As some of you know, I have been trying to work through Canadian Civil Liberties Association on FATCA. They have finally registered concerns with Ministry of Finance.
The Open Letter From CCLA is posted at Maple Sandbox along with a link to CCLA website.
IGA About to be Signed with Switzerland. Parliament and Swiss Sovereign People’s Approval Still Needed
Official Swiss Federal Press Release (English Version)
RTS article (in French): Un accord fiscal a été conclu entre la Suisse et les Etats-Unis
Translation of RTS article:
A Tax Agreement has been concluded between Switzerland and the United States.
An agreement has been concluded between Switzerland and the United States on the application of American tax law. The agreement would permit the taxation of the accounts of Americans abroad, but under certain conditions.
The United States and Switzerland have signed Monday an accord about the application of the American tax law known as FATCA. The President of the Confederation Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf announced so Tuesday before the Swiss Senate.
FACT FINDING FORUM ON FACTA
Saturday, December 15, 2012
11:00 noon – 6:00 p.m. (doors will open at 10:00 a.m.)
University of Toronto – Victoria College – Victoria College Building – Room 115
Here are the details:
- The Progressive Canadian Party is sponsoring this event.
- The Fact Finding Conference has been convened in response to the November 8, 2012 announcement from the Department of Finance that they are seeking input on FATCA.
- The Progressive Canadian Party is seeking the views, experiences and contributions of Canadians for the purposes of its submission.
- Speakers will include Jim Jatras of Squire Sanders;
- and Professor Allison Christians, H. Heward Stikeman Chair in Tax Law at the McGill University Faculty of Law.
Article by Conrad de Aenlle in NY Times
A relatively accurate, so far as I can see, article on FATCA in the NY Times:
Conrad de Aenlle, “A long-distance relationship with the I.R.S.”
Even articles that are fairly accurate seldom recognize that this affects “accidental” Americans, i.e. people who aren’t Americans at all, aside from a legal technicality of US law.
ACA Article About Threats to Overseas Voting in Arizona, Arizona v. Gonzalez goes to Supreme Court.
This just out from the ACA in their email newsletter. It seems that Arizona is rejecting some Federal Post Card Applications where information required by the state cannot be provided.
Accountants to Taiwan: “All the cool kids are snorting coke and jumping off bridges, why aren’t you?”
The tax-industrial complex continues its efforts to promote lifetime employment and ever-rising salaries for tax consultants. Today they’ve turned their efforts towards Taiwan, whose governing officials have recently shown an alarming outbreak of insufficient zeal for kowtowing to Washington’s divide-and-conquer FATCA strategy. Two Deloitte accountants take time out of their busy schedules of helping large companies “optimise” their tax burdens in order to encourage these wayward souls back on to the straight and narrow.
| 肥咖協商進度 我輸日星韓 |
FATCA negotiations progress: our country losing to Japan, Singapore, South Korea |
| http://money.chinatimes.com/news/news-content.aspx?id=20121129000119&cid=1209 | |
| 2012-11-29 01:21 《工商時報》記者張國仁 |
29 November 2012, 01:21 Commercial Times reporter Chang Kuo-jen |
| 美國總統歐巴馬連任成功，美國打擊美國人海外逃稅動作加快，預計今年底前將與約50個國家完成簽訂政府間協定或協商，遵守外國帳戶稅收遵從法（FATCA） 規定，而我國應對性不足，迄無任何具體行動，金融業界擔心受罰憂心忡忡。 | With U.S. president Obama’s re-election, the U.S.’ attack on overseas tax evasion by Americans is picking up speed, and it is forecast that by the end of the year it will conclude the signing of intergovernmental agreements or negotiations with more than fifty countries regarding compliance with Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act regulations. However, our country is not being responsive enough, and up to now has not taken any concrete action, leaving the finance industry worried that it will be penalised. |
Truth in Advertising
I see that the House has finally passed a bill that would automatically grant green card status to anyone foreign graduate of an American university whose degree is in one of the so called S.T.E.M. (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) disciplines. Now given the strident attitude that the Congress has displayed towards any U.S. person who voluntarily gives up citizenship and their accusations of “traitor”. It really makes you wonder how these Congressmen/women would view a person from another country who would so easily be seduced to take up permanent residence in America?
Don’t these people owe something to their country of birth that is just as deep as what it is claimed a U.S. person owes to the U.S.? It should be noted that these foreign students can in no way be accused of being “ungrateful” to the U.S. government, since many of them have actually paid a hefty sum for the priviliege of attending a U.S. educational institution. There are actually some U.S. educational institutions that would not be able to survive if it weren’t for their foreign students. Many top U.S. universities have programs that actively court foreign students.
Will the U.S. Congress also attach to these green cards a full disclosure document detailing the very unique tax obligations that are a part of becoming a U.S. person? Are these people simply expected to “know” about Pub. 54 and the other IRC’s?
Thankfully the article says that passage of this bill is not likely and I hope that the author is right. The idea that America should go about topbankinfo.ru poaching students from other countries- some of those countries being poor countries- would be another new low for American exceptionalism.
Is Ms. Rice Compliant
I just saw this on Yahoo News. I wonder if Ms. Rice and her husband have disclosed all of their offshore Canadian assets?
FATCA: Obama’s New Year surprise against American expats
“In Ernest Hemingway’s reminiscence A Movable Feast, one gets a glimpse of life among American expatriate artists and writers living and having adventures in Paris during the Roaring 20s. Today, American expats live all over the world – having adventures in Africa, creating art in Berlin, helping children in Cambodia, discovering ancient spirituality in India, and starting businesses in Tianjin. But all this may soon come to an end.”
Will FATCA mark the end of American global migration?
http://www.examiner.com/article/fatca-obama-s-new-year-surprise-against-american-expats
#FATCA is no longer about the US, It’s about other countries
#FATCA is impossible to achieve unless foreign governments preemptively surrender their sovereignty. http://t.co/ss4ul9BT – Take note!
— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) November 30, 2012