The purpose of the tax treaty between the United States and Canada is laudable: to avoid the double taxation of residents. But the problem is that the United States imposes an unconstitutional extra-territorial taxation of “United States persons” no matter where they live in the world, even in the high tax region of Canada. But one huge problem with the treaty is that it does not count HST/GST as tax. It is of course a big reason why Canadians are marred by taxes (as Gary Marr of the Financial Post says).
Author Archives: Petros
Links and reflexions
Petros discusses some links he found over the holidays: MF global scandal, Scotia Bank and FATCA, Mexico and FATCA, Reflexions on NAFTA
Outline for a book project: A proposal
And then there were none: How the United States government is persecuting United States persons living abroad and what we can do about it. Continue reading
Dumping on Newt? Hardly
My Christmas Eve post made its way to Townhall, thanks to Just Me, who passed it on to Daniel J. Mitchel of the Cato Institute. A certain Pamela reacted: “Did okay UNTIL you got to the dump on Newt.” She was reacting to the words that Newt Gingrich said in the post, explaining why he supported the nabbing of Santa Claus in a foreign country: Continue reading
Breaking News: Santa Claus arrested
U.S. Federal agents arrested Santa Claus earlier today at the North Pole. Special Christmas Edition (Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!)
FATCA's impact on publicly traded trusts
Petros asks how FATCA will impact publicly traded trusts in Canada which have most of its income from US sources.
The stalker: divorce from the United States is a messy process
The United States is like an ex-wife or ex-husband who hasn’t figured out how to let go. Indeed, the IRS stalks its former citizens by insisting upon a messy divorce process, which aims at dissuading the wealthy from leaving. But like any bad relationship, stalking makes the former lover hate even more the one who can’t let go. Certainly, this stalking behavior will not lead the expatriated person to run back into the arms of his former lover!
FBAR-FATCA-Form 8938 filing requirements circumvent the 4th Amendment and are thus equal to the issuing of a General Warrant
The amount of money that a person has in a bank account is irrelevant to determining tax liability. In order to assess income taxes, the IRS needs only an accounting of the interest, dividends or capital gains that a person has earned as income. Therefore, the filing requirements of FBAR, FATCA and 8938 are unrelated to the need to assess a person’s tax liability. The information, Continue reading
I've only been a Canadian since 28 February and our banks are already relinquishing our sovereignty to the United States
This is from the Canadian Banker’s Association, a flyer to be handed out to customers. All Canadians: this affects you too.
The Bank Secrecy Act and the basis of FBAR
Please help! Is this the basis of the FBAR law? The Secretary of the Treasury shall require reports? Please read and comment (USC 31, IV, 53, ii, § 5314):
Continue reading