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Category Archives: Canadian Government

Canadian Lynne Swanson’s December 18, 2012 “12 reasons why Canada must reject FATCA”

Posted on by Posted in Canadian Government, Freedom 11 Comments

Some will remember strong-minded fiercely Canadian Lynne Swanson, who was there before the beginning helping to make our marathon Canadian FATCA IGA lawsuit happen.

Here, published on December 18, 2012 in Maple Sandbox, are Lynne’s pick of her reasons why Canada should not pass the FATCA enabling legislation:

Lynne said:

“There are a multitude of reasons why Canada must reject FATCA.

Here are just 12 of them:

1. FATCA violates Canadian privacy, banking and human rights laws and Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

2. Canadian laws are made in Ottawa, not in Washington

3. FATCA treats Canadian citizens born in US and their Canadian-born children as second class citizens in Canada.

4. FATCA threatens Canadian sovereignty and autonomy.

5. FATCA threatens retirement, education and disability savings of Canadian citizens and residents.

6. FATCA places huge costs on Canadian financial institutions.

7. FATCA takes money out of Canadian economy and tax base.

8. Canada has a 70 year effective tax treaty with US to combat tax evasion.

9. Canada does not negotiate with financial terrorists.

10. Canada is not a tax haven.

11. Canada should show leadership to the world in standing up to IRS bullies.

12. FATCA is just plain wrong.

Canada, Just Say No!”

Lynne Swanson

Appellants Gwen and Kazia Today (September 30, 2019) Filed Notice of Appeal of Mactavish Canadian Federal Court FATCA IGA Decision: Donations will be needed to pay for appeal

Posted on by Posted in Canadian Government, FATCA, Freedom, Law & Morality, Tax Treaties 8 Comments

CANADIAN FATCA LITIGATION UPDATE September 30, 2019: Gwen and Kazia file Notice of Appeal

Appellants Gwen and Kazia have instructed Vancouver lawyer Mr. Greg Delbigio to appeal the Martineau and Mactavish Canadian Federal Court FATCA IGA legislation decisions.

A brief Notice of Appeal was just filed today (September 30, 2019) with the Canadian Federal Court of Appeal. The grounds for appeal will evolve and be broadened with detail at later stages. For the appeal process to continue we will need to raise monies quickly to pay for the legal costs.

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July 22, 2019 Canadian Federal Court Justice MacTavish rules that American law and threats trump privacy of Canadian citizens

Posted on by Posted in Canadian Government, Law & Morality 123 Comments

On July 22, 2019 Canadian Federal Court Justice MacTavish ruled against Plaintiffs Kazia and Gwen in our FATCA IGA legislation lawsuit.

Here is the link to the decision.

— Our Vancouver lawyers, ADCS Board, and Plaintiffs are now considering the text of the decision and will get back to you, as soon as we can, on next steps.

Some excerpts:

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American Refugees : Turning to Canada for Freedom

Posted on by Posted in Canadian Government, Relinquishment 14 Comments

This brand-new book by Rita Shelton Deverell will be of interest to Brockers because it frames (in Introduction and Epilogue) the collection of personal stories with the author’s own account of formally terminating U.S. personhood in the 2015-2016 period.

Deverell was detained while transiting through the Miami airport early in 2015 (p. 5). On the basis of 1975 Canadian citizenship, she relinquished in August 2016 after a nine-month wait (p. 239). Far too politely, she makes no mention of the US $2350 fee. Likely this was not a big item in her budget.

The chapters gather mini-biographies under the standard headings of Canada’s treadworn exceptionalist narrative: Loyalists, Underground Railroad, McCarthyism, Vietnam War, same-sex marriage.

As a black originating from Houston Texas, and as a person familiar with Indigenous circumstances, Deverell shows some awareness of the deep cracks in the Canadian façade. Unfortunately, this manifestation of consciousness is more than offset by expressions of considerable privilege, both her own and that of most of her selected “subjects.” In the end, her attachments to Canadian statist sentiments cloud her vision, truncate her “research,” and facilitate repeated promo of how “welcoming” the essence of Canada really is.

Well-paid by Canada in many respects, Deverell pipes her tune on an unusually fancy stage. The publisher, University of Regina Press, proposes that it here provides “a voice for many peoples” in a “beautifully packaged” volume. After all, genuine criticism rarely sells well.
 

Brock Project: April 2019 Report From GAO is evidence of how #FATCA and Foreign Asset Reporting is viewed in the Homeland

Posted on by Posted in Canadian Government, FATCA, Issues regarding US persons abroad 16 Comments

Question:

The above tweet links to the a report from the Government Accountability office. It is extensive but generally interesting. A quick perusal reveals no evidence that the Government views FATCA and foreign asset reporting as tools to enforce worldwide taxation on people who live outside the United States. Yet, that is the purpose of FATCA and foreign asset reporting in general.

The “Fast Facts” page includes:

How does the government prevent tax dodgers from hiding income in offshore accounts?

A 2010 law requires Americans and foreign banks to report more information to IRS about Americans’ foreign assets. Implementing the law, however, has raised some concerns.

For example, close to 75% of taxpayers reporting foreign assets to IRS also reported them separately to Treasury—indicating potential unnecessary duplication.

Also, some Americans living abroad can’t get services from foreign banks that find the law too burdensome.

Our recommendations to Congress, Treasury, and other agencies address challenges related to foreign asset reporting.

The 2010 Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, known as FATCA, created new reporting requirements for taxpayers with specified foreign asset

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THE 2019 JANUARY 28-FEBRUARY 1 ADCS CANADIAN FATCA IGA TRIAL IN FEDERAL COURT

Posted on by Posted in Canadian Government, Law & Morality 882 Comments

THE INTENDED FOCUS OF THIS POST IS THE ALLIANCE FOR THE DEFENCE OF CANADIAN SOVEREIGNTY (ADCS) FATCA IGA LEGISLATION TRIAL IN CANADA HELD ON JANUARY 28, 2019.

The Government of Canada (who we are suing), together with some commenters on this site, strongly emphasize that Canadians should thank their lucky stars because they can easily get out of any FATCA-related “problems” (e.g., Canada won’t collect on behalf of the IRS at the present time, IRS at present time is not prosecuting all those turned over by FATCA, American interference is only hypothetical, “US citizens in Canada don’t seem to have much to fear from America or Canada, apart from the pointless automatic reporting. Canada may in fact be the last remaining country in the world where dual citizen status isn’t risky.” etc.). Why then did our Plaintiffs put themselves personally at financial risk with this lawsuit?

One reason for this trial is that Plaintiffs Gwen and Kazia want Canada’s FATCA IGA legislation, infringing on their privacy (Charter section 8) and equality (section 15) rights, declared unconstitutional by Canada’s Federal Court — and that a lawsuit is the way to achieve this specific objective.

Do privacy and equality rights matter? Should we care?

Plaintiffs also say in their court submission: “Canada effectively maintains that it enacted the Impugned Provisions under duress from a foreign state. The Court should be very slow to accept this as a justification for infringements of the Charter. Canada is expected to defend the constitutional rights and freedoms of its citizens and not bargain them away or capitulate to threats from a foreign bully state.”

Is it important that Canada be a sovereign nation and not bargain away Charter rights because of a threat from a foreign bully? Does standing up to a foreign bully matter?

The CBC tells us that information on 600,000 accounts/year has been turned over to the US IRS during the past years. Even those who do not support Plaintiffs’ lawsuit would likely admit that at least “some” of the accountholders did not give consent for the turnover — meaning that the loss of Charter rights is not hypothetical.

Gwen and Kazia believe, and shouldn’t this really be obvious to all Canadians?, that the loss of our Charter rights, the loss of Canada’s sovereignty, and the loss of dignity of a subgroup of Canadian citizens, are more than, as some commenters argue, just “a relatively abstract sort of harm”.

Canada argues no harm caused by the FATCA IGA, but does acknowledge that if Charter rights are infringed, it had plenty of justification to do so — Canada had no choice but to comply with United States FATCA demands and could not have said “no”.

The lawsuit began during the time of the Harper Conservative government. We had hoped that when the Liberals came to power, there would be no need to continue the lawsuit, because of statements made on June 25, 2015 by Justin Trudeau to ADCS (“The Government of Canada has a responsibility to stand up for its citizens when foreign governments are encroaching on their rights. We believe that the [FATCA] deal reached between Canada and the U.S. is insufficient to protect Canadians.”) — but this was not to be, and the lawsuit continues even with the change in government.

When reading the diverse comments below on a variety of topics please try to consider what Plaintiffs’ Gwen and Kazia want to achieve, on behalf of all Canadians, with their lawsuit.

More discussion of the lawsuit below:

Continue reading →

More about the @USTransitionTax issue from @LizT1: Finance Minister Morneau responds (sort of)

Posted on by Posted in Accidental Americans, Canadian Government, Issues regarding US persons abroad, Tax Treaties, Transition Tax 14 Comments

Following up from yesterday’s CBC article by Elizabeth Thompson, CBC has today published a shorter article describing Mr. Morneau’s response or non-response (whatever the case may be) to the “transition tax”. Her article begins:

The Canadian government is talking to the U.S. government about the impact a retroactive tax signed into law by U.S. President Donald Trump is having north of the border, Finance Minister Bill Morneau revealed Monday.

Speaking to reporters in Windsor, Ontario, Morneau said he is aware that some of the U.S. government’s tax changes affect Canadian residents with U.S. or dual citizenship.

It is, at the end of the day, going to be up to them to manage their own tax code.
– Finance Minister Bill Morneau
“We’re continuing to consult with Americans to make sure that we fully represent the challenges that these changes have made for Americans or dual citizens living in Canada,” Morneau said. “That’s an ongoing process. We certainly hope that we can make progress.”

Here is Mr. Morneau in the Q and A:

The comments (at least so far) reflect the difficulty of understanding the issue.

Nevertheless, this is significant because it is now clear that the Trudeau Government is well aware of the “transition/repatriation tax” and its effect on Canadians. This is good news.

And across the ocean and and the question of legislative change …

The following message appeared from Lawyer Monte Silver:

Americans Abroad with small businesses subject to Repatriation/GILTI taxes:

To get an exemption for American small businesses abroad from the Repatriation tax, last month we focused on Senator Cassidy of Louisiana who volunteered to assist. It worked and we have a draft bill in hand.

Now we focus on Ohio Senator Portman for a bill exempting us from GILTI. Portman responded and wants to speak to Americans abroad impacted by GILTI. If you or someone you know owns a small business abroad and is impacted by GILTI – or the Repatriation tax, IT IS URGENT THAT YOU CONTACT ME BY PRIVATE MESSAGE OR AT MS@SILVERCOLAW.COM

Brock project: Advice on how to explain the effects of the @USTransitionTax through a question in the House of Commons

Posted on by Posted in Canadian Government, Issues regarding US persons abroad, Law & Morality, Non Resident Taxation 46 Comments

This Brock comment which just appeared is deserving of its own post and your specific attention, thoughts and assistance.

But first, …

This has been a very interesting week for Canadians who are possibly impacted by the U.S. Transition Tax. We have the interview of the Hermans which appeared on the National.

We have articles by Elizabeth Thompson. I expect that Ms. Thompson’s articles led to the the following editorial in the Halifax Chronicle:

A second article from CBC indicated that Murray Rankin* (a 2014 ally in the fight to stop the FATCA IGA, had referenced the “transition tax” in the House of Commons.

It appears that there is momentum growing in the “campaign for awareness”.

Moving on: How can we better frame the message? How can the right question(s) be used to educate?

It would be helpful for Brock readers and commenters to consider, when conveying the message:

1. What are the most important aspect(s) of the transition tax to convey?

2. What should be the language used to convey those ideas?

Beginning with the following Brock comment …

CAB asks for the assistance of Brockers as follows:

“URGENT I have been in contact with my local MP (conservative) and he is willing to submit a Question for Question Period regarding the Transition Tax. What I need to do is put together some background information and the actual wording of the question we want to have asked. There is no guarantee that it will be selected but it is certainly a shot. My understanding is that if not selected for this weeks question period then it can sit in the queue and be picked up at a later date.

My first kick at the can in composing a question — ” Mr. Speaker, The United States as part of their tax reform has recently passed a new law aimed at bringing home the profits of money off shored in large multi-national corporations. While it is laudable to repatriate these earnings back to the US homeland the application of this law makes no distinction between the large American corporations and those small Canadian corporations owned by Canadian citizens permanently resident in Canada but also hold a secondary US citizenship. These Canadian corporations owned by doctors, restaurateurs and small mom and pop shops are not Google and Apple . These corporations hold the retirement savings of Canadian citizens; the retained earnings of Canadian entrepreneurs ear marked to grow and expand their business. Application of this tax will effectively bankrupt Canadian businesses and wipeout the pension plans of our Canadian citizens. It is a violation of the Canada -US tax treaty as the US has created a fictional tax event retroactive to 1986 where the first right of taxation has been usurped by the US. First installment of this tax is due June 15 2018 .

Will the government of Canada commit to negotiating with US treasury to exempt Canadian corporations from the disastrous effect of this tax? Will the government use the the Canada US tax treaty to protect our sovereignty and tax base against this raid by the US government? The Finance Minister has committed to studying the effects of this extraterritorial law. But time is of the essence. Will the government provide direction to our citizens prior to June 15 2018 when the first installment is due.
Those affected are first and foremost Canadian citizens ,resident in Canada , and deserve the protection of the Canadian government.”

Looking for your feedback – want to make sure I set the right tone and get the right question asked that will help us the most. Also any suggestions as to what I can include in the package that I need to send would be helpful.

Keep our fingers crossed”

_______________________________________________________________

*For those who were not following this in 2014, you will see that MP Murray Rankin played a prominent role in opposition to the FATCA IGA. See here:

Canadians’ Confidential Tax Info to be Shared with Police in Other Countries

Posted on by Posted in Canadian Government 4 Comments

Well, to the rest of the Canadian people, “Welcome to Our World!” In the same manner as the Harper Government, the Trudeau Liberals are using budget bills to sneak in provisions the Canadian people are completely unaware of. I sincerely hope we see Canadians rise up and challenge this garbage. Now we can add “tax evasion” to “terrorism” as the means by which governments are destroying any rights ALL citizens have.

elizabeth thompson by Elizabeth Thompson
Senior Reporter, CBC Ottawa

elizabeth.thompson@cbc.ca

Article is here

(1100 Comments -Commenting is now closed for this story)
 

EXCERPTS

Confidential information from Canadian taxpayers could soon be shared with police and authorities in three dozen countries around the world, under measures included in Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s latest budget.

In an inconspicuous section tucked into a small 78-page annex to the budget, the government says it wants to give police and tax authorities new powers to fight tax evasion and advance international investigations into serious crimes, ranging from drug trafficking and money laundering to terrorism.
***

“If you can get something buried in the budget that nobody knows about, sometimes you can get something passed without getting the kind of heat it deserves,” said Michael Bryant, executive director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and a former Ontario attorney general.

“Well, this deserves a lot of heat from the opposition and scrutiny from media.”
Michael Bryant, Executive Director CCLA, former Attorney General for Ontario
***

Currently, the Canada Revenue Agency can share confidential tax information about Canadians with authorities in other countries that are investigating serious cases, such as tax evasion. However, under Canadian law, the CRA cannot share that information with officials in another country investigating a crime other than tax evasion.
***

The proposed new policy affects more than tax information.
***

While tax authorities in other countries can ask Canada for an individual’s tax information, that policy currently doesn’t extend to other information like bank account records. Under a second proposal, the government would allow the legal tools contained in the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act — such as court orders — to be used to obtain information being sought by another tax authority.
***

While the proposal was included in the budget, it will require the approval of Parliament before it can become law and be implemented. Finance Department spokesman Jack Aubry said it has not yet been decided whether the policy will be part of the budget implementation bill or some other piece of legislation.