It seems Flaherty and Carney are raising more objections both with FATCA and the Volcker rule.
Category Archives: Issues regarding US persons abroad
Germany has its own Fatca
The morning newspaper in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada has a front page article about a German couple who immigrated to Canada in 1963. They have lived here ever since that time and now have received a tax bill from Germany going back to 2005. They have been sent documents saying that there will be penalties unless they pay $2331 retroactive income tax.
The article goes on to say thousands of German-Canadians have been getting these notices recently.
Inquiries seem to indicate a change of the law in 2005 in Germany making German pensions paid abroad subject to taxes.
I can’t post a link as the newspaper has moved behind a paywall but it really is starting to look like people should be citizens only of the country where they live.
What is the REAL Size of the U.S. Federal Tax Code
WHAT IS THE REAL SIZE
OF THE U.S. FEDERAL TAX CODE
AND
HOW HAS THIS CODE BEEN EVOLVING?
This is the second in a series of comments made by Andy Sundberg, Fellow and secretary, the Overseas American Academny, Geneva, Switzerland, 12 February 2012. He may be reached at andy at sunberg dot com.
To see the first post regarding the past 50 year history of Citizenship taxation abuse go here. Continue reading
Is the US going to collapse by 2025?
I just finished reading a bit of a “futurist” prediction from Alfred McCoy, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“How America will collapse by 2025“
In it he proposes a series of scenarios under which the “US century” will come to a crashing end, as, he states, has occurred to the UK, France, USSR and countless other empires of bygone years. The scenarios are as follows: Continue reading
Citizens as property of government – The tragic story of Robert James "Bobby" Fischer
Cross posted from RenounceUScitizenship
Warning! The following video contains language that may offend some of you. To articulate the obvious:
1. The language in the video irrelevant to the purpose and message of the post.
2. If I need to say this: obviously I do NOT share Mr. Fischer’s bigoted views.
To be forewarned is to be forearmed!
“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.”
– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“The notion of “dual loyalties” may seem old-fashioned to some – a throwback to the days of Cold War spy-sniffing. But the concept is hardly obsolete, for the same reason that monogamy isn’t obsolete (for most of us, anyway): No one can serve two masters at once.”
The above interview of Bobby Fischer after his release from prison in Japan contains some interesting comments about U.S. citizenship. Why did the U.S. government not intervene on behalf of U.S. citizen Bobby Fischer? Where was the protection of the U.S. government?
Continue reading
The true meaning of U.S. reporting requirements – is privacy a value?
I came across the following exchange in the comments section to a recent Isaac Brock post. Like many of the comments posted, I found this exchange particularly interesting. What are your thoughts on the requirement of “Reporting”? What if there were no prospect of suffering penalties for failing to report? Is there a legitimate privacy issue? Are there things that are not the business of the Government? Although this is not a direct analogy in the case of Roe v. Wade the U.S. Supreme court (per Justice Blackmun) did find a right of privacy in the Constitution that justified a prohibition of abortion laws. Continue reading
Yet another renunciant whose name isn't in the Federal Register. How many more are there?
Reuters ran an interesting piece on St. Kitts’ economic citizenship programme today, which inevitably touched on the issue of renunciation of U.S. citizenship. However, I was disappointed that the author missed the opportunity to fact-check the U.S. government in the following paragraph:
Adam Bilzerian, a professional poker player and the son of former corporate raider Paul Bilzerian, said he worked through Henley to get citizenship in Austria. But put off by the cost and exclusivity of Austria’s program, he purchased property in St. Kitts, filled out some paperwork, and within a year, became a Kittitian. Then, he became one of 231 Americans to renounce his U.S. passport in 2008. In 2011, government records show, the number of Americans renouncing their citizenship reached 1,788 – the highest number since the government began keeping track in 1997.
Except that Bilzerian’s name does not appear in those “government records”. Continue reading
After Five Decades of Abuse, Enough is Enough!
“ENOUGH IS ENOUGH”
AFTER FIVE DECADES OF ABUSE
IT’S TIME FOR A CHANGE
THIS COMING OCTOBER WE WILL MOURN
THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY
OF THE DEATH OF
A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD
FOR OVERSEAS AMERICANS
AND NOW IT’S TIME TO GET IT BACK
Reproduced by permission of Andy Sundberg, Fellow and Secretary, the Overseas American Academy , Geneva , Switzerland , 16 January 2012. Email contact: andy at sundberg dot com Continue reading
Extreme Measures
The IRS is going to extreme measures to make headlines …
U.S. tax attorney Chris Rusch arrested in Panama City
If you pursue the link below to read the rest of this gripping story, also consider (1) Where the story is coming from, and (2) The veiled pitch for business.
If only journalists in Canada and elsewhere would dramatize the persecution of ordinary extraterritorials with such fervor.
Steven Mopsick's blogspot and his latest post
Our new friend, 30-year IRS veteran, Steven Mopsick, has been a really good sport. He’s defended the orcs of Mordor, his former colleagues at the IRS fearlessly, and he’s taken our abuse like a trooper. He’s asked me if I wanted to put up his new post on FATCA, and I said to myself, why the heck not? Meanwhile, go have a look at his blog, especially this little piece, called FATCA Red Herring, which starts with this whopper, “For all the groaning about FATCA, there is one ‘red herring’ which should be given the lie right away, and that is the silly notion that FATCA is an attempt to force the application of U.S. law on foreign financial institutions.” Well, if nearly 400 pages of orcish regulation isn’t an attempt to force U.S. law on FFIs then I don’t know –but wait, these regs still hadn’t come out when Steven wrote that post–so you’re off the hook, Steve–I am being unfair.
Again, caveat emptor! The Isaac Brock Society maintains a non-endorsement policy of tax-professionals (see here). Also, please read not just the post, but the full comment stream.
New Rules For Foreign (Non-American) Banks with American Clients
by 30-year IRS veteran