump would say) The idiocy there is staggering, bordering on the unbelievable.
“The idiocy there is staggering, bordering on the unbelievable.”
It’s nowhere near the border. It’s staggeringly unbelievable. That’s exactly why they’re able to continue: Anyone who hasn’t experienced it doesn’t believe it.
“but we embrace that diversity while knowing in our hearts that we are all Canadians.”
…he left out Alberta and failed to mention knowing in his heart that a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian…because he doesn’t.
The above is a quote from PM Trudeau’s Canada Day speech.
You mean his Dominion Day speech, the anniversary of Canada becoming a dominion of the US.
Too true @Norman.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cx-U6O1s6iA
We need someone to set this up with insiders, one IRS employee and one CRA employee who are both scammers.
“I remember thinking to myself for many years how iron fisted US governments must be any time I went to buy beer anywhere in the USA. The store clerks are so scared of the massive fines they face that to this day I get asked to prove my age before purchase, and occasionally still rejected because I don’t carry “in state” ID until a superior is summoned. And I’m safely into the 50s now. Sheesh!”
When I was working as a gas station attendant tobacco products were even worse.
We were required by law to card only those who appeared younger than 21 for alcohol sales. If they were known to be of age, we did not need to continue carding them.
Tobacco products could be legally purchased at 18 yet were were required to card everyone who was 28 (the exact age escapes me, but it was ten years or more older than the legal age) and younger. $1,000 fine, 24 hours in jail and loss of job were the penalty for not doing so. Knowing some 25 year olds who looked to be in their 50s and not wanting to take the risk, I carded everyone who asked for a pack of cigs.
Banks outside the US are acting the same with US persons.
@ Norman Diamond
““The idiocy there is staggering, bordering on the unbelievable.”
It’s nowhere near the border. It’s staggeringly unbelievable. That’s exactly why they’re able to continue: Anyone who hasn’t experienced it doesn’t believe it.”
Yep.