Liberty and justice for all United States persons abroad

The Isaac Brock Society

Edward Snowden on giving up your rights, saying “If you’ve done nothing wrong, you have nothing to worry about.”

Posted on by Posted in Issues regarding US persons abroad 25 Comments

Today’s TED Talks (from Vancouver, Canada) is worth a listen. What Edward Snowden says about the internet, pertains and resonates for me re FATCA:

It too bothers me so much for people to say “if you’ve done nothing wrong, you have nothing to worry about.” You’re giving up your rights! You’re saying “I don’t think I’m going to need them — “these guys” are going to do the right thing.” I agree that: Your rights matter because you never know when you’re going to need them. They should not be taken away without due process.

Privacy — What does it matter?

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Here’s the explanation to the “secret court” reference: How a Court Secretly Evolved, Extending U.S. Spies’ Reach” by CHARLIE SAVAGE and LAURA POITRAS, NY Times, MARCH 11, 2014

and here’s a link to the: TED talk video, including transcript

Many interesting points, among them:

Who I am (Edward Snowden) doesn’t matter at all.

We don’t have to give up our privacy to have good government.

Is it really “Terrorism” we’re stopping? Or is it that justification provokes an emotional response? (Just as justification of FATCA as the term “Tax Evasion” provokes an emotional response.)

Re NSA “Boundless Information terminology” and how much interception: NSA says to tell you that would invade your privacy.

More communications are being intercepted by the NSA in America about Americans than in Russia about Russians.

Related: Debates: Does the NSA mass surveillance program violate privacy and due process?

Or some ask: Does Edward Snowden even exist?

Levin and McCain ask for extradition of Swiss Bankers — Have they read the Swiss Federal Constitution?

Posted on by Posted in Issues regarding US persons abroad 38 Comments

Please have a look at:
RTS Article in French: McCain and Levin call for extradition of Swiss Bankers.

La lettre souligne que le traité d’extradition helvético-américain n’oblige pas la Suisse à extrader des citoyens ayant uniquement aidé à éviter les impôts. Le DoJ devrait cependant essayer d’obtenir la collaboration de la Suisse, réclament les sénateurs.

The letter emphasizes that the Swiss-American extradition treaty doesn’t oblige Switzerland to extradite citizens who only helped [some person/entity?] to avoid tax. The DoJ should nonetheless attempt to obtain the collaboration of Switzerland, insist the Senators.

Well, I don’t think the Senators have read the Swiss Federal Constitution.

If aforesaid “bankers” are Swiss citizens they cannot be extradited unless they consent.

Art. 25 Protection contre l’expulsion, l’extradition et le refoulement
1 Les Suisses et les Suissesses ne peuvent être expulsés du pays; ils ne peuvent être
remis à une autorité étrangère que s’ils y consentent.

Article 25 Protection against expulsion, extradition, refusal of entry at the border 1 Swiss [citizens] cannot be expelled from the country; they cannot be handed over to foreign authorites unless they consent.

Levin, McCain… are you inciting more treason on the part of the Swiss Federal Council? You should be ashamed of yourselves. Respect the Constitution of Switzerland as you should respect your own.

‘DATCA Lite’ Could Destabilize Banks, Spark Economic Crisis

Posted on by Posted in Issues regarding US persons abroad 7 Comments

As we have been saying for a long time, ‘DATCA lite’  (FATCA IGA reciprocity) has the potential to be financially destabilizing.  It, along with GATCA, was birthed from FATCA.  DATCA and GATCA are the direct progeny of the 2010 Hire Act.  Given the stealth nature of the FATCA amendment, is very hard to make a case that this was the intention of Congress, but it is now the ‘Rosemary’s Baby‘ reality that we are dealing with.

See this new article by Alex Newman.

Obama Tax Scheme Could Destabilize Banks, Spark Economic Crisis

 A crucial component of the widely criticized new addition to the U.S. tax regime known as FATCA, passed by Democrats and signed by Obama in 2010 as part of a “jobs” bill, could result in massive capital flight from American banks and economic devastation if efforts to stop it are unsuccessful, experts and policymakers are warning. With the U.S. economy still teetering, some analysts are even suggesting that allegedly unlawful IRS mandates purporting to force American financial institutions to report foreign account holders to their governments could be the straw that breaks the proverbial camel’s back.

For a complete history of DATCA evolution and its opposition in Congress, read more here.

Of important note, is this addition I just made.  It is the analysis  from 2004 which merits your attention.

Mercatus Center at George Mason University

AN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF THE PROPOSED IRS RULE GOVERNING THE REPORTING OF DEPOSIT INTEREST PAID TO NONRESIDENT ALIENS

Treasury had tried before  FATCA IGAs (going back to 2002) to impose a DATCA regime, but didn’t happen until it had an Administration in power to its liking.  I didn’t realize this history, until this pdf analysis was sent to me recently. It just goes to show, that bad ideas have a long gestation period, and vigilance against them can NEVER be relaxed.

UBS offshore Tax evasion scandal and the birth of FATCA obviously (at least to me) were the “Shock Doctrine” moments that gave the Treasury its opportunity again, to impose DATCA lite unilaterally by their interpretation of ‘regulatory authority’ without regard to the will of Congress.

One of the criticisms lodged against using Federal Register page counts as a proxy for regulatory burden holds that many pages can be consumed in the process of deregulation, while only a handful of pages may be required to impose a particularly costly rule. The latter instance is clearly illustrated by the IRS’s proposed rule to require the reporting of deposit interest paid to nonresident alien (NRA) depositors of U.S. depositories. I hold this conclusion despite the IRS’s unsupported assertion in the scant (4 page) documentation of its proposed rule that the “proposed rulemaking is not a significant regulatory action as defined in Executive Order 12866.” (p. 50387).

Although proposed in 2002, and the comment period has long since passed, the NRA deposit interest reporting rule has not been finalized; however, the possibility that it may be implemented provides the motivation for this study. The analysis that follows confines itself to the likely economic consequences of the rule, and leaves the legal and political analysis of the rule to others.2 For ease of exposition, I summarize my analysis of the rule’s potential economic effects into primary effects, secondary effects, and other likely consequences.

I will update my timeline of DATCA to include this as an earlier start date, as my start date only begins at my moment of awareness of what was happening.

Has the IRS opened an Israeli branch office to process audits?

Posted on by Posted in Issues regarding US persons abroad 25 Comments

According to The Times of Israel, American ex-pats in that country are now facing dual threats from the IRS:

The US is gearing up to reach out to American citizens abroad that it believes have not paid their fair share in taxes. Israel is set to begin enforcing new US rules on reporting the existence and activities of accounts in Israeli banks held by American citizens or dual-citizens. That is in addition to a marked increase in audits and investigations of American ex-pats in Israel by the US — to the extent that a rumor has surfaced that the Internal Revenue Service has opened a “branch office” in Israel to handle the volume of audits.

Read more: Americans in Israel to face FATCA, IRS collectors | The Times of Israel

Judging by the comments so far, Brockers should find a receptive audience.  A good outreach opportunity.

Get your assets out of the United States before it is too late

Posted on by Posted in Issues regarding US persons abroad 37 Comments

I’ve been saying for about three years now that US citizens abroad and all foreign investors should liquidate their US assets and expatriate them.  It now looks like it is too late for a few of Putin’s best friends:

Obama Issues Executive Order Freezing Assets Of Seven Putin Aides

I’m not sure about the legality of seizing private property without due process of law (cf. Fifth Amendment). But rule of law has never been Barack Obama’s strong point.

#Americansabroad must pay the extra 3.8% #Obamacare surtax for this?

Posted on by Posted in Issues regarding US persons abroad 79 Comments

Both Homelanders and Americansabroad and especially those subject to the 3.8% Obamacare surtax will find the article referenced in this tweet to be of interest. It includes:

Continue reading →

Gratitude as an antidote to the poison of FATCA and US citizenship-based taxation

Posted on by Posted in Issues regarding US persons abroad 47 Comments

Antidote:
An antidote is a substance which can counteract a form of poisoning.

“Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.”
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

“Sometimes life knocks you on your ass… get up, get up, get up!!! Happiness is not the absence of problems, it’s the ability to deal with them.”
― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

gratitude image

This is hereby our Gratitude Journal. All expressions of gratitude (I know I have many, including the blue sky outside my window) welcome. It’s worth a try! Thanks for the idea, OMG!

Continue reading →