This is my letter to the IRS explaining why my 2009 tax return is late. I felt I owed an explanation, since they sent me a little while ago a letter demanding that I file my overdue return and send a questionnaire with my return. The questionnaire did not cover the bases. So I will send the following letter with it. What I want to see is if they will honour their agreement with Jim Flaherty, not to charge late charges.
Author Archives: Petros
An Open Letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper From A Loyal Canadian
This is part of a comment posted by “Blaze”:
Right Hon. Steven Harper
Prime Minister
House of Commons
Ottawa ON K1A 0A6
Dear Mr. Harper:
RE: IRS INTRUSION INTO CANADA
Let me be clear. Like you “I am a Canadian and only a Canadian.” Like you, I have only ever had a passport of one nation. That passport is Canadian.
You made those points recently concerning Thomas Mulcair’s dual citizenship.
US tax policy, FATCA, FBAR criticized on a Swiss website: the embarrassment of the United States
I am pleased to have now invited Jeff D Tomas, nom de plume, from Switzerland to contribute here at Isaac Brock. To give you a sample of his writing, I reproduce here his recent comment at Isaac Brock and his editorial, in French, at Infrarouge. As many at Isaac Brock are able to read French, they can see how embarrassing it should be for the United States to be criticized in this manner, as the US policies violate not only the US constitutional protections but forces other sovereign states to violate their own human rights codes, not to mention the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations. Jeff commented:
Dual citizenship and forced marriages, by Alison Symington
Alison Symington, “Dual citizenship and forced marriages” (PDF), Dalhousie Journal of Legal Studies 10 (2001); Winner of the Smith Lyons Essay Prize.
Abstract: This paper examines the phenomenon of forced marriage and how the international law on diplomatic protection and domestic citizenship laws interact to prevent young women from receiving help because of their status as dual nationals. The evolution of international law and the rise of human rights are considered, the author contesting international rules preventing the United Kingdom from attempting to assist its nationals who are abducted to South Asia for the purposes of forced marriage. This paper demonstrates how in complex situations involving power, gender, culture and politics, law is better understood as a struggle over meaning than as a stated rule of practice.
Karcan's Story
Karcan wrote:
I’ve been following the conversations on the former despoiled forum and now on the Isaac Brock Society blog and forum and have appreciated the astute perspectives, wise (and sometimes not so much) advice and the wonderful support.
FATCA: The need-to-know basis is not satisfied
Soon after I finished my PhD, I had the experience of teaching as an adjunct professor in Ontario. Eventually, I quit because I felt that the working conditions for contingent labor in higher education sucked–and they do: just google the terms “adjunct hell”. Then, I worked another job which I soon quit. But to damage my reputation after I quit, one of the people from the second job asked for a reference via e-mail from the first employer and soon a flurry of e-mails had damaged my reputation among about a couple dozen people. The first employer had even gone so far as to accuse me of “unpleasant breaches of trust”, not realizing that the term “breach of trust” is legaleze, usually for criminal behaviour related to money or the virtue of young women. Later, the man apologized to me, saying that what he meant is that I had let them down.
Russ Hunt's FBAR / FACTA information sheet
We were wondering what was happening with the Fredericton group. They have created a blog that has only one post, which refers to a summary statement of the problem and to Russ Hunt’s amazing FBAR / FACTA / Expat tax information page. The Isaac Brock Society gets favourable mention (which contributes to my favourable impression). Thanks Russ! I like this line the best:
I’m increasingly convinced that doing nothing is the best course of action: something has to happen to straighten this out. But it’s clear that I’m not going to be eager to cross that border any time soon. It seems clear the IRS can’t come across the border after me; what they could do if I crossed it, though, still isn’t obvious.
Just Me writes on the question: Has the IRS stolen my life?
Just Me has written a lengthy response to the question, Has the IRS stolen your life? This is an important statement from the most famous minnow in the 2009 Overseas Voluntary Disclosure Program, about whom Amy Feldman wrote in her Reuters article. The IRS fined him $172,000 but the Tax Advocate Service managed to have it reduced to a non-wilful fine of $25,000. We are grateful for the contributions that Just Me has made to the Isaac Brock Society.
What would happen if Indonesia reclaimed its most famous former citizenship?
Petros asks, What if a prominent dual citizen was required by his second nationality to serve his nation. What then?
Lawbreakers making rules: Charles B. Rangel, D (NY)
“You got gangsters in power and lawbreakers making rules.” Bob Dylan, “When you gonna wake up”, Slow Train Coming, 1979