Vancouver pastor Samuel Lee identified as man hassled by rude Seattle residents
It used to be that Canadians were more of a curiosity to Americans than anything else, but as the US loses ground and Canada manages to keep afloat, we may see more of this if only on a more subtle level. Those in US tourism know what’s at stake here, but as the average person there flounders it will be harder for those people to see the forest for the trees.
This isn’t much, but it is the first popular media story on FATCA that I have seen in NZ. Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be any opportunity for Kiwis to provide comment feedback. I have sent an email to the Editor to see if contact with the journalist is possible, and see if additional news reporting is in the offing. They have barely cracked a window open on the story, but as I found out when I did a search for FATCA on the Seattle Times today, there was nothing there either! So maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on my Kiwi friends. They now know more than Seattlites do! Thanks to Moby for drawing my attention to it.
By any reasonable estimate, there’s millions of U.S. persons living overseas, while only 400,000 FBARs get filed per year — but in 2011, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) had the audacity to pretend they were getting nearly 100% compliance. The surprisingly-humourous Federal Register has the full story: “Amendment to the Bank Secrecy Act Regulations — Reports of Foreign Financial Accounts”. 36 Federal Register 37: 10234–10246, 24 February 2011. Relevant section begins at page ten thousand, two hundred and forty-four:
Well today one of my children was able to renounce U.S. citizenship. The monkey of U.S. citizenship is now off the back of one more Canadian citizen.
https://twitter.com/#!/davjolly/status/197967762587533315
https://twitter.com/#!/davjolly/status/198046445251727360
On December 6, 2011, Barack Obama began his campaign for re-election with a speech in Kansas. That speech made it clear that this campaign will be about “class warfare”. Obama refined this theme in January 2012 State of The Union Address. Obama’s strategy is simple and clear. It’s to tell the people of America that they can use the democratic process to elect Obama, who will in turn transfer wealth to them. Continue reading
I wanted to finally provide the transcript of the one and only Congressional hearing ever held on FATCA before it passed into law.
http://democrats.waysandmeans.house.gov/Hearings/transcript.aspx?NewsID=10411
Observations:
Even in 2009 there was significant opposition to the law
Congress really didn’t know what the hell they were voting on there were almost no witnesses invited other than from Treasury. ACA for example wasn’t invited to attend. Almost none of the committee members asked any relevant questions.
The public service of the US Treasury Department badly wanted this legislation however, by not informing Congress that much about it I suspect it will be public servants who will walk the plank when the you know what hits the fan.
https://twitter.com/#!/renounceus/status/198031688910127104
https://twitter.com/#!/nobledreamer16/status/197930708155629568
Just received another update on the activities of Democrats Abroad’s FBAR/FATCA Task Force. Previous posts can be found here and here.
From: demcan@sympatico.ca
Subject: FBAR/FATCA Relief Efforts Underway: Tell Your Story Now!
Date: May 3, 2012 1:11:52 AM GMT-04:00
Dear Democrats Abroad member,
Your FBAR/FATCA Task Force has created two instruments to drive home our efforts seeking relief from potentially draconian fines and penalties in relation to new tax filing requirements. We are gathering data from overseas Americans to use in advocating for amendments and reforms to FATCA. We need your urgent participation in this effort!
1. Take our survey to record your circumstance as an overseas citizen and taxpayer. It is completely anonymous and can be found at http://www.surveymonkey.com/FATCA_FBAR
2. Tell us your story of managing your tax affairs as an expat American. If you have a tale of woe and frustration to tell then please go to http://www.ExpatTaxStory.us where you can post your story on a completely anonymous basis.
The Task Force has received an invitation to appear at an IRS hearing on May 15 in Washington. Having results from the survey as well as the website will strengthen our position at the hearing. So please complete at least the survey by May 9.
QUICK UPDATES ON OUR ADVOCACY EFFORTS:
Since our last update a few weeks ago:
Meeting with IRS and Treasury: Your FBAR/FATCA Task Force has continued to work with senior staff at both the IRS and the Treasury Department. Indeed, thanks to Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney’s efforts, Task Force member Joe Smallhoover attended a meeting in Washington DC to accommodate the presentation by various groups representing Americans Abroad to IRS and Treasury officials of our concerns about the tax filing and compliance requirements. A summary of that meeting is expected shortly.
Submission to IRS on FATCA Proposed Regulations: We have made a formal submission to the IRS in response to that agency’s request for responses to its February 8 release of proposed FATCA regulations, and we have asked to be invited to speak at the May 15 hearing on those proposed regulations.
Meeting with National Taxpayer Advocate: We are arranging a meeting with Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson; whose 2011 report to Congress is highly critical of IRS handling of overseas tax filers.
DPCA Resolution on FBAR and FATCA: We have submitted a formal resolution to the DPCA Resolutions Committee for discussion at the May global meeting in Mexico. If passed, Democrats Abroad will then submit that resolution to be considered for inclusion in the Democratic Party 2012 Platform.
BUT WE STILL NEED YOU!
Please click here to take our anonymous survey and here to post your anonymous expat tax story.
Your DPCA FBAR/FATCA Task Force,
Joe Green (Canada) Chair (demcan@sympatico.ca), Stanley Grossman (UK), Maureen Harwood (Canada), Carmelan Polce (Australia), Maya Samara (Switzerland) and Joe Smallhoover (France)
See also:
US Citizenship-based taxation and FATCA are egregious violations of the Master Nationality Rule
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This whole situation is getting ridiculous. Through citizenship-based taxation the U.S.:
1. Steals from the wealth of countries;
2. Steals from the wealth of individuals who:
– just happen to have been born in the U.S.; or
– were born to U.S. parents who just happened to be living abroad
3. Terrorizes U.S. citizens living abroad and dual citizens in the same way that Eritrea does.
4. violates the national sovereignty of other countries by: Continue reading
The phone rang this morning. For a few minutes, my actual phone number was on the blog, by mistake, and one very quick reader, Dianne, phone me from Winterpeg. Not long ago, she learned that the United States still considers her to be an American, even though she hasn’t believed herself to be American since the age of 18. So I asked her to write up her story so that the Isaac Brock Society could help her sort out this issue. Here it is: Continue reading
