How bad is it?
Homelanders propose raising taxes on US Persons abroad to pay for “territorial taxation”
In case you hadn’t already figured it out, this is the shape of things to come for U.S. Persons abroad: relentless bipartisan attacks on the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion in the name of “simplifying the tax code” and “cutting subsidies to favoured groups”, because the “non-partisan” Joint Committee on Taxation (which is composed entirely of Homelanders) classifies it as a “tax expenditure”. The latest effort in this direction: Dennis Ross (R-FL)’s HR 6474, which purports to implement the recommendations of the Simpson-Bowles Commission regarding territorial taxation. It contains provisions to phase out 20% of the FEIE every year until it is fully eliminated in 2017:
SEC. 271. FIVE-YEAR PHASEOUT OF CERTAIN TAX EXPENDITURES.
(a) In General- Effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2012, the amount allowable as a credit, exclusion from gross income, exemption from taxation, or deduction for the taxable year under the tax provisions specified in subsection (c) (determined without regard to this section) shall be reduced by the applicable percentage of the amount so allowable …
(c) Specified Provisions-For purposes of this section, the tax provisions specified in this subsection are as follows:
(1) Section 911 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to citizens or residents of the United States living abroad).
Boom! Right there on top in pole position, the very first “tax expenditure” they propose to cut. That in itself should tell you volumes about Congress’ attitude towards U.S. Persons abroad.
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Full Disclosure Needed: Just What is US Tax Compliance Requirement for American Workers Being Recruited for Alberta’s Oilsands?
Alberta to recruit American war vets to work in oilsands
The question is — with working in Canada for long periods of time, what are tax return and reporting responsibilities for these workers — both for Canada CRA and US IRS?
CALGARY— Alberta is seeking to recruit an army of oilsands workers — literally.
The province is on the march to attract thousands of demobilized U.S. military personnel to help develop what’s been touted as Canada’s economic engine for coming decades, the oilsands.
The project’s success would also act as a goodwill gesture for Canada’s controversial oilsands, said Alberta Energy Minister Ken Hughes.
“We’re trying to understand how we could produce employment opportunities for American service people returning from overseas,” Hughes said Friday. “I’ve detected some interest in the States.”
The mission has attracted the attention of U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Jacobson and the encouragement of the U.S.’s former consul general in Calgary, Laura Lochman, said Hughes.
Hughes said there are a half-million unemployed or underemployed younger military veterans in the U.S. — a force that could be tapped to satisfy a chronically-hungry energy industry in Alberta.
. . .
Twenty ways the IRS can locate US expatriates
Twenty ways the IRS can locate US expatriates, some of them no doubt new to you!
Ann Hollingshead doesn’t admire our “opprobrium”
I am temporarily suspending wall of shame inductions but I think the following blog post is rather interesting. Ann Hollingshead and the Task Force for Financial Integrity & Economic Development have been big FATCA supporters for many years whom I sparred with back in the early days of Brock. At one time she was also critic of Jim Flaherty for as she put it interferring with the soveriegn right of the US to make its own tax policies. Clearly she knows about our criticism and has been stung by it(She in fact singles out American Citizens Abroad for as she puts it hyperbole). I think this might be a wonderful opportunity to bring our criticism back home to her and let her know about our latest activities. (The actually point of the blog post is to say how great the IGA’s are).
A Strong, Sustainable, Future for FATCA and Tax Compliance.
Russia and US to share information on bank accounts
Note: as in other cases, so far this is only talk…
“Russia and the US are reportedly going to sign an account information sharing agreement by 2013. The step is expected to improve international tax compliance under the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)…
“The authorities have to agree on the mechanism of information sharing and there are several options on the table, including banks signing individual agreements with the IRS or reporting through the national regulator. Russia supports the scenario where banks report to the Federal Tax Service, the Russian tax authority, and it provides information to the IRS, Izvestia daily reported. A similar mechanism is implemented in France, Germany, Japan and Switzerland…
“Deputy PM Igor Shuvalov reportedly plans to discuss the issue with the US authorities during his upcoming visit to Washington, according to the newspaper.”
Full article: http://rt.com/business/news/russia-us-account-share-749/
The Wolf and the Lamb revised for our times
Here is the original fable according to Aesop:
Once upon a time a Wolf was lapping at a spring on a hillside, when, looking up, what should he see but a Lamb just beginning to drink a little lower down. “There’s my supper,” thought he, “if only I can find some excuse to seize it.” Then he called out to the Lamb, “How dare you muddle the water from which I am drinking?”
“Nay, master, nay,” said Lambikin; “if the water be muddy up there, I cannot be the cause of it, for it runs down from you to me.”
“Well, then,” said the Wolf, “why did you call me bad names this time last year?”
“That cannot be,” said the Lamb; “I am only six months old.”
“I don’t care,” snarled the Wolf; “if it was not you it was your father;” and with that he rushed upon the poor little Lamb and ate her all up. But before she died she gasped out:
“Any excuse will serve a tyrant.”
Now, the contemporary version:
STOP an Impending Massive Handover of Canadian Sovereignty to the United States!
UPDATE 2: This post has been upgraded to a press release at newswire.ca and digitjournal.com. Thanks go to Jim Jatras.
UPDATE: Jim Jatras has provided an revised Word Version of the text below for mass distribution.
The following is a message from Jim Jatras:
Friends
Please review that following and submit comments. I hope it’s more or less self-explanatory.
As indicated in a previous comment, it’s in effect a kind of ad or statement inviting people to contact Harper, Flaherty, MPs and oppose FATCA/IGA. Ideally, it’s the kind of thing that would be posted online or even in print publications as an ad, if there were money for that. (If Canadian industry weren’t spending money trying to get the “best deal possible” from the Americans under an IGA instead of fighting.) Certainly individual comment letters to the Finance Department should be sent, but let’s not kid ourselves they will pay much attention them. What we need is a groundswell of outraged Canadians to contact Harper, Flaherty, and MPs as soon as possible with a simple message: NO!
I realize that it’s always risky to hang a draft out where anyone can take a whack at it, but feel free. Also, any ideas on where and how it can be posted and distributed are welcome.
BTW, this is the kind of thing that routinely gets placed in DC in publications like Politico, The Hill, Roll Call, and other pubs aimed at Congress. Picture a similar message aimed at Congress but making an American argument against FATCA, as this makes a Canadian one. That’s how we get things done – if we had someone with money and willing to fight.
Best
Jim
Call or email Stephen Harper, Jim Flaherty, and Your MP Today!
Call or email Stephen Harper, Jim Flaherty, and Your MP Today!
STOP an Impending Massive Handover of Canadian Sovereignty to the United States!
Tell the Government: Canada Must Say NO
to the United States on ‘FATCA’
Recently the Department of Finance invited comments on what was characterized as “an agreement to improve cross-border tax compliance through . . . the provisions enacted by the United States commonly known as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).” This eleventh-hour invitation came as sources in both Ottawa and Washington announced that they were close to finalizing an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) that would, in effect, deputize the Canadian government to enforce this American law in Canada.
Townsend Article about burden of proof in FBAR cases
I just became aware of this: McBride #1 – Court Holds Government Must Prove FBAR Willful Penalty by a Preponderance (11/11/12). I thought it might be interesting for all of you.
What I found most interesting was Townsend’s commentary:
Based on the detailed findings of fact, the Court first determined that the Government need prove willfulness only by a preponderance of the evidence rather than by clear and convincing evidence. Since the Court’s recitation of facts was so damning, it is not clear that the Court would have reached a different conclusion even if the burden were clear and convincing. Nevertheless, here is what the Court said about its holding on the preponderance of the evidence burden…
Consequences of seceding from the US
There have been tremors and blips for years, from Texas to Alaska and all the way back to Vermont we have heard of possible seccession movements building up in the US. In the aftermath of the US election some 20 different states’ residents have even submitted official petitions to the White House with this very goal in mind, and the Texas petition has garnered enough signatures that the White House must officially respond to it.
US election: Unhappy Americans ask to secede from US
Whether or not this will come to anything is anyone’s guess. Coming from the EU, where seccession is a real issue (especially in Flanders, Scotland, Catalonia and now even Venice), I find it difficult to compare public mood in the US to that in Europe – I personally believe that there will be at least one new European state within the next five years.