Globalnews.ca reporter Anna Mehler Paperny is hoping to interview Canadians who have renounced US citizenship in the last few years for a story on citizenship/IRS/FATCA-related issues. Ideally she would like to use people’s real names.
Pls contact:
Anna.Mehler Paperny (at) globalnews.ca
(416) 443-6003
This post appeared on the RenounceUScitizenship blog
Thought I might add this to the “possible ISB” reading list. Niall Ferguson is somewhat of a “celebrity academic” and author of a number of books including “The Ascent of Money” – which I would highly recommend. In any case, he is also the author of “Empire” which is described as a book about:
“The rise and demise of the British world order and the lessons for global power.”
I would recommend this book as an aid to understanding what is going on in the world today.
Obviously the intention is provide possible lessons for America.
Here is an interview on TVO with the author.
Below I present the May & June 1968 correspondence of Durward G. Hall (R-MS) with Kentucky Democrat Fred Vinson of the Department of Justice on the treatment of certain emigrants. It was first published at page 22149 of the Congressional Record for 18 July 1968, just days short of the 100th anniversary of President Andrew Johnson’s signing of the Expatriation Act of 1868.
In 1868, men stood on the floor of the House and quoted philosophers from the Roman Republic, Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands in support of the proposition that emigration and change of citizenship are basic human rights. In 1968, men stood on that same floor and spluttered that Americans who emigrated and changed their citizenship were traitors who should never be allowed to return for a visit.
I’m posting this a bit late for the Act’s 145th anniversary, but I suppose if I had posted it on time it would have just ruined the mood. Instead I hope that it was a happy day that we all celebrated properly even without knowing the significance of the date: by continuing to exercise our right to live contentedly in the lands of our choosing, regardless of what people in the United States might have to say.
A lovely tax writer, Kelly Philips Erb, has written an article for Forbes magazine suggesting that Edward Snowden would have to pay taxes in to the United States if he were to work in his country of refuge, asking a presumed expert Richard S. Goldstein:
For now, Snowden remains a citizen. And so long as he remains a citizen, he is subject to our laws – and that includes our tax laws. He still has to file and he still has to pay any applicable tax. Goldstein agrees. But, he chuckled, “Good luck trying to collect it.”
She maintains that he would have to renounce his US citizenship if he wants to avoid US taxes and filing requirements. This entails paying the $450 dollar renunciation fee to the US consulate.
First: The good news.
Good news: Hard for #IRS to collect willful #FBAR penalties. http://t.co/ko6mNccP2F Bad news: That's what Form 8938 is for.
— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) August 13, 2013
Now: The bad news.
Bad News: #FATCA form 8938 to replace Mr. #FBAR and become #IRS Fundraiser of choice! http://t.co/821xvANDMi #americansabroad take note!
— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) August 13, 2013
In the midst of all the frenetic, shallow coverage about “tax dodgers fleeing the country”, it’s nice to see that at least one newspaper ran a front-page story which honestly portrays the various motivations that Americans abroad had for leaving the country and the reasons that they ultimately cite when they take the big step of giving up citizenship. Joan Zyda of the Los Angeles Times wrote an in-depth article: “Changing Citizenship — Why Americans Go”; as the subhead in one paper put it, “More Citizens Switch Allegiance; Tension, Politics Tied to Giving Up Citizenship”. It covers all the various reasons: tax savings do get mentioned in a couple of paragraphs among its thousands of words which took up nearly an entire broadsheet page, but flight from U.S. militarism, government harassment of political activists abroad, and the desire to become a full member of another society receive far more emphasis.
Surprised you didn’t catch this one on Twitter or Google News? Sorry, I failed to tell you in my first paragraph: this article is from four decades ago.
Jennifer Hollett is running again Linda McQuaig (FATCA supporter) for the NDP federal nomination. You can reach her about FATCA at her website:
http://jenniferhollett.com/
After the jump I’ve translated an old article from Money Today that I came across recently. It was written in 2009, right around the time that MC the Max bassist Yoon Jae-woong renounced his U.S. citizenship, and mentioned a number of other South Korean celebrities — comprising both native-born U.S. citizens as well as naturalised and unnaturalised immigrants — who decided to stop being U.S. Persons.
With the release of the latest Federal Register “published expatriates” list, the demagogues in the U.S. media are coming out in force to spread their typical lies about how we U.S. Persons abroad are all mink-swathed Benedict Arnolds skipping out on our tax bills after enjoying the benefits of U.S. citizenship. So once again I repeat the simple truth which is illustrated by every non-U.S. media story about renunciants: those of us who give up U.S. citizenship have been contributing members of society in other countries for years. We are not fugitives from the U.S. who snuck out on the night of 14 April. Even before the recent U.S. crackdown on non-U.S. bank accounts, celebrities and ordinary people living ordinary lives outside of the U.S. were happy to give up a U.S. passport from which they derived little or no concrete benefit, so that they could step forward to further success in the countries where they actually lived.
Number of Americans who #RenounceCitizenship Surged in 2nd Quarter http://t.co/I84MIgTFbN – Will encourage #americansabroad to renounce!
— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) August 10, 2013
This is a rather disappointing article from an author who has written on this issue before. Why disappointing? The general tone seems to equate Americans Abroad with tax evaders and terrorists (whatever those are). That said, it’s one more article reporting the increasing numbers renouncing U.S. citizenship.
For example:
The U.S. launched the tax crackdown after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and ratcheted up its efforts after 2009, amid evidence that UBS AG UBSN.VX 0.00% and other foreign institutions helped U.S. taxpayers hide assets.
Some taxpayers have applied for IRS limited-amnesty programs, in which they pay stiff penalties for past noncompliance but avoid prosecution.
Tax lawyers say the crackdown has ensnared smaller violators who weren’t intentionally evading U.S. taxes.
In addition, a law enacted in 2010, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or Fatca, requires foreign financial institutions to certify they aren’t hiding U.S. taxpayer assets, which lawyers say is leading some to reject U.S. customers.
Taxpayer penalties for failing to report assets can be severe, including up to 50% of an account balance for each year.
Roger Conklin, a frequent contributor at Isaac Brock, has just had a letter published in the Wall Street Journal. I have been off the grid for a few days, so maybe it has been posted somewhere. If I missed it, I apologize, but thought I would pull out out for headline attention.
Territorial Tax: Whose Money Is It?
Nicole Tichon’s July 30 letter says that in many countries, with territorial tax systems that don’t tax corporate earnings when remitted back home, “unemployment is at record levels.”
