Category Archives: Issues regarding US persons abroad

Rumour has it that some people associated with the Issac Brock Society, attended a Diane Francis lecture and book signing event held Dec 4, 2013 in Toronto. The attendees included:  IRSCF, Gwen and friend, Tricia, and a Brocker sympathizer who will be called “Gordon.”   Although the attendees seem to feel that discussion of this event, given the presenter,  is not deserving of a thread of its own, I disagree, and am posting this on their behalf.

A photograph of the vehicle Ms. Francis flew in on, and the experiences described to me by the attendees follow.

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See also my earlier post:  Tax Treaty in conflict with Canada’s Human Rights Act

Another angle that we must consider is the Canadian Human Rights Act, which upholds ChearsBigEars view that we may sue the banks for the intention to violate Charter rights.  This is on the basis of the following (section 12):

12. It is a discriminatory practice to publish or display before the public or to cause to be published or displayed before the public any notice, sign, symbol, emblem or other representation that Continue reading →

The Chicago Tribune reports:  IRS not fully ready for law against offshore tax evasion: watchdog

One of the signs of a bad regulatory law is the inability of a government bureaucracy to implement it.  The IRS apparently suffers from inadequate resources.  Whereas Obama signed FATCA into law in 2010,  the IRS is not ready to handle load nearly four years later:

Between 200,000 and 400,000 foreign banks, investment funds and insurers companies are expected to register with the IRS to comply with the law, TIGTA said.

This would be hilarious if the consequences of FATCA weren’t already so sad.  Still, I experience great Schadenfreude over the farcical incompetence of the IRS.

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From Professor Allison Christians: Anyone in Montreal area who will talk to media, CBC?

Thursday, December 5, 2013
Call for US Citizenship-based tax/FATCA stories

If you are in the Montreal area and would like to speak to the media about your experience as a Canadian who is or was affected by US citizenship-based taxation, whether or not you are or could be impacted by FATCA, and whether you wish to speak anonymously or not, could you please get in touch with me either in the comments to this post (moderated, so just indicate if you do not wish publication) or through my contact info, http://www.mcgill.ca/law/about/profs/christians-allison?

Bubblebustin just commented that Minister Flaherty’s holding a press conference tomorrow in Markham:

http://www.fin.gc.ca/notices-avis13/2013-12-05-eng.asp

Perhaps some TO area Brockers would like to organize a protest.     So far, I have heard back personally from one Brocker willing to go if she has company. As Atticus and I know from experience, it only takes two people to get media attention.

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UPDATE:   There must be thousands of ‘US persons’  living in Toronto, many of whom are just waking up to the fact that they are ‘US taxpayers’, and waking up to FATCA, and who frequent this site.

WHERE ARE YOU?

When things do not turn out as you would like, please don’t blame Gwen, or Petros, or IRSCompliant, or NobleDreamer, or Marie, or Blaze or Schubert, or NorthernStar, or Badger, or Bubblebustin, or Calgary411, or any of the others who have been working on your  behalf to put an end to all this FATCA nonsense.    ‘US persons’ from all over the world come to this website, and look to Canadians for answers.  We are the only light they have in the darkness of all this madness. Hundreds of thousands of people  are counting on Canada to save them.   When opportunities to make ourselves LOUD, such as tomorrow’s announcement, come around, to not take advantage of them, is to show weakness, and to admit  defeat.   Don’t let them win.  Now is our time.

Blaze has done some groundwork and written a long comment (see below), explaining in a nutshell what seems to be our current options under the current human rights laws in Canada.  My personal take on Blaze’s comments is that it reveals an impasse–it shows how the “pass the buck” system works in Canada.  The reason that you can’t take legal action is that nobody wants to take responsibility for what the banks are doing.  Apparently, no human rights lawyers are interested either (at least the ones we’ve consulted), not even the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, in litigating against FATCA, not yet–not until the conspiracy to take away rights results in more direct harm.

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In the comments to our post about launching a class action lawsuit against TD Bank, we learned that a constitutional lawyer Joe Arvay does not believe it is time to launch a lawsuit, but in his opinion it would be more propitious to wait for an IGA between Canada and the United States.  Another lawyer says that it would not be good to launch a conspiracy lawsuit based upon “intent” alone, as Gwen reports:

I just spoke to my friend who is a lawyer and he said even with their stated intent to comply with FATCA in the absence of an IGA, no case can be brought until they actually do implement the policy. Intent is not a crime in the eyes of the law except in the case of criminal intent such as murder. So, as much as I want to slam them with a lawsuit, I think we do have to wait until they implement and then get an injunction to stop them from continuing and then sue them for violation of our charter rights. So damn frustrating!

I responded to Gwen:

[I]ntent is a mental process. Suppose I intend to harm someone, but I do nothing to fulfill my intent. The law is not broken. But conspiracy is more than that. If I hire a hitman to kill that person, I’ve committed conspiracy to commit murder. The banks have hired FATCA officers with the sole purpose of implementing a procedure whereby they can systematically deprive Canadians of their rights. This is far beyond intent. This is spending money to pay the salaries of the hitmen, the Delores Umbridges.

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http://www.fin.gc.ca/n13/13-159-eng.asp

Items unavailable to “US Persons” who are disabled are bolded.

The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, and the Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Multiculturalism, today marked the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

“From introducing the Registered Disability Savings Plan in 2007 to the initiatives in this year’s budget supporting job opportunities, our Government continues to support Canadians with disabilities and their families,” said Minister Flaherty. “We recognize that Canadians with disabilities play an important role in our society, and through Canada’s Economic Action Plan, we are committed to helping them achieve a better quality of life.”

“Our Government is hard at work to ensure our country benefits from the talents of Canadians with disabilities. Today, and throughout the year, we will continue to help Canadians with disabilities be active participants in the economy and their communities,” added Minister Kenney.

Since 2006, the Government of Canada has introduced a number of measures to address the needs of people with disabilities, including:

• Providing $1 billion for renovations and energy retrofits of social housing, including renovations that support people with disabilities.
• Investing $400 million over two years for the construction of new social housing for seniors, including seniors with disabilities.
• Investing an additional $75 million over two years for the construction of new social housing units for people with disabilities.
• Investing $20 million for each of two years to improve the accessibility of federally owned buildings.
• Introducing the Working Income Tax Benefit (WITB), which includes a supplement for persons with disabilities, and doubling the tax relief provided by the WITB.
• Increasing the Home Buyers’ Plan withdrawal limit and introducing the First-Time Home Buyers’ Tax Credit, which contain special provisions for persons with disabilities.
• Increasing access to post-secondary education for students with permanent disabilities, including a new Repayment Assistance Plan for Borrowers with a Permanent Disability.

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