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The Isaac Brock Society

Media and Blog Articles Open for Comments – Part 4 of 11 (Year 2017)

You can access all years at this link: Media and Blog Articles – Links for All Years

 If clicking on a comment link brings you to the wrong comment, click here  to get on the most recent page of comments.(alternatively, to reach the most recent comment page, go to  the url in the bar at the top of your browser and delete everything after http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/media-and-blog-articles-open-for-comments-part-4-of-4)

Media and Blog Articles

EmBee suggested that it would be good if there was a thread for new articles, so that people would be aware of where to comment.   So, I created this permanent page.   I’ll make a permanent list of links posted here and keep adding to it,  but not deleting, so we’ll end up having sort of a  “bibliography” of FATCA/CBT articles.  [Note:  Some articles are not open for comments]

For more articles on FATCA, enter FATCA into Google then click on the link “more news for fatca” just below the most recent featured article.

Notes:

From JC:   To see #FATCA on Twitter for latest breaking news.  JC finds that is quite a good source and there even are some international articles that one may read using Google Translate.   Others may help certain tweets and articles remain in elevated position by retweeting them.

From Badger:   On an important archival note, please use the Internet Archive Wayback machine https://archive.org/web/ (see bottom right ‘Save Page Now’ box to enter URLs of webpages you want saved for posterity, and try to save backup copies of articles and other items of interest in some other form – such as a datastick or external drive. Some important and very significant webpages and the fulltexts of articles are no longer available (although some can be retrieved if someone using the Wayback machine saved them).

Be sure to read the comment stream for this thread — there are usually very recent articles mentioned there that aren’t on this list yet.

2017.12.28
It’s time to address the double standard about tax havens, Angela Wrights, Macleans, Canada.
The US Is Becoming the World’s New Tax Haven, The Editors, Bloomberg View, US.
2017.12.21
Rep. Dina Titus Supports Americans Abroad Tax Reform, Democrats Abroad, US. 
Now That The GOP Tax Bill Is Approved, The IRS Gets Busy, Brian Naylor, NPR, US.
2017.12.20
Taxpayers will have to wait to find out how they fare under new legislation , Renae Merle and Aaron Gregg, Denver Post (reprint from Washington Post), US.
U.S. Shareholders –Take Action by December 31, KPMG.
2017.12.18
Have You Ever Felt Sorry for the I.R.S? Now Might Be the Time, Patricia Cohen, New York Times, US.
2017.12.12
EU finance ministers issue warning to Trump over tax reforms, RTÉ, Ireland.
2017.12.11
Banque: les consequences étonnantes de l’accord FATCA, Edouard Lederer, Les Echos, France.
2017.12.10
As Australia ousts MPs with dual citizenship, Canada’s Parliament embraces many in its ranks, Kathleen Harris, Canada. (mentions MP who “assumed his U.S. citizenship was automatically rescinded because he did not meet several requirements for continued citizenship. [But when travelling to Washington] was told he was ineligible to enter the U.S. on a Canadian passport because he was a U.S. citizen. He was . . . allowed in on a one-time basis . . . it cost him $3,000 to later sort out the administrative requirements.”)
2017.12.09
The American Diaspora: Outreach and Organization, Victoria Ferauge, The Franco-American Flophouse, Japan.
2017.12.08
Foreign-owned banks to be hit by US tax rules, Financial Times, UK.
Trump Tax Plan Worries Europe, Christian Reiermann, Der Spiegel, Germany.

For articles earlier in 2017, click here.

1,720 thoughts on “Media and Blog Articles Open for Comments – Part 4 of 11 (Year 2017)”

  1. fn0 – It’s not about border guards and it’s not about fingerprints. He never got near a border. His application for a visa was referred to Homeland Security, who dug up the dropped criminal charges from 50 years ago.

    It’s about renouncing. As Queen said, they don’t like losng control.

  2. IRS Medic: Why I stopped worrying about my tax firm and learned to love Trump’s tax plan. Opinion of interest starts at 17:15.

  3. I am sorry I should have said “US authorities” instead of “border official”, but the the reasons for denial are pretty much the same.

  4. Yes, the 50-year-old dropped charges were the reason he was denied entry. The US authorities chose not to use their discretion.

  5. One of our past renunciants who lives in an EU country reported they were refused an ESTA for some misdemeanor in their student days, in which they were questioned but not charged. I believe they eventually were granted a visa but after intense questioning.
    This is all about control.

  7. Anthony Parent’s latest IRS Medic video (see calgary411’s comment above) is well worth watching … especially if you want to feel some optimism about what might lie ahead with US tax reform.

  8. About control? Imagine renouncing and becoming the bonafide citizen of another country-and they still want to tax you if you leave any inheritance to a US citizen when you die. One would think that by renouncing, by gaining another citizenship, one would be treated like any other foreign national. But no- one renounced but seemingly only to a certain degree because there are STILL financial burdens to be born even as a canadian, french, german …fill in blank.

  9. Gotta love these gotcha taxes that you can get around if only a tax professional had told you. Taxes like the death tax and CBT.

  10. @plexy: They banned Roger Ver from entering for a Bitcoin conference on the grounds that he couldn’t be trusted not to overstay. I guess they couldn’t find any 50-year-old dropped charges in his record.

    Ver got a visa the second time around. After he got his SKN passport he tried applying at the US embassy in Barbados and got rejected, but once he went back to Japan and applied for a US visa there he got approved. He went to Denver last year to speak at a conference.

    http://pastebin.com/iUS72J9E
    https://btcmanager.com/news/roger-ver-at-5280-feet-on-bitcoin-and-his-life-journey/

  11. https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/abroad/could-you-be-eligible-for-us-citizenship-1.3261777

    A campaign to encourage Irish people with legal permanent residency to apply for citizenship is running across the United States this week, as uncertainty continues over immigration policy changes under US president Donald Trump. … Among the additional advantages of holding US citizenship, according to the CIIC, are the right to live in another country without restriction

    Yeah, sure. (Unless they mean “the United States and only the United States” by “another country”.) Already got one comment pointing out the tax consequences.

  12. “Ver got a visa the second time around.”

    I believe the refusal mentioned “insufficient ties to home country.”

  13. With respect to the IRS Medic video, he talks as if FATCA repeal and a residence based system are a done deal. I fear that is magical thinking. Hope I’m wrong.

  14. My apologies if this post is redundant, but in case it’s not, here are two links that Democrats Abroad just emailed out.

    1. Tax Reform for Americans Abroad Campaign in a Box.

    https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/democratsabroad/pages/13965/attachments/original/1508584342/Tax_Reform_for_Americans_Abroad-_Campaign_in_a_box_October_2017.pdf?1508584342

    2. RBT FAQ, including differences between Democrats Abroad and Republican Overseas policies

    https://docs.google.com/document/d/1s6AZ9wSqtjb_jm4cNWeDlVlDFDUnHQOYYiClYkY3sxs/edit

  17. Maybe I missed most of the documents/action by AARO in the past. I believe two AARO operatives were at the FATCA Hearing. I never really went to their website. They say: The AARO board, with the clear support of the AARO membership, has consistently supported a move to residence-based taxation.

    They mention the DA Research and RO letter writing, yet not the RO petition – but a link goes to the petition.

    This appears to be a major AARO document by them. They reference FATCA lawsuit and Allison Christians etc. They reference fixthetaxtreaty our stories. & Fabien Lehagre & Story of Tina. So the narrative they provide appears widely encompassing.

    Access to banking and financial services

    Published: 21 October 2017

    https://www.aaro.org/advocacy/banking/630-access-to-banking-and-financial-services

  18. There are a few horses running toward that finish line – I don’t care which one crosses it, as long as one of them does.

    We’ll worry about the details later.

  19. @Bubblebustin
    Sounds perfect except that the horses are moving towards different end-points, neither of which is the finish line we want. Granted any progress is good, but if details are not sorted before the end, then course correction is foiled.

    @JC
    I will post the DA mailings as you request unless someone else thinks I shouldn’t, with a delay for any incoming between 26 Nov and 6 Dec. Cheers.

  21. Though the following deviates from the subject of FATCA and CBT, it does illustrate that the ever increasing restrictions and checks on banking has significant side effects, not only on us here. Hopefully at some point enough people will be impacted so that we can all join together and return some sense and freedom to the system (am not holding my breath though).

    As I recently accompanied my (non US Person) significant other to open a bank account in Belgium she was asked if she was in politics. It appears banks are obligated to find out if their customers are Policitcally Exposed Persons. PEPs are presumed to be at high risk for corruption and subject to signalling to who knows what authority if they make suspicious banking operations. A cursory net search shows that some people have had trouble banking because they found themselves on listes like World Check.

    https://theintercept.com/2017/06/23/flimsy-evidence-and-fringe-sources-land-people-on-secretive-banking-watch-list/

    And for those who read French this is interesting: the illegitimate daughter of King Albert II of Belgium had her accounts frozen because she was deemed to be a PEP. King Albert has denied being her father, which if true means she is not any sort of PEP. He himself can continue to bank freely.

    https://www.lecho.be/economie-politique/belgique-general/16-000-Belges-sur-la-liste-noire-des-banques/9907542?ckc=1&ts=1508923550

  22. Fred – thanks for posting your SO’s experience. Opening a bank account nowadays is more and more like trying to plead “not guilty” in a court.

    FATCA due diligence seems to be derived from PEP due diligence, with some surprising interactions, as highlighted in this piece from the Canadian Credit Union Association:

    Following a consultation process held in summer 2015, new regulations made under the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA) have started coming into force, effective June 17, 2016. These new regulations amend existing Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing regulations in a number of areas, including:

    * The methods Reporting Entities may use to identify customers;
    * New due diligence requirements regarding politically exposed persons (PEPs), including the introduction of requirements regarding domestic politically exposed persons, heads of international organizations, and their close associates and family members;
    *The expansion of the definition of “signature” to more broadly include electronic signatures; and
    * The expansion of the elements to be considered in a Reporting Entity’s risk assessment to include the impact of new developments/new technologies…

    A More Flexible Definition of “Signature”
    The definition of a “signature” has been changed to include “an electronic signature or other information in electronic form that is created or adopted by a client . . . and that is accepted . . . as being unique to that client.” Further, the definition of a “signature card” has been amended to mean “a document that is signed by a person who is authorized to give instructions in respect of the account, or electronic data that constitutes the signature of such a person.”

    Taken together, these changes offer the necessary flexibility to facilitate account openings in an on-line environment, one of the original objectives of this regulatory change. It is noteworthy in this regard that credit unions that qualify for FATCA IGA exemptions as Deemed Compliant Financial Institutions under the Local Bank category are specifically prohibited from permitting account openings through their websites and will not be able to take advantage of this flexibility without losing their FATCA exempt status.

    https://www.ccua.com/news/2016_06_30_new_AML_regs

    I wonder if these PEP regulations might be one factor that has led some Canadian credit unions to abandon FATCA exempt status, as has been discussed here fairly recently. Opening accounts online probably saves a lot in costs.

  23. FT article “US expats given hope of lower tax bills” quotes Mark Mazur, former Asst Treasury Secretary under Obama, as saying that he supports moving toward residence-based taxation for individuals:

    “Mark Mazur, who was the top tax official in Barack Obama’s Treasury department, said he supported the change, arguing that it was necessary to address the “inequity” of an expat paying tax on the same income to both the US and a foreign government.

    “If you take two people, one works in London, one in New York, working for the exact same US multinational — if they make the exact same amount of money you might think they should be taxed exactly the same,” said Mr Mazur, who heads the Tax Policy Center.

    The US has tax treaties with more than 60 countries that to varying degrees reduce, but do not usually eliminate, the US tax burden on American expatriates.”

    https://www.ft.com/content/4909d804-b9a1-11e7-8c12-5661783e5589

  24. FT Article:

    “It is under consideration. They have made the case,” Mr Brady said in response to a question from the Financial Times

    Mr Brady later told the FT that lawmakers were taking “seriously” the call for a shift from a citizen-based income tax system to a residence-based system that would only tax people on the income they earn in the US.

    In a recent interview with the FT, Mick Mulvaney, the White House budget office director, said he supported the shift to residence-based taxation.

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