This is one of my all-time favourite posts. The many links form the basis of a lot of what was learned in the early days of Brock; not just from our own research and interaction but as shared with and by other blogs such as renounceuscitizenship. One of the strengths of our little expat community then and now, was no one tried to claim credit for anything, it was all combined in one big pool of information and grew. This distinguishes us from some of the older, more established groups. We have been able to accomplish a lot over the last three years and yet, there’s still a long road ahead.

Some of the comments on the blog date from the very first week of Brock. It is hard to describe how that time was different than now; there was little-to-no media coverage, mass hysteria about FBAR (FUBAR), renunciation was not yet common…..

If you are fairly new to Brock, please take the time to read through the posts that are linked. They are full of information, reflection, analysis and should someday, form the basis of a book. And please do the poll! It picks up where it left off; at 688 votes.

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“The United States is the only developed country in the world that subjects its nonresident citizens to complex, ongoing, multiple, and frequently meaningless financial forms and reportbacks. Recent new enforcement initiatives threaten to exacerbate the already onerous burdens imposed by longstanding American exceptionalism. The resulting current situation is fraught with uncertainty, inconsistency, and anxiety.”

Continue reading →

#FATCA in 9 minutes http://t.co/GcdyLi16Va

— Patricia Moon (@nobledreamer16) November 5, 2014

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Continued from Part I

The Crash of 2008 and the 2010 Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act

In 2008 the world endured the most disastrous economic event since the great depression. It was largely caused by foolish banking practices (subprime mortgage lending resulting in the collapse of the real estate market, etc.) in the United States. At the same time America had an influx of veterans returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan and many were ending up unemployed and homeless. In response to this crisis, in 2010 President Obama signed into law the “Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act” which, on its surface, appeared to be a necessary and humanitarian piece of legislation. However, within its pages, and largely unnoticed, unread or ill-considered by Congress, was a section relating to the matter of how the provisions of HIRE were going to be paid for. This section was, and is, called:

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)

FATCA was inspired by the US government’s “takedown” of the Swiss bank “UBS” and was supposed to enable the US government to recoup money it was losing to overseas tax havens. However, in addition to catching big fish living in the US who have actually hidden money offshore, by virtue of CBT (citizenship-based taxation) it has trawled in all “Americans” of every ilk who are just normal, middle class folk living their lives in countries outside the United States. Continue reading →

I had the most interesting comment to my post that pointed out that OVDP is a money-laundering program in which the IRS takes a piece of the action (e.g., Walter White puts meth money into a foreign account and launders it through OVDP):

Yeah, it’s an amusing story; but so far-fetched, I don’t see where the humor connects with reality. Far from being “so right on”; …transferring 600’000 cash offshore, letting it sit for a while, then entering the OVDI is so impossible and far-fetched these days, that one might as well have included aliens in the story too.
Sorry, Forrest Grumpy

I really like this comment because it expresses my own doubts about what I wrote. It seems very far-fetched indeed.

Nevertheless, I’ve been personally oppressed by the policies of the Treasury Department. I’d never committed a felony until about four years ago, but now I fear to return to the country of my birth because the Bank Secrecy Act has become an instrument to extort money from me and other innocents. This oppression has opened my eyes. But still I doubt. Would government officials dispense with truth, justice and equitable application of the law? Is that really far-fetched? What is in it for them?

Continue reading →

This evening I attended a Toronto meeting of students, Democrats, Republicans, and Toronto US Consular officials which was sponsored by the Munk School of Global Affairs. U.S. Consul General James Dickmeyer gave a short speech and I had conversations with the C-G and two Consular officials on the wait time to obtain a renunciation meeting in Toronto.

Consular Official “R” — I pointed out to R that there are many Canadians in the Toronto area with unwanted U.S. citizenship who need to renounce this citizenship. R advised that the wait time is now up to September 2015, in part because of a three week or so delay caused by the Pan AM games (yes, you heard that right). Continue reading →

I am a US-born Canadian citizen who is personally impacted by the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), a US law that was passed in 2010. The Canadian perspective will dominate this article but the reader should be aware that FATCA affects the entire world. The full brunt of this ill-considered addition to the US tax code falls heavily upon people who live outside the United States. For this reason I ask the reader to take a few moments to stand in the shoes of a person who is associated with the United States, in my case through citizenship conferred by birth, and whose life has taken her to live elsewhere.

Canada, like the United States, is a land of immigrants. From diverse backgrounds we have come together here in North America and made our lives, having contributed to and benefited from our wonderful countries in a myriad of ways.

Like Americans, many Canadians have maintained family ties with the lands of their heritage and many have made visits to their ancestral homelands. We have probably never questioned our right to return providing we did not immigrate from countries with despotic or totalitarian governments. Within our countries we take for granted our right and ability to move freely from one state or province to another.

Now, imagine for a moment that you were born in Pennsylvania and moved as a young child to Illinois. You grew up in Illinois, prospered there, raised a family and retired there. Then one day over the dregs of your morning coffee your eye is riveted on a small headline in the back pages of the newspaper that says “Native Pennsylvanians in Illinois Beware of Little-Known Tax Law”. To your horror you read that everyone born in Pennsylvania, even if they haven’t lived there for decades must file Pennsylvania tax returns and “out-of-state bank account reports” annually for life. The penalties for not doing so are draconian and could include jail time unless you enter a special “amnesty program” which would reduce the “failure-to-file” penalties from 50% to 27.5% of your assets and allow you to skip your stay as a “guest” of the state.

It sounds like a bad plot for a novel yet today this ridiculous domestic scenario is actually playing out on the international stage for people who are unfortunate enough to hail from one particular nation. Sadly, that nation is the United States of America.

The following will help to explain what is happening and why the issue so desperately needs the serious attention of everyone.

Citizenship-Based Taxation (CBT)

To understand the origins of our current situation we need to explore the concept of “citizenship-based taxation” (CBT). Continue reading →

In the five season series Breaking Bad, Walter White earns an untold amount of cash through the production of blue crystal methamphetamine. In order to launder this money, his wife, Skylar, insists that they buy a car wash, through which she produces false invoices for cash sales. But in this scene Skylar shows Walt the cash that he’s brought to the car wash. She has moved it to a storage locker. She says she can’t launder this much money–not in ten years or even a lifetime.

What Skylar could not do through a car wash with less than a million dollars of gross revenue per year, the IRS has made possible through Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program. First, one transfers the funds to an offshore account. Second, one enters the voluntary disclosure program and pays all back taxes, fines, interest and a in-lieu of FBAR fine of 27.5%. The money is now freshly laundered and can pay for Walter White’s childrens’ education, the legal costs for the defense of Skylar against criminal charges, and his extended family’s escalating health care expenses.

Continue reading →

Canada AM: US tax backlash

October 29th post at Janglo: Foreigners in Israel find themselves ensnared in U.S. tax crackdown,Full Story (Haaretz)

…He was asked to sign a declaration that the account and all the money in it had been reported to the tax authorities in his home country and he had paid everything that was due on it.

The man refused and then came the next surprise: The bank refused to let him withdraw his money. He explained that he didn’t speak Hebrew and wanted the declaration to be read and translated by a lawyer. He reminded the bankers that he was a client of long standing and had been told when he opened his account that he would not be asked questions like that. It was all to no avail.
…

Related (from another Brocker):

I remember reading a lawyer wrote that all the g7 wanted fatca type reporting…the u.s took the lead…the rest will follow..the Israel has fatca type arrangements with Europe…probably the igas crush everything related to privacy so it’s easier now.

Here is the fax of Bank Hapolaim, an Israeli bank, requiring Canadians and EU member residents and/or immigrants (or CFCs) from those locations sign away their rights similar to US citizens: Israeli Bank(s) Declaration — shall apply with respect to any existing Account and any future Account, if relevant