OMG made a fabulous find in Miami Herald about the “destructive” impact of requiring US banks to report on assets held by citizens of other countries.
Category Archives: Issues regarding US persons abroad
IRS Invents Chinese Billionaire
I thought only kids had imaginary friends. Well, it turns out IRS makes them up too. Theirs is a shadowy recluse billionaire in China who might buy a piece of art on the black market.
IRS estimated value of this piece of art (which can’t be legally bought or sold because it contains a stuffed eagle’s head!) is $65 million! Here’s the story from Forbes:
Canadian Federally Funded Media Carries IRS Water: CBC scaring Canadians (UPDATED)
IRS cracking down on U.S. expat taxpayers: Steep penalties for Americans who don’t comply with U.S. tax laws (Updated: CBC has corrected the article)
We should call for an apology from reporters from our own government funded media who fail to point out the specific protections that the Canadian government has offered: (1) Never to collect taxes for the United States from a Canadian citizen. (2) Never to collect an FBAR fine from anyone ever. Why does Jon Hembrey of CBC News fail to point out these protections in his article? Instead, this is what we get:
The New US Trade "Task Force": Levelling the playing field or lashing out?
The BBC reports that Barack Obama has just signed into law the creation of a new trade task force, which will be responsible for finding and targeting “unfair trade practices” by US trading partners. China is clearly the main target of this task force:
US creates task force to target unfair trade practices
The US has also recently brought India before the WTO to force it to allow US meat producers to sell there. US meat produce is currently banned, supposedly due to Avian Flu concerns:
Interesting comments by Halifax MP Megan Leslie on FATCA
I found some interesting comments in Hansard by Halifax MP Megan Leslie on FATCA made on Febuary 27th. They actually came up in the context of Canada Panama relations discussing how the US was claiming to go after tax havens such as Panama using legislation such as FATCA but instead FATCA is being used to go after lawful Canadian citizens. I have posted the comments below:
Americans in Sweden Suffer U.S. Tax Crackdown
Americans in Sweden suffer US tax crackdown
Like Canada, Sweden is definitely not a tax haven. Expat4ever posted a link to an article about Americans in Sweden facing the wrath of the IRS. One woman, who has been filing with IRS every year for 25 years was told by IRS she owed over $1 million for failure to file FBARs (which she, like others, didn’t know about).
I’m moving the link to the article here so it has its own thread. I have posted a comment on the Swedish website inviting folks in Sweden to join with us here at Isaac Brock.
Swiss Parliament, a Den of Traitors!
Swiss Paliament Accepts Taxation Treaty with the USA (French) ….(English)
Today is 6 March 2012, the morning after a very tragic day for Switzerland, and democracy all over the world. The Swiss parliament has agreed yesterday to cede yet more of our sovereignty to the US, in violation of its duties under Article 2 of the Constitution “The Swiss Confederation shall protect the liberty and rights of the people and safeguard the independence and security of the country.” Alongside the abstentions of some, the only party that adamantly opposed this was the Swiss People’s Party (“UDC”, the largest party) but that wasn’t enough.
Reply From Canadian Bankers Association (Updated)
Update: Blaze asked me to upload this letter from the Canadian Bankers Association to the United States (pdf) – Petros
Schubert and I wrote to Canadian Bankers Association two weeks ago concerning FATCA. We had a reply on Friday. CBA provided a copy of a comprehensive submission they made to IRS and Department of Treasury. They covered many of the issues we raised, but did not mention Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms:
FATCA and Lebanon
Interesting article about FATCA and Lebanon linked to below. Same old story. FATCA compliance incompatible with Lebanese privacy law. Some discussion of changing Lebanese law but Lebanon MP’s yet to be informed of this. Some discussion of Lebanon trying to join a block of other countries unhappy with FATCA. Perhaps Flaherty needs to ring lead. Interesting quote:
War of 1812: Isaac Brock thought an American attack on Upper Canada was inevitable – Great read!
Given his druthers, Brock — a tall, robust man of 42 and no fan of life in the colonies — would have returned to England to be assigned to service with the British army fighting in Spain. In fact, his deployment to the continent had been authorized near the end of January 1812. But quitting Upper Canada had become impossible as the warlike temper between England and the United States continued to rise.
What a box his sense of duty had put him in. He had few trained troops, the “dubious characters” of a ramshackle militia and few resources to equip them. Moreover, Brock had no good opinion of the fighting spirit in the society he led.
“A full belief possesses them that this Province must inevitably succumb . . . Most of the people have lost all confidence. I however speak loud and look big.”