Category Archives: Issues regarding US persons abroad

I thought this article might be interesting to some of you:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/us-election/tea-partys-canadian-born-rising-star-makes-waves-with-texas-primary-win/article4454006/

Ted Cruz the new Republican nominee for US Senate in Texas happens to have been born in Calgary and lived there for several years(I happen to believe even under Canadian nationality law of the era he is a dual citizen). Additionally Cruz was personally endorsed by several other “Tea Party” Senators including three of the four recent authors of that FATCA letter to Geithner(Jim DeMint, Mike Lee, and Rand Paul).

I will also note that all of the Washington “establishment” journalists are quite upset with Cruz’s victory complaining he is “hardliner” who will “gum up” the US Senate along with Rand Paul, Jim Demint, and Mike Lee.

ForbesThis is a guest post by Jochen Vogler, CFP, an executive director at Bellecapital International AG, an SEC-registered Zurich, Switzerland-based independent asset manager.

It’s summer, and Americans with wanderlust will find their dollars very welcome as they spend them at the London 2012 Olympics and in other distant lands. Those trying to open an overseas bank account will get a much chillier reception.

Increasingly, non-U.S. financial institutions, including those in Switzerland, Germany, and the United Kingdom, don’t want custody or management of assets owned by either American citizens or residents. If you had a foreign bank account in the past, you may have already received a letter asking you to leave within a few months or even weeks.

What has made U.S. investors so unpopular with most non-U.S. financial institutions? It started in the early 2000s with modest success and picked up in 2008 during the UBS investigation when the fiscally challenged government began looking for chances to increase tax revenue. The prime targets were U.S. taxpayers with undeclared assets overseas. Various agencies, especially the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Justice, set out to find and prosecute these non-compliant individuals.

This resulted in several so-called voluntary disclosure programs–updated versions of rules in existence since the first half of the 20th century. The latest (and third) one seems to have an indefinite life span. The previous two programs generated 33,000 disclosures and $ 4.4 billion in revenues since early 2009.

Banks that in past decades catered to clients who wanted to keep assets offshore, came under close scrutiny. UBS was the first major case in 2008 to 2009; Bank Wegelin was another. Today there are supposedly at least 11, some even say 40, Swiss banks on a target list of the Department of Justice for full review and potential indictment….

It is understandable for the US government to take action against money laundering, but the little innocent people cannot be harmed as a result of such.  US policy is making it difficult for American citizens to refinance their mortgages simply because they are “US Persons”, and such discrimination is a federal crime in the United States.  One would think that America would be more interested in protecting its citizens instead of harming them with flawed policy, but such doesn’t appear to be the case.

I wrote this up after I sent my ballot off for the local primary in my home state.  Will re-post later on the Flophouse.  A couple of comments first.  1.  Not everyone should vote in U.S. elections – if you don’t consider yourself a U.S. citizen (but the U.S. is trying to claim you) or you are in the process of renouncing relinquishing, then probably best to avoid it.  2.  Not everyone is thrilled by the voting methods being offered to overseas voters – this article is a good summary of their objections.

I just sent off my ballot for the primary election in my home state in the U.S.  For those of you U.S. citizens abroad who have tried to vote in the past and found it to be a frustrating and fruitless endeavor, this year I urge you to give it another shot.  Here was my experience.

My starting point was the Overseas Vote Foundation.  I used their wizard to answer a few simple questions and got a printable packet of documents that I then mailed to the government agency in the U.S. responsible for handling these requests for my voting district.

In a few short weeks, I received a new voter registration card in the mail at my Versailles address. A few weeks after that I got a mail from them that asked me how I would like to receive my ballot (paper copy or on-line).  I asked for a paper ballot but it didn’t seem to have been taken into account because, although I have been watching for it in the mail, it didn’t come.  With the date for the primary fast approaching, I was wondering what do.

In the end, I didn’t have to do anything.  They contacted me.  Here is the email I received – a gentle reminder that said:

Dear VICTORIA FERAUGE:
The deadline to return your ballot for the 2012 Primary Election is fast approaching and we have not yet received your ballot.  You must submit your ballot packet on or before 8 p.m. (PT) Election Day, August 7, 2012, for your vote to be counted!
You can go online to access King County’s secure electronic ballot delivery system where you may log in, mark, and print your ballot packet.

So I did as they suggested. I logged on, filled out my ballot using their very nice, user-friendly on-line interface, printed it out, signed it, scanned it and sent off the .pdf this morning.  Green.  Done.

Outstanding!

I sent along a Thank You note with my ballot.  Hey, when you catch people doing something right, it’s important to say so.  This was better than “right” – it was perfect.  I’d like to say again (publicly) to King Country Elections that they did a really fine job this year making life easier for us overseas voters who want to participate and have a voice in homeland politics.

Now, that is my experience with my state’s election officials.  It might be different with yours.  Nevertheless, there is progress and you may be pleasantly surprised.

So give it a try and register.  Americans abroad have a few issues on the table right now and this is one way (among others)  we can make those issues known and put pressure on homeland politicians to sit up and pay attention.

Christophe commented (July 31, 2012 at 1:05 pm):

Some senators are starting to see the bigger picture:
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/washington-expert-applauds-senators-scrutiny-of-fatca-hails-first-nail-in-coffin-of-bad-law-164446156.html

Also, I contacted the senators from my state regarding the subject, and I was happily surprise to receive a phone call saying that they shared the concern, and that it was on their radar.

[Editor’s note:  Please also consult Jim Jatras’s Repeal FATCA website.]

Just thought it would be worth taking a moment to acknowledge and celebrate the fact that this is the Isaac Brock Society’s 1000th post. This is a fantastic achievement for a blog that only began in December 2011.

One day this blog will be a very important historical record of a very important time in American History (or perhaps the end of it). As one of the commentators implied:

When historians are trying to understand the reason for the demise of the U.S. – “citizenship-based taxation” will likely be identified as one of the reasons.

Congratulations to all organizers, authors, contributors and commentators! Also a special  thanks to all of you READERS (without who I suspect there would be far less incentive to write). Perhaps Petros could post the number of page views on this date – but I suspect that they may have exceeded the one million mark!

Some continuing thoughts and sentiments to pass along:

Stop citizenship-based taxation and repeal FATCA!

All U.S. citizens abroad should use the 2012 election to draw attention to the unfairness of citizenship-based taxation!

Two solitudes – To “OVDP” or to NOT “OVDP”

To OVDP:

Does bringing the past into "compliance" mean that one must enter #OVDP ? One lawyer thinks so http://t.co/pH5H5DPJ

— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) July 31, 2012

To NOT OVDP:

@USCitizenAbroad http://t.co/CHFctrb4http://t.co/j81WWhh4

— Alvin S. Brown, Esq. (@USTaxAttorney) July 30, 2012

When it comes to the “compliance dilemma”, the thinking seems to be:

“To OVDP or to NOT OVDP” – Note the Isaac Brock press release on OVDP 2012 Continue reading →