I’ve just returned from the program. I’m not sure I can really catch all of the most important aspects but the good news is, there were two people recording the proceedings and one plan is to post on YouTube, so you all will be able to hear the presentations as well as capture the spirit and intensity of the meeting. I was quite struck by the difference in how it feels to connect with others about this in the way we are accustomed to; i.e., in the sort of impersonal, anonymous feel to posts on the internet and how much stronger the impact of peoples’ words are, when you are actually experiencing them, face-to-face. Hopefully, this will be the first of many, many more meetings for those of us trying to get FATCA repealed.Please note that I am trying to paraphrase what was said and any mistakes or wrong impressions given are due to my failings. It is impossible to correctly quote everything that was said. I am refraining from mentioning any personal information that was given, though awareness of this during the meeting strongly influenced the impact each speaker had.
TOMORROW, SATURDAY DEC. 15! FATCA Fact Finding Forum – Should Canada be governed by Canadians or by the US?
REMINDER! TOMORROW, SATURDAY DEC. 15!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: 905-853-8949
FATCA Fact Finding Forum – Should Canada Allow US Tax laws to extend into Canada?
Should Canada be governed by Canadians or by the US?
UDC Parliamentary Deputy: “Switzerland has been too naive up to now”.
This just out in the Tribune of Geneva newspaper about pressure EU countries are putting upon Swiss bank secrecy. Swiss People’s Party (Central Democratic Union) deputy Yves Nidegger, like the majority of his party, is opposed to all cooperation in taxation matters: Continue reading
Finance Committee publishes budget recommendations
FATCA did make it so to speak as an issue to do something about.
From the recommendations:
The Canadian Bankers Association highlighted that the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act applies to Canadian financial institutions and account holders. In its view, future trade agreements concluded by Canada should prohibit the extra-territorial application of foreign laws to Canadian financial institutions.
Why people renounce US citizenship: A most Noble perspective
Crossposted from RenounceUScitizenship
RT @FATCA_Fallout Renouncing US Citizenship — Trend, Overreaction or self-defense? http://t.co/ew8MAaEE http://t.co/a6bCVbCu #FATCA
— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) December 13, 2012
Nobledreamer’s comment to this article about renouncing U.S. citizenship is worth a post and that is exactly what this post is. One of best descriptions of the problem I have seen. It’s in language and a format that anybody can understand it. Thanks! Continue reading
Virginia tells lies to trick emigrants into thinking they owe Virginia state tax
As if federal citizenship-based taxation wasn’t bad enough, on the recently updated website of the Virginia Department of Taxation, we see a blatant attempt to scare people born in Virginia into paying taxes they don’t owe, by reiterating the falsehood that an American citizen by definition must be domiciled in one of the fifty states — since of course as we all know, no one ever checks out from the Hotel California Greatest Country on Earth™ besides a few rich ingrates fleeing the estate tax:
Virginia residents who travel outside the country, or take up temporary or permanent residence abroad, should be aware of the filing provisions discussed below. If you are a Virginia resident who accepts employment in another country or moves outside the United States for other reasons (including military orders), the fact that you are living abroad does not mean that you are no longer considered a Virginia resident for tax purposes. Unless you have established residency in another state, you will still be considered a domiciliary resident of Virginia, and will be required to file Virginia income tax returns.
A domiciliary resident of Virginia is one whose legal domicile in the technical sense is in Virginia. Unless an individual acquires a legal domicile in another state, he or she is still a Virginia resident. This applies even if the person is residing in another jurisdiction and may have been residing there for a number of years. The fact that a person has been absent from Virginia, whether in the foreign service of the United States or in the exercise of private enterprise, does not in any way cancel out their Virginia citizenship or legal domicile.
Why Don’t they Care?
I just saw this news piece on Global News tonight. The only thing that I can do is to ask why is it that, the federal government hasn’t put the word out that “U.S. persons are a threat to the Canadian economy?” Canadians seem to be just as naive as the Americans are deceptive. No one seems to be listening to what the U.S. is doing loans-cash.net.
Americans aren’t allowed to emigrate in the true sense of the word. What is so difficult to comprehend about that message?
Happy Birthday Isaac Brock Society!
Today is the one-year birthday of the Isaac Brock Society.
On December 12, 2011, this website began as a group project by six Canadian participants at the Expat Forum, which was getting very sick of their uppity attitudes and the incessant discussion of renunciation of United States citizenship. Later, the Expat Forum showed utter disdain for that conversation by completely removing whole threads which had thousands of comments. Thus, our move to create this new forum where we may discuss these serious issues without censorship or censure-ship, displayed foresight and prudence.
As I write this post, the Isaac Brock Society has 1301 posts, and 33,865 comments; we have had approximately 1.4 million pageviews (a.k.a. “hits”): according to Google Analytics, 758,000 hits for isaacbrocksociety.ca, in addition to wordpress.com, 660,000 hits for isaacbrocksociety.com (we switched over in June). Google Analytics calculates that 52,542 unique visitors have graced our isaacbrocksociety.ca pages since the switchover in June.
This has been a group effort. Many thanks to the writers and commenters who have kept us up to date with the latest happenings, finding resources in multiple languages, including English, Chinese, Russian, Korean, Portugese, French, Spanish, and the special gobbledygook which is another name of IRS-speak or Kafkaesque, the language of the bureaucracy of the evil empire.
Last but not least, several Brockers have made contributions to keep this site going. I will be making a financial report soon, and I just want to thank everyone who has contributed.
Future of #Americans abroad? Prognostications from Mr. Mopsick
@MopsickTaxLaw prognostications on plight of #americansabroad #FBAR #FATCA http://t.co/tB6GRTd5 – If he is right renounce US citizenship!
— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) December 12, 2012
The above tweet links to a very blog post. As is usually the case, the comments are far more interesting. What follows is Mr. Mopsick’s collection of thoughts:
Author seeks input on FBAR + employment experiences
Any US citizens having trouble job hunting in Switzerland due to FBAR? Contact me for a swissinfo article @swissbusiness
— Clare O'Dea (@ClareODeaZ) December 11, 2012
I know there are a number of “Brockers” from Switzerland.