Forbes’ Robert W. Wood is clearly feeling conflicted these days, as he asks:

Is Opposing FATCA Supporting Tax Evasion?

I’ll resist too much editorializing for now and simply urge as many Brockers and Sandboxers as possible to get over there and help Mr. Wood (and his trusty side-kick Lesperance) to get in touch with their inner consciences and come out forcefully on the right side of history.

There is nothing inevitable about FATCA except that our grandchildren will surely be reading about it in school some day. There is still plenty of time to change the course of history, as Nelson Mandela taught the entire world. This is hardly the time to give up, and methinks Mr. Wood just needs a bit more cogent and positive encouragement. Remember, we’re all basically on the same side, so let’s start getting it together.

Greetings to all,

We really got motivated by the Toronto meeting last Saturday (January 25) and are expanding our resoures to include our own Meetup Group.

Please join and it would probably be helpful to keep your same handle/moniker etc.

This is a good opportunity to help us get the word out to more and more of those who are stuck, or still don’t even know what is happening.

Thanks,

Tricia/nobledreamer

http://www.meetup.com/American-Expats-Abroad/events/162765622/

Nigel Green, CEO of the deVere Group, and a frequent critic of FATCA, calls the RNC resolution “a step in the direction of common sense”, as reported by Robin Amlôt in CPI Financial:

Republicans’ “common sense” fightback against FATCA applauded

I am happy to call your attention to an excellent post by our friend Jim Jatras on his Repeal FATCA website. This post is aimed at Americans in the US, and I think it’s important for you to forward this link to any friends and family you might have in the US. Jim’s post is a calm rebuttal of the wild claims the Democrats are making that the Republican National Committee is committed to letting “tax cheats” off the hook, and in the vitriolic political atmosphere in the US, it’s important that calm, reasoned and moderate statements like this get some attention. He makes some very telling points about how this law got through Congress with no debate or committee study. Sounds sadly familiar in Ottawa these days, unfortunately …

The link is here
http://www.repealfatca.com/index.asp?idmenu=4&title=News&idsubmenu=146

The following information is important for several reasons. First, this correspondence was in French and is the first on FATCA that I personally have seen in that language. I think it is vital that Canadians understand the FATCA and IGA issues affect ALL Canadians no matter which of our official languages they speak (and no matter their ethnic or national origin). Second, M. Bélanger is a Liberal MP (from Ottawa-Vanier), and his response makes it clear that, even though perhaps Justin Trudeau either doesn’t understand the issues or can’t articulate them accurately and quickly on his feet, some of his caucus clearly do “get it.”

I am posting the following at the request of “Premier Juillet” and in consultation with him. I have met him in person. I am posting the original correspondence in French, followed by a translation of M. Bélanger’s letter as provided to me by “Premier Juillet.”
Premier Juillet wrote to me (Schubert): “I finally got a reply to my multiple reminders since a letter I sent in June to my Liberal deputé. I think it was worth the wait. They have done their research and I guess they had more to say because of the recent questions by Hsu/Brison. I hope they can now educate their Leader, and fast!
“Merci beaucoup Monsieur le député Belangé!
“Premier Juillet”

Continue reading →

This document — US Citizens Living in Canada — Income Tax Considerations dated February 2013 — just floated up out of the surf. This may be old hat. It may be new hat for a newbie. In any case, FWIW. Here’s a link to the 6-page fancy pdf:

http://www.bmo.com/pdf/nesbitt/USCitizensLivingInCanada_Eng%20-%20BMO%20NB.pdf
 

A follow-up article from Patrick Temple-West at Reuters:

http://blogs.wsj.com/riskandcompliance/2014/01/24/republican-party-backs-fatca-repeal-resolution/

Some highlights:

Jan 24 (Reuters) – The Republican National Committee (RNC) on Friday called for the repeal of a U.S. anti-tax-evasion law, siding with big banks, libertarians and American expatriates that have criticized the Obama administration statute.

At its winter meeting in Washington, the RNC approved by voice vote a resolution in favor of abolishing the 2010 Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), set to take effect in July, marking the party’s first explicit attack on the law.

FATCA will require most foreign banks and investment funds to report to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service information about U.S. customers’ accounts worth $50,000 or more. The law was enacted after a scandal involving Americans hiding assets in Swiss bank accounts to dodge U.S. taxes.

Critics have blasted the law as an unfair government overreach and invasion of financial privacy.

“The Republican National Committee … urges the U.S. Congress to repeal FATCA,” said the measure, staking out a campaign position ahead of 2014’s mid-term elections.

On Wednesday, with the RNC vote expected to occur, a senior Treasury Department official said the vote would not hurt the administration’s efforts to implement FATCA via a web of tax information-sharing agreements with other countries.

http://www.ctj.org/taxjusticedigest/archive/2014/01/republican_platform_expected_t.php#.UuIfC_2Cokg

More uninformed nonsense from the useful idiot wing of the FATCA camp:

Those who are directly affected by FATCA are likely to be few in number and they certainly have the means to fill out the disclosure form required with their federal income tax return under its provisions. The $50,000 threshold excludes housing and other non-financial assets. That means that even a relatively well-off American who works for a few years abroad and even someone who owns a house abroad will not be affected unless they hold over $50,000 in cash or financial assets in the other country.

Whatever inconvenience is caused by these requirements is far outweighed by the benefits to the U.S. and its law abiding taxpayers. According to the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), FATCA’s anti-tax evasion measures are estimated to raise $8.7 billion (PDF) over their first decade of implementation. (JCT does have a history of underestimating tax enforcement measures.) Considering that the U.S. loses an estimated $100 billion (PDF) annually due to offshore tax abuses, this seems like a modest reform.

Other opponents of FATCA, like the Wall Street Journal, have claimed that it is causing Americans living abroad to renounce their U.S. citizenship, but as we have pointed out, those renouncing citizenship make up a tiny fraction of one percent of the six million Americans living abroad.

Brian Mahany is  “a bit miffed by a recent story in Canada’s CBC News criticizing FATCA.”

In his latest article at TaxConnections World-wide Tax Blogs titled CBC Distorts FATCA Facts Brian writes:

There is a tremendous amount of misinformation circulating about FATCA and the requirement for US taxpayers to report foreign financial accounts. Some of the media horror stories are so bad that many taxpayers are simply too afraid to come into compliance. Add a few boneheaded mistakes by the IRS and one has a sea of uncertainty. For some folks, that means anxiety and bad decisions.

According to Brian, CBC’s  “recent article on FATCA has several factual inaccuracies and takes editorial license too far. ”  Brian dispels these so-called inaccuracies with his own version of the facts: Continue reading →