Liberty and justice for all United States persons abroad

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Category Archives: Issues regarding US persons abroad

Does the U.S. really want to lose @JTepper2 as a citizen? Renunciation of U.S. citizenship – Jan. 2015

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This post appeared on the RenounceUScitizenship blog.

The above tweet references an op-ed that appeared in the December 7, New York Times. The “Op-Ed” was interesting, well written and didn’t add any new insights or information. I then researched who this person is. He is a highly accomplished author, fund manager in London. In fact I intend to read at least one of his books.

Q. Does the U.S. really want to lose citizens of this calibre?

A. They don’t care and they don’t care that they don’t care.

“Stupid is as stupid does.”

This sentiment is confirmed in:

In the words of this Homelander:

I think the real question is what makes you an American. If you don’t live here and feel no responsibility for supporting the country, why would anyone care if you decide to renounce your citizenship? There are plenty of people in the world who WANT to be Americans. Many of them come here, contribute to the country and want to become citizens. Those are the real Americans, not the folks who inherited the moniker but seem to think they have no responsibility for the contributing anything to the country.

The “op-ed” by Mr. Tepper includes:

more

Spreading the word: with Kijiji, Twitter, Facebook and other ways …

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JC has submitted the following to put into its own post so all your comments on these subjects might better reside in one place to keep them together. It’s another opportunity to suggest and for others to read ways those of you who more technologically savvy than I can spread the word:

One of the unstated objectives of The Isaac Brock Community is to spread “the word” of the injustices of US FATCA, CBT, and FBAR; and about the efforts of ADCS and plaintiffs Ginny and Gwen, and the need for donations to ADCS. Speaking with family, friends and other US-defined *US persons* is one way. Writing letters, sending e-mails, and commenting on news articles are other ways.

Community members can share their strategies and tactics for Twitter, Facebook, and other medium in the comments below. For instance, JC may report that there are a dedicated few who are trying to keep the issue of US tax claims in London Mayor Boris Johnson’s Twitter timeline. Let’s hope Mr. Johnson takes notice and applies some of what he learned on leadership from Winston Churchill. Even if he does not act with encouragement of these tweets, others who are tweeting the Lord Mayor of London may take notice.

A few weeks back JC tried to contact Canada’s Commander Chris Hadfield by e-mail and Twitter to try to recruit him to the cause. There has not been a response (as expected). Yet JC may report that all of his tweets to his 1.2 million Twitter followers are about science and space. None about politics. Perhaps this is the way he wishes to keep his brand “Hadfield”.

Kijiji: Free Classifieds in Canada. There have been enough comments on Kijiji by our brilliant LM over the weeks to perhaps have its own feature.

As new posts quickly become old posts and lost in the number we have (See and Search the Isaac Brock Society Archive of Posts), perhaps there is some way information about Kijiji can be included in the resources listed in the right-hand column of our Home Page.

Your thoughts and suggestions for best spreading the word with Kijiji, Twitter, Facebook, etc.?

F.H. Buckley: Canada’s system of government is proving far superior to America’s

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This is a fascinating article. For those who understand how difficult it is to reverse ciizenship-based taxation, FBAR and FATCA consider the following excerpt:

“What Canada has importantly over the U.S. is reversibility, the ability to undo bad laws. That doesn’t happen so easily in America, with the gridlock built into its separation of powers, and that’s a problem Fukuyama himself has identified in two recent books that describe a sclerotic society of special interests which enact wealth-destroying laws. Once passed, Americans are stuck with bad laws. Their constitution doesn’t have a reverse gear.

What Fukuyama recognized in his recent books is James Madison’s error in The Federalist Papers. Madison argued that the separation of powers would prevent bad laws from being enacted in the first place. However, that’s an example of what Nobel laureate Friedrich Hayek called the “fatal conceit,” the idea that planners can anticipate all the problems that might arise with a well-drafted statute. More modestly, Canada’s parliamentary system assumes that, in a world of human fallibility, mistakes will be made, that “experts” are often unreliable, that dumb laws will be passed; and that what is more important is giving the legislator the ability to bring hindsight wisdom to bear in undoing laws which experience tells us were ill-planned. If American government has gotten too large, if the statutory code and the federal regulations have caught a case of elephantiasis, that’s not surprising. The know-it-all hubris of the planner was baked into the American constitution from the start.”

Of course, we should also remember how easy it is to pass bad laws in the first place. Many laws are simply tagged on to unrelated laws. In fact, FATCA itself was a Trojan Horse Law. In fact, as at least one U.S. politician reminds us, sometimes we:

“Have to pass the law so that we can see what’s in in it.”

You can read the complete article referenced in he above tweet here.

Dear Finance Minister Joe Oliver — in response to your latest form letter…

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From: MinFinance/s
Sent: Thursday, December 04, 2014 10:40 AM
To: caroltapanila
Subject: Your correspondence

Finance Minister Oliver’s Letter, Dec 4, 2014

*****************************

My response:

From: caroltapanila
Sent: Thursday, December 04, 2014 11:17 AM
To: MinFinance/s ; Michelle.Rempel@parl.gc.ca
Cc: Matt Grant ; Murray Rankin ; Mike.Sullivan.P9@parl.gc.ca ; Nathan Cullen ; Patrick Cain
Subject: Re: Your correspondence

Finance Minister Oliver and my Calgary MP Michelle Rempel,

Thank you for your long-delayed response, which is nothing more than a form letter, personalized with my name, my email address and reference to ” 2013FIN398181; 2013fin400017; 2013fin401222; 2014FIN403230; 2014FIN404518 “.

i.e., not a mention of the Registered Disability Savings Plan that most of my correspondence to you would have been about, the US tax I paid as the Holder of my adult son’s RDSP ($3,661 USD) or the discrimination this applies to my son and others like him who is NOT a US citizen who happens to reside in Canada. You enable the US in their efforts by not placing a “warning sticker” on all Canadian registered accounts and mutual funds that every potential *US Person* must heed.

When will there be any US / Canada Tax Treaty that will address the TFSA, the RESP and the RDSP – and Canadian mutual funds for persons who are defined by the US as *US Persons*?

Pretty deplorable situation when Canada puts its banks before its people, especially the most vulnerable, who are “ENTRAPPED” if accepting the US definition of their US citizenship – when they never lived in the US or had any benefit from the US, my son for 40+ years of his life only in Canada.

I reject your Conservative government action as my Canadian-born son cannot renounce a *supposed* US citizenship due to lack of ‘requisite mental capacity’ and the fact that a parent, a guardian or a trustee cannot act on such a person’s behalf, even with a court order. My son and others like him would have no more requisite mental capacity to go to the US to get a US social security number to be able to back-file any US tax and reporting forms and pay for the same, all without influence from anyone (as must be done for a renunciation of US citizenship, now at a cost of $US 2,350, a sum out of reach of most of Canada’s most vulnerable). Note this ‘lack of requisite mental capacity’ would apply not only to Canadians defined by the US as having a US citizenship who also have a developmental disability but to anyone with a brain injury from an accident or a medical event like a stroke or to persons with an age-related dementia.

How will Canada protect such Canadians? And, if you won’t, why will you not? Shall I refer my bank to you when they ask the NATIONAL ORIGIN of my son – or to MP Gerald Keddy and other Conservatives, who throw back – “Just Renounce” as their uninformed answer to my family’s situation?

Regards,
Carol Tapanila
Calgary, AB, Canada

 

 

About @MayorOfLondon Boris Johnson by Laura Saunders @Saunderswsj features familiar names

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This article is behind a paywall – perhaps somebody can provide a direct link. It apparently will be in the print edition tomorrow so it would be good to get comments up today. The text of the article is here.

The article includes:

Now he has a new claim to fame: as a poster boy for millions of U.S. “tax cheats” living abroad.

Recently, the 50-year-old Mr. Johnson, who holds dual U.S./U.K. citizenship, complained that the U.S. is “trying to hit” him for taxes on the sale of his London home, even though he hasn’t lived in the States since he was five.

In an interview with NPR about Churchill, Mr. Johnson called his U.S. tax bill “absolutely outrageous,” after a listener asked about his citizenship status. When pressed as to whether he would pay, Mr. Johnson said, “No is the answer…why should I?…I pay my taxes to the full in the United Kingdom, where I live and work.” These taxes are often at higher rates than in the U.S., he added.

Mr. Johnson’s spokesman says he has no further comment on the matter. The Telegraph, a British newspaper, has reported that he and his wife bought a London house for GBP470,000 (about $750,000) in 1999 and sold it for GBP1.2 million (about $1.9 million) in 2009. The Internal Revenue Service is prohibited by law from commenting on issues involving individual taxpayers.

Mr. Johnson’s case is a perfect illustration of the dilemmas faced by many of the 7.6 million U.S. citizens living abroad as a result of U.S. authorities’ five-year campaign against secret offshore accounts. It began after disclosures that Americans were being encouraged to hide money in Switzerland.

Most of these expats have never had a numbered Swiss account, but many of them, like Mr. Johnson, are finding they haven’t complied with U.S. tax laws that seem to them highly unfair. “It’s a clear example of the harm befalling citizens caught in the maw of multiple tax systems–a status imposed on every American citizen abroad,” says Jackie Bugnion, a director of American Citizens Abroad, an expat group.

The root cause, experts say, is that both the U.S.’s definition of citizenship and its tax system are broad.

Read more: http://www.nasdaq.com/article/london-mayor-is-poster-boy-for-expat-tax-woes-20141204-00782#ixzz3KxFIzjmS

Russia announces a new offshore amnesty program, the anti-FATCA

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Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has announced a new offshore amnesty program,  the anti-FATCA:

I announce a full amnesty for capital returning to Russia, and I repeat, a full amnesty. What does that mean? Those people who fully legalize, fully bring back their capital to Russia, should be protected from being dragged to various law enforcement agencies, and from having to prove where they got their money from, and from being exposed to criminal investigations.

We need to reverse the history of capital flight from our country, we need to end this era…. We have already done a lot of work to improve our investment climate, and now we need to turn to implement that legislation.

This is a brilliant move on President Putin’s part. Instead of punishing expatriated funds, he has welcomed them home. Wealthy Russians who have been burnt by confiscation during the Cyprus bailout and by illegal sanctions by President Obama, will find likely this a very welcome opportunity to repatriate their wealth.

More U.S. Hypocrisy

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Well guess what bit of legislation just passed in the House of Representatives today? The legislation is the ABLE Act or Achieving a Better Life Experience topbankinfo.ru. This new act uses the tax system to allow disabled people to save for their future needs. Ironically enough it sounds a lot like Canada’s Registered Disability Savings Program (RDSP).

http://www.casey.senate.gov/newsroom/releases/able-act-takes-major-step-forward-after-bipartisan-vote-of-house-ways-and-means-committee

My Scotia iTrade (not) FATCA letter

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I have received my (not) FATCA letter.

Background:  I opened my Scotia iTrade account without providing citizenship information. I was a permanent resident of Canada at the time. I did not fill out US paperwork W-9 or W-8BEN. The trading account is inactive. I have whited-out the account number and address.

Last Friday, I received a voice message from Scotia iTrade regarding this case number. I am planning to ignore them for the moment. This will, of course, increase the cost of FATCA implementation.

Observations:

  1. The letter makes no mention of freezing or closing my account. But it does say I must respond to the letter or I will be subject to 30% withholdings on US income sources.
  2. It seems that this is a fishing expedition to obtain US status information.
  3. Renewal of the forms must take place every three years. This is new to me.
  4. Certain information is allegedly “required” to open an account–such as “driver’s license, passport, citizenship card or age of majority card”. Does this mean if you prove you are a Canadian resident, they will be satisfied?
  5. No mention of FATCA or new Canadian regulations conforming to FATCA appear in this letter. Instead, Scotia iTrade claims to be “a Qualified Intermediary for the Unites States Department of Treasury Internal Revenue Service (IRS)”.

Continue reading →

More from Robert Morris @Robbolaw on #FATCA and #Americansabroad

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FATCA 2014 – Year of FATCA Progress:

 

FATCA 2013 – Twas the year before FATCA:

You may recall about a year ago, Robert Morris launched the “FATCA Video heard  round the world” and published a “FATCA and the new Birth of The American Empire“.

FATCAandthebirthofthenewamericanempire

Enjoy!

 

Nigel Green applauds Boris Johnson’s “noble and brave stance” against FATCA

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Nigel Green, CEO of the deVere Group, has issued a strong statement of support for Boris Johnson, Mayor of London.  Mr. Green is well known for his opposition to FATCA and CBT and has been a consistent champion for US Persons worldwide. Green declared, via his blog:

“Boris Johnson’s noble and brave stance against this fatally flawed, imperialistic and economically dangerous law, means he is legally in the wrong, yet morally he is right.

“Whilst I wouldn’t advocate that individuals do not comply with FATCA – instead they should explore all the available options to mitigate its adverse effects – I do hope the Mayor’s apparent FATCA crusade will serve as a call to arms to other high profile personalities to publicly express their opposition to this highly-polemical new law.”

 

Related articles:

http://www.nigel-green.com/2014/11/29/boris-johnson-still-refuses-to-bow-down-to-fatca/

http://www.nigel-green.com/2014/11/19/u-s-citizen-and-mayor-of-london-boris-johnson-slams-fatca/

http://www.funds-europe.com/news/14732-johnson-s-anti-fatca-crusade-is-noble-says-wealth-manager

http://www.cpifinancial.net/news/post/29218/london-mayor-boris-johnson-makes-brave-stand-against-american-taxes