Liberty and justice for all United States persons abroad

The Isaac Brock Society

@PMHarper: If You Won’t Stand up for Canada, Give Other MPs a Chance to Vote Against #FATCA

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I read this over on Sandbox and given the obstruction of the debate process Thursday in the House of Commons, this post on USCitizenAbroad’s blog is a powerful expression of what we all need to start conveying directly to ALL members of the Conservative party on a daily basis, from now, until the election. We need to mobilize our forces, get our families and friends to become active and make sure we do everything possible to get these traitors out of office.

Send a strong message that WE will “Stand on Guard” for Canada since none of you will.

cross-posted with permission from http://renounceuscitizenship.wordpress.com

Reminder of Calgary Information Session, just 2 weeks from today (April 19): please pass the word on this important Southern Alberta opportunity.

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Presenter for this session: John Richardson, Citizenshipsolutions.ca

 

($20 to offset costs – payable at the door)

CALGARY, AB – Saturday, APRIL 19, 2014, 2:30 – 5:30 p.m.
Calgary North, Kensington Legion

http://www.kensingtonlegion.ca/ (free parking /Legion restaurant will be open)

Map: North Calgary Kensington Royal Canadian Legion No. 264, 1910 Kensington Road NW, Calgary, AB

This session comes with the “No one But Someone Who Is Going Through This Can Really Understand” element. John Richardson, like us who need information and SUPPORT, is a US Person in Canada.

A lot of grass-roots volunteerism by generous persons committed to this goes into these sessions. We don’t offer polish; we do offer information and support to help you come to the right decision for you and your family.

(John will be leaving for the airport right after the session as he will present at the Edmonton Information Session, Sunday, April 20, 2014, 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.)

I hope to meet MANY Calgary and Southern Alberta persons on April 19th — this is your Alberta opportunity to attend ours in the series of Canadian and European information sessions.

 

How To Get Rid of your US citizenship

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Brockers are interviewed in Patrick Cain’s new article at Global news.  He writes:

Is a second citizenship in the United States an asset? It depends.

Many Canadians have built careers in the U.S. that were simplified by the accident of their birthplace, or of a parent’s. If you want to work in the U.S., it’s useful to not have to worry about visas and green cards. (“Home is the place where, when you go there, they have to let you in,” wrote New England poet Robert Frost.)

But it became a potential liability in February when Canada made a deal with the U.S.  on the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA.

Read the entire article here: http://globalnews.ca/news/1217871/how-to-get-rid-of-an-unwanted-u-s-citizenship/

Monday, April 7: New Canadian Finance Minister addresses the Canadian Club of Toronto

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I asked in a comment,

What will be discussed? Can anyone from here be there?

AnonAnon answered:

@calgary411 –

I’m planning to show up at Joe Oliver’s luncheon on Monday with a protest sign. I hope others can join me.

Opportunity? for conversation or at least protest to the new Finance Minister, Joe Oliver

April 4, 2014

Minister of Finance to Address the Canadian Club of Toronto

Minister of Finance Joe Oliver will deliver remarks at a luncheon hosted by the Canadian Club of Toronto, on Monday, April 7, 2014. The Minister is scheduled to speak at approximately 1:00 p.m.

The event will take place at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel, 100 Front Street West, in Toronto, Ontario.

Canada’s Parliament — MPs asking the right questions about FATCA

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From broken man on a Halifax pier further to IRSCompliantForever, further to Tim’s comment, and including Chear’s comment re Elizabeth May in Parliament on April 3

The many mentions of FATCA in the House yesterday certainly deserve their own roundup post.

From IRSCompliantForever,

Go to the transcript found by Tim dealing with April 3 FATCA questions in Canada’s House of Commons.

Use your search and find to look for FATCA hits. I found 23.

Read all the good FATCA questions from the Opposition and the poor responses from representatives of our present government of Canada.

“This is outrageous. We are a sovereign nation.”

http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=41&Ses=2&DocId=6513111

Here is what I quickly pulled: Continue reading →

Consensus is: “This guy gets it!”

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An Open Letter to Canadians from TDV legal correspondent, Jim Karger

What he is talking about, or wants me to talk about, are the Canadians who are about to be given a swirly by the 900-pound gorilla to the south because they had the misfortune of being born to one American parent in Canada, or were born in the US for no good or apparent reason before returning to Canada as children. They are, to their extreme disadvantage, American citizens, whether they know it or not. And, American citizens, voluntary, knowing, or otherwise, are required by the most dangerous criminal enterprise in the world to report and pay taxes on every thin dime they earn their entire miserable lifetimes regardless where in the world they earned them or where they live.

So what?

Read on.

Updated Petition — Is it time to assist MPs in their efforts for Question Period in Canada’s Parliament with Updated Petition?

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I’m passing on a comment that came from Kathy this morning to get feedback / help on getting the Canadian petition below updated and sent to a specific MP for use in Question Period regarding the implementation of Canada’s FATCA IGA.

SHOULD THIS PETITION EFFORT BE UPDATED? (Former Petition to Canadian Government re FATCA in Canada — Print, Sign, Send to MP Ted Hsu ASAP — RIGHT AWAY!)

@calgary411

Just talked to my MP and he suggested to keep the petitions coming as the issue needs floor time discussion and petitions are a way of getting that time. Do we need a new version now that the Conservatives have already agreed to the IGA? How quickly can we do this?

FBI did not add any renunciant records to NICS in March 2014

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The latest Report on Active Records in the NICS Index, released a couple of days earlier than normal, shows 24,220 records in the “Renounced U.S. Citizenship” category, down by two from the February 2014 report. (On the other hand, the number of people who were caught trying to use an ex-citizen’s identity to buy firearms has reached 61, according to the Federal Denials Report).

Months in which zero records get added to the renunciations category are hardly a rare occurrence; the most recent such case before this was in December 2012. That was also the same quarter for which the IRS reported a laughably implausible total of 45 people giving up U.S. citizenship or long-held green cards. This suggests that the problem was at the State Department, rather than any of the downstream agencies: after the CLN overseers in the Bureau of Consular Affairs handed more than three thousand ex-citizens’ records over to the FBI in October to clear up their backlog, they apparently decided to go into hibernation and put off all their work until the warmer seasons when acorns resumed their traditional abundance and they could feast to their hearts’ delight.

Continue reading →

Latest from New Zealand Privacy Commissioner on FATCA

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What would happen if New Zealand didn’t pass a law to allow FATCA reporting?

If there was no change to New Zealand law, financial institutions in this country would, unless certain exceptions applied, have to pay a 30 percent withholding tax on certain US income. This financial cost would undoubtedly be passed on to a broad range of New Zealand consumers.

Most New Zealand banks receive some US income. For instance, US Treasury bonds play an important role in setting global interest rates, and are often used by banks to reduce their exposure to interest rate risk.

If New Zealand did not pass a law to allow FATCA reporting, banks and other financial institutions in this country may be unable to comply with FATCA without breaching the privacy principles relating to the collection and disclosure of client information.

If New Zealand did not negotiate an IGA with the US, the effect on American citizens and green card holders resident in New Zealand would be that it would be easier for them to avoid meeting their obligations to pay tax in the United States. [Why should New Zealand care about this?]

However, a significant portion of these tax obligations can be discounted by tax paid in New Zealand under the US-New Zealand double taxation agreement.

For these reasons, the Privacy Commissioner has not opposed the negotiation of the FATCA IGA with the US, and the amending tax law to implement the IGA.

Will information about New Zealanders with no US connection be sent to the US?

No. Only those accounts covered by the terms of the IGA can be sent to the IRS. Financial institutions have to collect information on accounts that look like they might belong to a US person, in accordance with a set of criteria.

In the 2013 New Zealand Census, 21,462 people indicated they were born in the US. This is an indication of the number of people potentially affected, as birthplace is one of the IRS criteria.