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
Author Archives: Petros
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):
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Forget about form 8854: US law establishes a right to unilateral expatriation
A contradiction exists in United States law. On the one hand, the IRS requires former citizens to follow an exit procedure and the State Department requires a $450 fee. On the other hand, earlier law establishes and protects expatriation as a fundamental right.
See also:
Freedom of Emmigration in East-West Trade, USC 19 § 2432 (expatriation is a fundamental right)
Is the taxation of US persons abroad constitutional?
The stalker: divorce from the United States is a messy process
Civil Disobedience, FBAR and Forms 8854 and 8938
The right of expatriation II: The Ninth Amendment
The right of expatriation
Introducing KFOR–solving the US Federal deficit one foreign kitten at a time
Congress is having a hard time balancing the budget and every little bit helps. Peter W. Dunn has learned about a proposal that could seriously reduce the US federal budget deficit.
The term "aggregate" in IRS-speak is fraud commited against US persons
The IRS is using a fraudulent accounting practice, in the spirit of Enron and Bernie Madoff, to expose US persons to increased FBAR fines.
Financial Post Article: Questions for Jamie Golombek
Jamie Golombeck has an informative article in the Financial Post, “Americans in Canada still at the mercy of IRS“. Petros asks questions about aspects of the problem that seem to be missing from the article, such as, How the hell is this fair?
The Tax Advocate features Amy Feldman's article
The Amy Feldman article appears on the Tax Advocate website. What could this mean?
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From the archive: Did you relinquish? Here are some proofs that the State Department uses
In this conversation, Petros maintains that there are certain actions of US citizens that the State Department gages as determinative of whether a person’s intention is to relinquish their US citizenship or no. These go beyond the stated intention of the person, based upon the concept that actions speak louder than words.
Did you relinquish before February 6, 1995? Then you did not have to inform the State Department
See also: Please read this post if your actual expatriation date is before 2004 (Updated)
The blog post on ex post facto stirred up a flurry of e-mails between members of the society. It switched on a light bulb for some that the State Department and the IRS were trying to pull a fast one, and that those who were following rules at the time of their relinquishment were not required to follow the new rules.