Hey folks, I want to let you know that the isaacbrockforum.com is now open. This forum is password protected to keep web crawlers out. Search engines will not be able to access discussions in the forum. Nor will anyone be able to walk off the street straight into the discussion. They first have to ring the door bell–i.e., they must go to the how to join page to find out the password.
On comments (UPDATE: comments no longer nested)
UPDATE: Comments will no longer be nested. Please use the @ sign to reply to someone. If you want to quote a part of what they say, please use the the following html code <blockquote> to begin the quote, </blockquote> to end it (if you can remember).
Interesting Barrie McKenna article on "economic mobility" – citizenship-based taxation impedes economic mobility
but there is no mention of this in the article. Perhaps it would be worth a comment or two. Most of the comments/posts on isaacbrocksociety.com are focusing on the restrictions put on U.S. citizens who try to exercise “economic mobility” by living outside the United States. This McKenna article does not mention these and neither do the comments.
Impact on U.S. Spouses of Foreign Nationals
I thought I would take a few moments and talk about how all these issues impact U.S. spouses of foreign nationals living outside the U.S. I’ve seen this addressed in other places but from the comments I see it’s usually about how the foreign spouse will suffer because he/she married an American. Believe me, it isn’t fun for the Americans (very often women) either.
Status Report : Growing pains at 30,000 views
Petros provides a recap of the progress of isaacbrocksociety.com at 30,000 views. Warning: While last week’s status report felt like a high school prep talk, this one reads like a business meeting.
Deer in the headlights
I have been in the US on holidays for a month now. We purchased a little getaway place in Florida last spring in hopes that we could already be set up to go as snowbirds in 3 to 5 years. No real estate agent ever mentioned any new laws that state that foreigners might have to file tax returns on their worldly income if they stay longer than 120+ days in the US or that the IRS gets inheritance tax benefits in case any of us should parish. Many of our Canadian neighbors are upset about the prospect and I need to send them proof of this law that took effect at the first of 2011. There was once a link to an article about it on the expat site but I am not able to find it. Does anybody have information about this or a link that I could forward to my neighbors? Continue reading
A workman is worthy of his hire
Here is a comment from a cross border tax specialist
Petros, $250-$300 for a cross border US tax return an accountant that does not understand cross border tax. A good tax accountant would not even prepare a Canadian return for that fee. Check what H&R Block is charging for Canadian tax returns and remember they are essentially uneducated form fillers.
Ten Reasons the United States is no longer the land of the Free: Washington Post
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.