“Mark Twain” has provided information for the interesting material in this post.
Starts with:
Roger Villere: As Chairman of LAGOP I agree we need to introduce a RNC resolution during our winter meeting to address this ! I will be looking to make this resolution on behalf of the 7.5 million Americans living overseas.
Related comment on Republicans Overseas Facebook page:
Washington, D.C. (November 6, 2013)A bipartisan bill has been introduced in the Senate with the goal of simplifying income tax collections for taxpayers who work abroad.
Senators Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and John Thune, R-S.D., led a bipartisan group of senators Tuesday to introduce the Mobile Workforce Abroad Income Tax Simplification Act, legislation that would simplify and standardize expat income tax collection for employees who live outside of the US.
This post appeared on the RenouceUScitizenship blog. You may want to add comments to the Globe article.
Fast-food lesson: Voting should be by residency, not citizenship http://t.co/RBEdqFNHdt – Taxation should be by residence, not citizenship
— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) November 7, 2013
A very interesting article referenced in the above tweet. The comments are even more interesting. This article suggests a trend toward placing greater significance on residence than citizenship. Those opposed to U.S. citizenship-based taxation (everybody) may want to research U.S. jurisdictions where non-citizens are entitled to vote. Voting (deciding how a community is to be governed) and taxation (paying for the community) are part of the same issue.
As has been mentioned on another post, several activists with the Isaac Brock and Maple Sandbox sites have planned a demonstration in Toronto on November 13 and 14, on the sidewalk outside the convention centre where representatives of various Canadian financial institutions are meeting to discuss, among other things, “navigating the hurdles to compliance with FATCA.”
Five candidates for the Toronto Centre by-election, and their campaign organizations, have been invited to participate in the demonstration. They are the candidates for the Conservative, Green, Liberal, New Democrat, and Progressive Canadian parties. The Progressive Canadian party was included, in thanks for their support some months ago in organizing an excellent meeting in Toronto on FATCA and all that is wrong with it. The Greens, Liberals and New Democrats all have expressed major reservations about FATCA. The Conservatives were included in fairness and to signal that we are not partisans and represent a full spectrum of political views, while being united in opposition to FATCA and any Canada-US IGA.
We thought this would be an opportunity to learn exactly what degree of support these parties are, or are not, prepared to provide to those opposing FATCA and an IGA. After some discussion, a group of us agreed that all five of the mentioned parties should be contacted, but none of the other candidates on the ballot (eleven in total).
For those who are interested, attached is a PDF copy of the email that was sent to each of the five parties (with the organizer’s and sender’s personal particulars removed). generic candidate email
The Conservative email was copied to Jim Flaherty. The other four emails were copied to the parties’ leaders; also, the Liberal email was copied to MPs Ted Hsu, Scott Brison, and Irwin Cotler (Liberal justice critic and former Minister of Justice); and the NDP email was also copied to MP Murray Rankin.
We will keep you posted as to who does or does not accept the invitation. Draw your own conclusions from this information.
Linda McQuaig’s (NDP) campaign office is at this writing the only one to acknowledge and then reply; the reply says that Ms. McQuaig unfortunately “is unable to attend. Best of luck with your event!”
As replies are passed on to me, I will update in the comment thread to this post.
UPDATED NOVEMBER 9 – As IRSCompliantForever has noted in his update to his post on the demonstration, and as I’ve detailed in the comment thread below, I am pleased to announce that Progressive Canadian Party candidate Dorian Baxter has replied, saying his is attempting to rearrange his schedule so he can assist in our demonstration. The text of his reply appears below in my comment post today. At this time, only Baxter and McQuaig have replied.
FEBRUARY 27, 2014 UPDATE (In response to my MP’s two page “explanation” why his party decided to impose FATCA on Canada):
“Dear Mr. Trottier,
Thank you for your February 19, 2014 letter in response to my February 6 promise that I have withdrawn my support for you (and for the Conservative Party) for your decision to help a foreign government impose FATCA on Canada.
Your two page letter of explanation only describes the many features of the U.S. FATCA law that are aimed at taking away my rights and, I’m sorry to say, provides insufficient justification for your position.
I was, however, particularly interested in your point that information (of all kinds–perhaps without any exception?) released by the banks to CRA, and then turned over without my permission to a foreign government “…is consistent with Canada’s privacy laws.”
A promise is a promise — and, now for the third time, I confirm that I will not be voting for you or for the Tory party in future because of your decision and I will tell all of my colleagues to do the same.
You know, I never really believed that this could ever happen in Canada.
Regards,
IRSCF”
FEBRUARY 6 2014 UPDATE (The DAY AFTER):
Dear Mr. Trottier [and …….],
“I am sorry to have to send this email, but it should not be a surprise to either of you that after yesterday’s decision of the Conservative government (including Mr. Trottier) to help the U.S. implement its FATCA law on Canadians, I have now withdrawn my support for Mr. Trottier and for the Conservative Party.
I have been a long-term supporter of the party but now will vote strategically in your riding to support, as strongly as I can, any candidate of the other parties (all, unlike the Tories, oppose FATCA) who has the best chance of defeating the Conservative.
Please note that there are at least one million other U.S. persons in Canada who are just as angry and who will not vote Conservative because of your decision to implement this bad law.
See also [deleted].
We won’t forget.
Regards,
[IRSCF,
Toronto address]”
Jan 5 UPDATE on my meeting with my Canadian MP rep:
I had a nice chat this afternoon with my Canadian Conservative MP rep, Mr. Bernard Trottier. I introduced myself as the fellow who previously sent him a letter on FATCA and thanked him for actually responding and in a meaningful way.
He had no update on the state of the IGA negotiations between Minister Flaherty and the US, but will speak to him on this in about a week.
In a few minutes I summarized some of the consequences of FATCA for Canadians and mentioned again the IGA negotiations. His response was “But [as this is a “negotiation”] what does Canada get out of this?” and I responded appropriately.
Then I discussed votes: I explained that I voted for Mr. Trottier in the last election (this is true) and that should Minister Flaherty negotiate any IGA with the US, I will not vote for Mr. Trottier or the Conservative party again. Further, I emphasized that I am part of a network of one million (I used the term “unfortunate”) US persons in Canada, all just like me, and that my recommendation to my network will be the same. I noted too that this election is likely to be more difficult for the Tories to obtain a majority.
The discussion ended with Mr. Trottier saying that this evening he will be speaking to some US persons living in Canada, with one person considering taking out Canadian citizenship, and I provided advice on whether this was a good idea.
I left copies with Mr. Trottier and his secretary of Brison’s questions in Parliament to Flaherty, the (long) letter to the Canadian Bankers Association, some correspondence between me and a Canadian bank that uses a green logo, and a written statement in large bold print promising that I and my network will not vote Conservative should Flaherty negotiate any agreement that imposes FATCA on Canadians.
No idea whether the above will be helpful, but I was blunt enough (but polite) that my MP, who I felt was was very sympathetic throughout, understood the simple message.
Jan 5 UPDATE:
—Just another reminder that all Torontonians can visit with Conservative MP Bernard Trottier TODAY at 1-3 pm at 110 Jutland Rd. in Etobicoke. The occasion is his “Third Annual New Year’s Levee.”
I know that there was a slight snowfall last night, but freezing rain does not come until evening, the roads are clean and safe now, and driving this afternoon will be easy.
If you live in Toronto, feel that a chat with the party in power that wants to help the US impose FATCA on us might possibly be more helpful than just sending an email of complaint, why don’t you talk to Mr. Trottier today and also tell him how you plan to vote in the next Canadian election? I will.
Personally, I have become a single issue voter on both sides of the border.
Dec 20 UPDATE:
In October I received a letter from my Toronto MP, Bernard Trottier, stating that he will speak to Minister Flaherty again (i.e. a second time) to convey our concerns on FATCA (see below). This suggests to me that he, a member of the the Conservative government, might be sympathetic.
Mr. Trottier is having a public get-together Sunday January 5, 1-3 pm, at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch #210, 110 Jutland Road, in Etobicoke (suburb of Toronto). http://www.bernardtrottiermp.ca/events/
If you live in Toronto, instead of spending time on Sunday with your relatives, come and have a chat with the MP about FATCA.
ORIGINAL POST:
Recently I emailed my Canadian Member of Parliament, Mr. Bernard Trottier, with a request to have a chat with Finance Minister Flaherty at the Calgary Conservative party convention, and to persuade Mr. Flaherty to resist US imposition of FATCA on Canada.
Mr. Trottier responded to my FATCA concern:
…I have the opportunity as an MP during Caucus and other sessions in Ottawa to discuss the FATCA issue with my colleagues, including Minister Flaherty. This issue has been raised by my constituents in the past in situations where the actions of the US Internal Revenue Service regarding Canadian-American dual citizens appeared to me to be heavy handed.
I will discuss with Minister Flaherty again to convey your concerns.
Our government does careful and due diligence prior to entering into any international agreement to ensure they will not violate the rights of Canadians, or the laws of Canada…
I know that I am trying to read too much into the letter, which can be interpreted in different ways, but the response first indicates that Mr. Trottier has previously spoken to Flaherty on FATCA.
Also, the letter from this member of government seems to be more strongly worded than those of Flaherty in terms of rights protection, by appearing to provide some “assurance” that careful due diligence will ensure that any IGA will [somehow] not violate our rights.
I have thanked Mr. Trottier for his response and have asked him to respond to the comments made on this posting (November 7, 2013).
November 5th,
Washington, DC
This RepealFATCA.com bulletin departs from our usual format to round up some important news and commentary from around the world on the deepening troubles of the dysfunctional “Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act” (FATCA). The headlines:
More information on each of the headlines above is provided below:
AJ wrote this in response to a post created yesterday by Swiss Pinoy. Swiss Pinoy’s post, “Stated in honor of FATCA: ‘You [Americans] disgust me’,” was sparked by a comment on the CNN news site, in which an American inside the US stated, “You people disgust me” referring to US citizens abroad. That person’s comment prompted AJ to write the following:
***
I decided to write this and get a few things off my chest. This is almost too long for a comment though. Is there any way to have it on the main page as a guest post? Feel free to share.
A letter to America from the son of an American
Several million US citizens live in other countries. Some are there as students, some are doing a stint abroad for an American company, and others have married a foreigner and decided to stay abroad with their spouse. Some Americans abroad, like London mayor Boris Johnson never even lived in the US, but were simply born there while their parents were temporarily working in the US. Others, like me, weren’t even born in America, but are American because one of our parents passed on their citizenship to us. Americans abroad are now in a moment of acute crisis, and I want to take a moment to talk about us and expats in general.
Swedish Citizen made a comment on a previous thread from back in February of 2013. It deserves a wider visibility and reading. It provides a good example of letters that can be used more generically when writing any Countries Finance minister.
Thought I would highlight it here along with a letter he also wrote the Swedish Banksters.
The entire post is after the jump..
It is no secret that FATCA teaches Americans to be racist against Americans. Just 4 hours ago, another stateside American honestly admitted that FATCA had caused him/her to be racist against Americans:
Ah but you leave out that countries charge expatriation or repatriation taxes. You get a 95,000 exemption on your Federal taxes which is significantly more than the poorest person in this country but you want more. Ok how about a repatriation taxes that equals 30% of networth upon returning or the equivalent of Federal income taxes for the years you were gone. You can now move completely overseas without giving up citizenship but also probably never return. You people disgust me.
U.S. expats cry foul over tax system
Who are these “people”? Americans. This stateside American is disgusted with Americans, thanks to FATCA. FATCA teaches the American people to hate Americans, as demonstrated.
It was Mark Twain who first mentioned the Responsible Officer (RO) liability issue to me a few weeks ago. It is one of the more obscure questions about the FATCA compliance that I hadn’t fully considered or focused any attention on. From my reading, this problem is becoming more and more apparent.
The Responsible Officers’ will carry the brunt of the FATCA compliance burden and risk
As far as I know, this FATCA fact has not been brought to the Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) attention in a way that might give them pause about their rush to compliance capitulation. Continue reading
