Frustration, exhaustion, and a sense of impending disaster appear to lurk among those Brockers and Sandboxers who have had FATCA on their minds more frequently in a day than teenagers think about sex. We are at a crossroads here in Canada. Our Conservative government is about to make history; we all feel it here in this place we call the Isaac Brock Society, which is much more than just a website.  We all hope that the history our government is about to make is the ‘right’ one.

Many citizens of the world, not just Canadians, have contributed their individual talents, and personal attributes  in countless ways to educate those who do not understand FATCA,  which is no easy task!  It is not my intention for this post to name them all, or describe what they have done, but we know, and they know, and everyone reading this who values human rights and freedoms knows.

Sadly, we are not there yet. Most Canadians have never heard of FATCA. Most people in the world have never heard of FATCA, nor have they heard of citizenship based taxation. Intuitively, almost everyone gets it that it is unfair to tax people who do not live in the taxing country, and do not earn income there. Unfortunately, most people don’t connect the dots between the bad, unfair things that happen to ‘other people’ with the bad, unfair things that could happen to them.

Our job is to educate the masses, so that our voice becomes much LOUDER. We have been trying, but people in Canada, and the USA are easily distracted with things such as the antics of Rob Ford. How sad is it that little media attention was paid to a group of Canadian citizens who spent 2 days in the cold demonstrating on 18 inches of curb outside a meeting held by Canadian bankers who were discussing how to smoke out the ‘US Persons’ among us? Continue reading →

There is an online petition to be sent to  Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.  All are encouraged to sign.

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/URGENT_WARNING_USA_to_Invade_Canada_AGAIN/?ahiClgb

Toronto Centre Debates Reports 

(used with permission)

Report 1 – Rogers TV – Some Candidates Debate – Nov. 13/13

Report 2 – St. Michael’s College Attempted Debate – Nov. 16/13

Report 3 – Toronto Centre “FATCA Centric” ALL Candidates – Nov. 18/13

Introduction – Equality of Canadian Citizenship – Are Some Canadians less equal than others?

The November 18 debate was the only Toronto Centre “All Candidates Debate“. It was/is the only debate to which each and every Toronto Centre candidate was invited. It was also a specific opportunity to discuss FATCA – The U.S. “Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act” – an extraterritorial law which the U.S. is trying to impose on Canada. It was also the only debate to focus on a topic of clear national importance. Continue reading →

I am posting this information highlighted in comments by Edelweiss and Innocente.

@Edelweiss: Excellent news. Each delay is another nail in the FATCA coffin. Bloomberg, AP and other news wires need to pick up this story.

Bank groups seek more delay in offshore anti-tax evasion law

The actual request letter: Request for Additional Extension of The FATCA Phased Timeline

Reuters says that four bank lobbying groups (the American Bankers Association, the Clearing House Association, the Institute of International Bankers, and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association) have asked for a six month delay to the implementation of FATCA. The letter is located here. The primary driver appears to be the fact that the final regulations and forms aren’t available. They are assuming these are available by 31 Dec 2013 which would give the industry just 6 months to finalise implementation when they had stated that 18-24 months were needed. A six month delay would give them 12 months instead of the 18-24.

Continue reading →

From Shadow Raider:

Sorry, folks, the big news didn’t come today. The draft only deals with corporations.

However, the end of the summary says:

“The staff discussion draft does not address the international tax rules addressing individuals, whether for U.S. citizens living overseas or foreign nationals moving to the United States. The Chairman’s staff is considering reforms to simplify the rules in this area while appropriately taxing such individuals. Comments are requested regarding the scope and mechanics of reforms in this area.”

“All comments should be submitted to tax_reform@finance.senate.gov. While comments will be accepted at any time, the staff requests comments by January 17, 2014, in order to be able to give them full consideration.”

Sigh. All right, so they haven’t decided what to do about individuals yet. I suppose we should send the same or similar comments as those sent to the Ways and Means Committee earlier this year. This time it’s to the Senate Finance Committee. I’m planning to send them my latest suggestions, with perhaps some updates.

I know this is frustrating, but at least they mentioned the topic and are looking for detailed ideas.

I think this news should be in a new thread.

http://www2.macleans.ca/2013/11/18/on-being-canadian-and-how-freeland-could-have-responded-to-mcquaig/

Excerpt:

There was one side of Freeland, in particular, that McQuaig kept poking: Her supposed un-Canadianness. “Toronto is my home, I’ve lived and worked here all my life,” McQuaig noted in her opening remarks. It was a clear side swipe at Freeland, who’s been abroad for years in Russia, the U.K. and the U.S., and settled down in Toronto Centre only recently. Later on came McQuaig’s straight-out jab: “You’ve been there in Manhattan, hanging out with the rich,” McQuaig told Freeland, speaking, for those in the know, about her competitor’s former gig in New York and her recent book on the ultra-rich.

I suspect Freeland chose not to respond in kind. Because if she’d wanted to, there was an obvious line of attack. For all her fondness of being a true Canadian and disdain for hanging out in Manhattan, McQuaig has publicly praised a controversial U.S. law that might end up encroaching on the constitutional rights of a good many Canadians, including, possibly, Freeland and her family.

All I have to say is welcome home. Our previous disagreements with Ms. Beale go way back to the earliest days of Isaac Brock Society back when it was just myself, JustMe, Petros, and a few others(I think Joe Smith was one too).

http://ataxingmatter.blogs.com/tax/2013/11/fatca-agreement-with-france.html

http://ataxingmatter.blogs.com/tax/2013/11/irs-will-issue-summonses-for-offshore-bank-account-info.html

In the second post you can see Ms. Beale is quite dismissive of the recent spike in expatriations not surprisingly of course to those who remember old times at IBS.

Debate takes place 18 November, 7:00 – 9:00 pm, Don Mills United Church, 126 O’Connor Drive, Toronto.

Read more about it on Brock …  All-Candidates Debate on FATCA Toronto Centre November 18 

Toronto Centre Greens Reply to Protest and CBA Letter E-mails

Five Toronto Centre Candidates Invited to our November 13-14 Protest

#TorCen candidate @CAFreeland writes on global citizenship

and at the Toronto Centre Debates website …  http://torontocentredebates.wordpress.com/