News Flash: The United States government is so desperate for cash that the IRS has put the RRSP back into the penalty base for the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative. You can read about here and at the Serbinski Forum (see comments by Tacova and tsanaha).
Imagine that. The United States is now raiding the retirement accounts of Canadians. Way to take the high ground Mr. Shulman. Way!
Yesterday I received a computer-generated letter from the IRS regarding the first of four 1040 returns I sent in mid-December. I check the mailbox everyday, thinking the notice from hell may arrive, though I really did not expect to hear a word for months. So I wondered before opening it, am I about to lose my sense of calm gained by renouncing and trying to focus, at least occasionally, on something else. I posted a bit about this yesterday but was unable to copy/paste the letter; Petros asked today that I include it in a new post.
A Treasury official said in a conference call with reporters that more countries may join the “FATCA partners” list.
“We’ve had numerous conversations with other governments beyond the five that are cited,” the official said.
Asked about Canada’s exclusion from the list of five countries, a senior government official with knowledge of the matter told Reuters that the United States “was open to exploring a similar arrangement with Canada.”
Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said the ministry had raised “serious concerns” about FATCA with the United States.
“Today’s announcement appears to demonstrate an interest in greater joint government collaboration to address such concerns. We will continue to work with our American counterparts towards an approach acceptable to both our countries,” he said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/08/us-usa-tax-treasury-fatca-idUSTRE8171G620120208
www.IRS.gov/newsroom Public Contact: 800.829.1040
Treasury, IRS Issue Proposed Regulations for FATCA Implementation
IR-2012-15, Feb. 8, 2012
WASHINGTON— The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service today issued proposed regulations for the next major phase of implementing the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).
Enacted by Congress in 2010, the law targets non-compliance by U.S.taxpayers using foreign accounts.
Everyone can read into this how they want but I wanted to put it up. They seem to be indicating further negotiations will need to be undertaken. No mention of dual nationals but they do mention all of the countries involved have a “residency” based tax system.
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/joint_intl_statement_fatca.htm
Senator Carl Levin, not yet ready to rest on his laurels with the damage he’s done to Americans abroad by sneaking FATCA into the HIRE Act at the last minute, has apparently decided it’s a good idea to decrease American economic activity by making it even harder for Americans abroad, especially expat entrepreneurs, to do business with domestic American suppliers of goods and services. The full text of his newly-proposed “CUT Exports Loopholes Act” is not yet available publicly, but he’s already put out a press release about it. In his floor statement, he described it as a subset of what he attempted to get implemented in the “Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act” (S.1346). Continue reading
Speaking out again, 30-year IRS Vet tells us that Isaac Brock was a great guy but that FATCA is not the hill that any of us wants to die on.
Interesting letter from the Brazilian Bankers Association. If you read through it many legal conflicts not just with Brazilian law but Brazil’s Constitution. In many ways a tougher position being taken than by anyone in the Canadian financial industry.
http://www.canadianlawyermag.com/4031/the-offshore-banking-nightmare.html
While I don’t believe the situation described by this article is at all relevant to the situation facing people here I just wanted to show at least from a Canadian standpoint where there are some people who might not necessarily be as sympathetic to our plight over here at IBS as we would hope. Given there is an ability on their website to make comments I suggest people to do so generously about the situation Expats/Accidental Americans/Dual Citizens are facing and that Canadian Lawyer magazine should be covering their plight AS MUCH as those whom they describe in the article of being victomized by these offshore investment scams.
Anti-government extremists opposed to taxes and regulations pose a growing threat to local law enforcement officers in the United States, the FBI warned on Monday.
Hat tip: Zerohedge
