From Just Me:
10 reasons the U.S. is no longer the land of the free
the opportunity to add reason number 11..
FATCA and citizenship taxation.
There are lots of comments, and mine will get lost, but here is what I added for what it is worth….
Why I Think Peter Spiro is Right about Renunciations
In his book Beyond Citizenship: American Identity After Globalization Peter Spiro takes a good hard look at what citizenship is worth in the world today. He concludes (a bit reluctantly I think) that:
Becoming a citizen entitles one to little more than the right to vote, eligibility for some public benefits programs, and freedom from any threat of deportation.”
A Censored Forum is an Oxymoron: Why the Expat Forum is not a safe place for conversation and what we can learn from our experience there
Until now, I’ve been cheeky and sarcastic in my tone. Now I just want to say a few honest words about what has happened, and the history leading up to it.
The Expat Forum has banned me
Out of the Mouth of a Frenchling
This is the conversation I had with my younger Frenchling (French/American daughter) last night after she opened her bank statment. She has a little account with our French bank that we opened to give her pocket money:
Frenchling: Mom, what do I do with this? (bank statement)
Continue reading
Taxpayer Advocate Services Report to Congress also addressed Taxpayer Rights, questionable we have all of these…
National Taxpayer Advocate Recommendation. In light of the IRS’s unique role as the federal revenue collector, the National Taxpayer Advocate recommends that Congress develop new budget procedures designed to fund the IRS at a level that will enable it to meet taxpayer needs and maximize tax compliance, with due regard for protecting taxpayer rights and minimizing taxpayer burden.
Citizenship-based taxation, the U.S. trade deficit and the destruction of U.S. capital
This post is cross posted at renounceuscitizenship.
Trade, Deficits and Trade Deficits
Let’s begin with the basics.
Q. What is a “trade deficit”?
A. A “trade deficit” occurs when a country buys more of a country’s products than it sells to that country. What would be an example? The United States trades with China. The U.S. buys goods from China (check out Walmart). The U.S. also sells goods to China. It’s just that the U.S. spends more buying goods from China than it receives for goods sold to China. Is this a problem? I don’t know, let’s figure it out. Continue reading
Know Your Client: US Banks closing investment accounts of non-resident citizens
I’m giving you all a heads up that if anyone has investment accounts in the US, you may find yourselves receiving a letter from your bank or financial institution as I did that you need to provide “acceptable proof” of a US legal and mailing address. If you can’t provide this proof, they will restrict your accounts to liquidating transactions only and they will be subject to closure. If they don’t hear from you by the specified date in the letter, they will liquidate your account and mail you a cheque for the proceeds to the address they have on file. They warn: “There may be tax consequences to you associated with a liquidation of investment assets in your account, so please plan accordingly.”
If you live in Canada your only option is obviously to liquidate the accounts.
Overzealous spam filter: apologies
Hi a few comments were spammed, one by Tim, three by 416. The automatic spam filter Akisimet is what makes possible for posts to be unmoderated. But we have to keep on top of thing. Apologies. Peter
Free Seminar: Roy A. Berg JD LLM
Roy A. Berg, as some may have noticed, has been following our blog, and has chimed in more than once in our conversation. This is very welcome. We are happy for those who have professional experience to speak on issues whenever they are willing.