Liberty and justice for all United States persons abroad

The Isaac Brock Society

Category Archives: Issues regarding US persons abroad

Monday, April 7: New Canadian Finance Minister addresses the Canadian Club of Toronto

Posted on by Posted in Issues regarding US persons abroad 42 Comments

I asked in a comment,

What will be discussed? Can anyone from here be there?

AnonAnon answered:

@calgary411 –

I’m planning to show up at Joe Oliver’s luncheon on Monday with a protest sign. I hope others can join me.

Opportunity? for conversation or at least protest to the new Finance Minister, Joe Oliver

April 4, 2014

Minister of Finance to Address the Canadian Club of Toronto

Minister of Finance Joe Oliver will deliver remarks at a luncheon hosted by the Canadian Club of Toronto, on Monday, April 7, 2014. The Minister is scheduled to speak at approximately 1:00 p.m.

The event will take place at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel, 100 Front Street West, in Toronto, Ontario.

Canada’s Parliament — MPs asking the right questions about FATCA

Posted on by Posted in Issues regarding US persons abroad 27 Comments

From broken man on a Halifax pier further to IRSCompliantForever, further to Tim’s comment, and including Chear’s comment re Elizabeth May in Parliament on April 3

The many mentions of FATCA in the House yesterday certainly deserve their own roundup post.

From IRSCompliantForever,

Go to the transcript found by Tim dealing with April 3 FATCA questions in Canada’s House of Commons.

Use your search and find to look for FATCA hits. I found 23.

Read all the good FATCA questions from the Opposition and the poor responses from representatives of our present government of Canada.

“This is outrageous. We are a sovereign nation.”

http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=41&Ses=2&DocId=6513111

Here is what I quickly pulled: Continue reading →

Consensus is: “This guy gets it!”

Posted on by Posted in Issues regarding US persons abroad 40 Comments

An Open Letter to Canadians from TDV legal correspondent, Jim Karger

What he is talking about, or wants me to talk about, are the Canadians who are about to be given a swirly by the 900-pound gorilla to the south because they had the misfortune of being born to one American parent in Canada, or were born in the US for no good or apparent reason before returning to Canada as children. They are, to their extreme disadvantage, American citizens, whether they know it or not. And, American citizens, voluntary, knowing, or otherwise, are required by the most dangerous criminal enterprise in the world to report and pay taxes on every thin dime they earn their entire miserable lifetimes regardless where in the world they earned them or where they live.

So what?

Read on.

Updated Petition — Is it time to assist MPs in their efforts for Question Period in Canada’s Parliament with Updated Petition?

Posted on by Posted in Issues regarding US persons abroad 7 Comments

I’m passing on a comment that came from Kathy this morning to get feedback / help on getting the Canadian petition below updated and sent to a specific MP for use in Question Period regarding the implementation of Canada’s FATCA IGA.

SHOULD THIS PETITION EFFORT BE UPDATED? (Former Petition to Canadian Government re FATCA in Canada — Print, Sign, Send to MP Ted Hsu ASAP — RIGHT AWAY!)

@calgary411

Just talked to my MP and he suggested to keep the petitions coming as the issue needs floor time discussion and petitions are a way of getting that time. Do we need a new version now that the Conservatives have already agreed to the IGA? How quickly can we do this?

FBI did not add any renunciant records to NICS in March 2014

Posted on by Posted in Issues regarding US persons abroad 31 Comments

The latest Report on Active Records in the NICS Index, released a couple of days earlier than normal, shows 24,220 records in the “Renounced U.S. Citizenship” category, down by two from the February 2014 report. (On the other hand, the number of people who were caught trying to use an ex-citizen’s identity to buy firearms has reached 61, according to the Federal Denials Report).

Months in which zero records get added to the renunciations category are hardly a rare occurrence; the most recent such case before this was in December 2012. That was also the same quarter for which the IRS reported a laughably implausible total of 45 people giving up U.S. citizenship or long-held green cards. This suggests that the problem was at the State Department, rather than any of the downstream agencies: after the CLN overseers in the Bureau of Consular Affairs handed more than three thousand ex-citizens’ records over to the FBI in October to clear up their backlog, they apparently decided to go into hibernation and put off all their work until the warmer seasons when acorns resumed their traditional abundance and they could feast to their hearts’ delight.

Continue reading →

Latest from New Zealand Privacy Commissioner on FATCA

Posted on by Posted in Issues regarding US persons abroad 30 Comments

What would happen if New Zealand didn’t pass a law to allow FATCA reporting?

If there was no change to New Zealand law, financial institutions in this country would, unless certain exceptions applied, have to pay a 30 percent withholding tax on certain US income. This financial cost would undoubtedly be passed on to a broad range of New Zealand consumers.

Most New Zealand banks receive some US income. For instance, US Treasury bonds play an important role in setting global interest rates, and are often used by banks to reduce their exposure to interest rate risk.

If New Zealand did not pass a law to allow FATCA reporting, banks and other financial institutions in this country may be unable to comply with FATCA without breaching the privacy principles relating to the collection and disclosure of client information.

If New Zealand did not negotiate an IGA with the US, the effect on American citizens and green card holders resident in New Zealand would be that it would be easier for them to avoid meeting their obligations to pay tax in the United States. [Why should New Zealand care about this?]

However, a significant portion of these tax obligations can be discounted by tax paid in New Zealand under the US-New Zealand double taxation agreement.

For these reasons, the Privacy Commissioner has not opposed the negotiation of the FATCA IGA with the US, and the amending tax law to implement the IGA.

Will information about New Zealanders with no US connection be sent to the US?

No. Only those accounts covered by the terms of the IGA can be sent to the IRS. Financial institutions have to collect information on accounts that look like they might belong to a US person, in accordance with a set of criteria.

In the 2013 New Zealand Census, 21,462 people indicated they were born in the US. This is an indication of the number of people potentially affected, as birthplace is one of the IRS criteria.

Solving Problems of U.S. Citizenship – Info Session – EDMONTON Confirmed!

Posted on by Posted in Issues regarding US persons abroad 5 Comments

EDMONTON: SUNDAY, APRIL 20

TIME: 9:30am-12:30pm

VENUE: Don Wheaton Family YMCA at 10211 102 Ave., Edmonton, AB T5J 0A5
(underground parking available at facility)

Don Wheaton Family YMCA (Central)

I will be flying out to Edmonton to attend, and to assist John with this meeting. I look forward to meeting my fellow Edmontonians who have been accused of being American. Come listen, get the pertinent information about these issues, and then make your decisions proactively rather than reactively.

~ GwEvil ~

Synopsis: Solving U.S. Citizenship Problems with John Richardson (London, Ontario)

Posted on by Posted in Issues regarding US persons abroad 2 Comments

CanadianCastle

By Blaze
Finally, I’m posting a synopsis of Solving the Problem of US Citizenship information session presented by John Richardson of citizenshipsolutions.ca that was held in London, Ontario on February 8, 2014.

I apologize for the delay. Other FATCA projects have consumed my life.

You can read the synopsis in the link, but here are a few highlights:

CITIZENSHIP:

John first gave an overview of US citizenship laws, tax laws, renunciation and relinquishment and many changes that have taken place over decades.

People have many differing circumstances and each one is unique. Because of the complexities, John stressed:

“The bottom line is you have to check the law at the time the act took place.”

Continue reading →

What should Jake do?

Posted on by Posted in Issues regarding US persons abroad 51 Comments

Here is a scenario, not unrealistic, which should explain to reigning Canadian government how they have failed in their duty to stand on guard for Canada by betraying Canadian citizens to the IRS.

Jake is a businessman in Canada who employs 50 people at his workshop in the Toronto area. He is nearing retirement age. He has made a decent living but has put so much of his company’s profits back into his business that he has basically lived a frugal, middle class lifestyle. He paid for his kids’ educations, but they went to Canadian universities not elite US Ivy League schools. His wife died a couple years ago, and he inherited her half of the house and her RRSP.  Continue reading →