Eric Lam says that while the Canada and the United States have a committed marriage trading relationship, this doesn’t stop them from committing affairs with others.
Author Archives: Petros
Scotia Bank: December 31 Letter to Clients from Scotiabank, for review
Sent to me from a friend:
Letter from Scotia Bank (update, I’ve removed the pdf and have included a link to Scotiabank’s nicely formatted Winter newsletter which contains the same text).
Freedom of Emigration in East-West Trade, USC Title 19 § 2432
We have seen that the United States condemns Eritrea’s extra-territorial taxation of its citizens abroad. But did you know that according to Federal Law, the United States would not be eligible for normal trade relations with the United States because of its expatriation exit taxes?
Welcome to the United States: Lesson I. Watch what you tweet
I have to watch what I say on this blog and elsewhere on the internet. I am no longer an American citizen, and so Homeland Security could refuse me entry into the United States. Case in point: A couple of tourists found themselves in handcuffs after arriving at LAX, then interrogated for hours, placed overnight in a holding cell, and sent home to Europe the next day.
Welcome to the United States!
Tax Treaty in conflict with Canada's Human Rights Act
Petros provides a scenario which would suggest that the Human Rights Act does not protect U.S. Citizens living in Canada, as they do not have equal opportunity with other individuals, because under the Tax Treaty the CRA will collect taxes for the IRS.
AllGov calls renunciants "tax cheats": My response
In his article Tax Evaders Renounce U.S. Citizenship Noel Brinkhoff writes:
Rather than deal with the complexities of U.S. tax law, Americans living overseas are increasingly renouncing their citizenship in order to avoid paying their income taxes.
Fortunately, the rest of the short article is a little bit better, as he refers to the complexity of the tax filing requirements and the IRS’s bait and switch tactics. Still, I am disgusted by the assumption of guilt that if you renounce you are a tax evader.
The tail wags the cow: Roger Conklin on past lobbying efforts
Roger Conklin responds to markpinetree who laments that the impression that most Americans have of US citizens abroad is that they are rich tax cheats, and says, “Lets work to clarify the issues!”
Roger Conklin responded JANUARY 28, 2012 AT 9:57 PM:
Oh how I wish you were right. But the perception cards are so stacked against us that it a task of inconceivable magnitude.
Several years back one Congresman, I have forgotten his name [Bill Alexander, see below], who had always won reelection by wide margins, took up our cause. He introduced legislation to abolish citizenship based taxation and replace it with the residence based taxation of every other country. He had no support from his congressional colleagues. It became a major issue in the next election with his opponent majoring on the fact that this Congressman was wasting his time helping American tax evaders living abroad rather than working on the issues important to his constituents in the district he represented. He lost his re-election, going down in an flames. That bitter lesson did not go unnoticed by others when going to run for re-election. It is an issue that just does not resonate positively with he voting public.
Phil Hodgen nods
New website with offshore bank account, expatriation information
January 28, 2012 (used with permission)
There is a new website that launched several weeks ago that I highly recommend: isaacbrocksociety.com. The engines behind this site are people I know and it has good, first-hand information about
- expatriation (as in giving up U.S. citizenship); and
- cleaning up paperwork problems for undisclosed bank accounts.
Continue reading
CanuckDoc responds to Finance Minister, Hon. Jim Flaherty's letter
Several people have received the same letter from Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. CanuckDoc has posted a reply.
Debt Limit raised: Open Thread
The US Federal Debt limit now stands at $16.394 trillion. Here is a video that explains how that works. Hat tip Zerohedge. Open thread means feel free to share anything on your mind.