This post has been cross posted from RenounceUScitizenship

The costs of U.S. tax and reporting compliance

I have written a number of posts on the problem of compliance with U.S. tax and reporting requirements . Most people want to be and remain in compliance. My previous posts have opined that: the IRS and lawyer fear mongering coupled with  complexity have made compliance  difficult. The simple fact is that most people don’t know what to do. Taxpayers do NOT trust the IRS. Furthermore, the “not knowing what to do” is having a terrible effect on people’s lives (to the extent that they still have one). These views are echoed by the Taxpayer Advocate Report to Congress. Continue reading →

This post is cross posted from RenounceUScitizenship.

Let’s begin with an excerpt from a comment from a U.S. citizen living outside the United States.

“I have not been able to get advice from the IRS, from the IRS Tax Advocate, from my financial planner, from my government representatives, from the US Ambassador to Canada – it all goes in a circle and the easy answer – ‘get advice from a US tax accountant’. I do get my US taxes (and Canadian taxes) prepared through a cross-border CA and it is probably my mistake to not have asked the right questions in the first place, but here I am, as are many others, in trouble and also called by the US and even many in Canada, tax evader.”

What’s a poor expat to do? Continue reading →

Cross-posted from USxCanada InfoShop

New Democrats Offer More Support Than Conservatives or Liberals Do?

Why has support for beleaguered American citizens been more apparent among New Democrats than among Conservatives? Should support for and defense of as many as a million Canadians be seen to fracture along party lines?

The 16 Sept 2011 letter that Finance Minister Jim Flaherty sent to several major US newspapers appears to be the only public representation that the Canadian governing party has made toward the United States on behalf of US citizens who are resident in and pay taxes to Canada. Internally, the Department of Finance and Canada Revenue Agency have stated that on the basis of the existing tax treaty, Canada will not enforce FBAR penalties at all, and will not enforce US tax liabilities incurred by persons who are concurrently Canadian citizens. This “relief” derived from interpretation, not action.

Continue reading →

http://www.fin.gc.ca/activty/consult_-eng.asp

CONSULTING WITH CANADIANS

Good planning starts with listening. Finance Canada consults with Canadians on issues large and small, enabling public input on policy options. The Department tries to ensure that as many people as possible – whether they represent businesses, groups with special interests or individual Canadians – get the opportunity to have their say.

Last night I found myself in a discussion with a U.S. dual  citizen. Basically, what she told me was that since she learned of the IRS assault against dual citizens that she felt that “her life had been stolen from her”. She listed a list of health and emotional problems. Furthermore like “a deer frozen in the headlights” she doesn’t know what to do. She is reaching retirement age and fears that her retirement savings will be taken. (By the way, she didn’t know about FATCA. I didn’t add to her misery.)

The “emotional and life aspects” of (what has become) the “War of 2012” are rarely mentioned. How has this affected your life?

This is a post that I wrote a few months ago for the Flophouse but never published. I guess I was feeling pretty desperate at the time and figured no one was listening so I put it aside. Given some of the comments I’ve read recently at U.S. and Canadian media websites, I decided to go ahead and post it at Isaac Brock. I know the folks here already know all this but the folks at home are still confused about who we are and just what the heck we are doing “over there.”. This is my experience based on living in both France and Japan.

Continue reading →

Well, its done, it’s over and a big step toward being free!

The first thing is that Toronto now has a system for keeping keys, cell phones and so on. Not big items, no purses and so on. You give it to the security guard – there is a storage cubby against the wall. You get a number, present it when you leave and get your belongings back. I do want to stress though, only small items. The non-citizen service area was packed and it felt so odd to feel that energy of  so many people wanting to get visas, to get in to the US and I was so wanting to get out.

Continue reading →

IRS going after Canadian-American citizens