Dual US/CA citizenship that costs $3,000 a year in accounting bills alone forces retiring couple to tread carefully https://t.co/7frwXnHaUH

— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) February 11, 2017

The above tweet references an article in the Financial Post describing the challenges of this couple in planning for retirement. With reference to the U.S. citizenship problem the article includes:

Harold and Tess have tax complications due to Tess’ American citizenship. Tax treaties and government agreements require her to file a U.S. tax return. …

Tess pays no U.S. income tax but she has a $3,000 annual accounting costs to comply with American law.

One is left with the impression that U.S. citizenship is a tax filing problem only.

Please comment on what advice you might give to Harold and Tess about Tess’s American citizenship and how it relates to retirement planning as a Canadian citizen living in Canada.

“Trump must show his mettle and reverse a fatally flawed, misguided law“

NEWS PROVIDED BY
Campaign to Repeal FATCA
Feb 07, 2017, 10:26 ET

Excerpts:

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Nigel Green, founder and CEO of deVere Group, one of the world’s largest independent financial organizations, has launched a Washington, DC-based lobbying and media campaign to repeal the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA.

With Obama in the White House doing away with FATCA was virtually impossible, despite repeal bills introduced by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC). “FATCA is a textbook example of a bad law that doesn’t achieve its stated purpose but does manage to unleash a host of unanticipated destructive consequences,” states Sen. Paul.

As his co-leader of the Campaign to Repeal FATCA, Green has turned to former U.S. diplomat and longtime Senate leadership staffer Jim Jatras of the media and government relations firm Global Strategic Communications Group (GSCG). Jatras, a leading authority on FATCA, edits the online publication www.RepealFATCA.com, which is dedicated to getting rid of what he calls “the worst law most Americans have never heard of.“

On Green’s initiative, Jatras is assembling a team of experienced DC professionals to push the repeal effort over the top. “Nigel’s deciding to step up to the plate is just tremendous,” says Jatras. “Billions of dollars have been wasted worldwide complying with FATCA, billions of words have been written complaining about it. Now it’s time for action. When that tax bill gets to President Trump’s desk, we want FATCA repeal in it.”

For more information on FATCA and the Campaign to Repeal FATCA, contact GSCG, below.

RepealFatca.com

Twitter @RepealFatca

cross-posted from MapleSandBox
also appeared yesterday on Rob Wood’s blog at Forbes

by Lynne Swanson

I am the author of this article in Forbes. I don’t know why Robert Wood didn’t use my real name as a signature. I submitted it to him and I have posted a comment asking him to include it. I refuse to hide or cower to a foreign bully.

Dear President Trump:

I realize that not paying taxes “makes (you) smart.” So you likely think I’m dumb for paying taxes to Canada, where I live. I think it makes me responsible. You probably would consider me “a nasty woman.” You might even call me a traitor because I have lived outside the United States for almost half a century, and relinquished American citizenship by becoming a citizen of the country I love—Canada—in 1973.

But hear me out on a real “total disaster.” The United States demands that I file tax returns to a country where I haven’t lived for 47 years just because I was born there. Even worse, the U.S. Treasury Department demands invasive information about all of my Canadian accounts. You see, Democrats, with support of some Republicans, passed the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) back in 2010. It is nasty, believe me.

I know you’re a really, really smart guy because of that not paying taxes thing. So let’s talk about FATCA, which is complex, believe me. Imagine if all of Melania’s accounts—including personal, business and even joint accounts with you—had to be reported to Slovenia just because she was born there! Or, if all of your accounts were required to be reported to Scotland because your mother hailed from there. Or, if the Czech Republic demanded all of the financial records of your three oldest children because of their mother’s birthplace. You get the idea.

This may sound like fake news, but is quite real for Americans abroad, including anyone born in U.S. These Americans are under attack, but not from terrorists. This FATCA attack comes from U.S. government! Terrible. You want to strip U.S. citizenship from anyone who burns an American flag? Ironically, if it was that easy to ditch U.S. citizenship, I’m afraid there would be Stars and Stripes ablaze around the globe. In fact, renouncing is costly, complicated and sometimes devastating.

Yet, renunciations of U.S. citizenship soared under President Obama’s administration. These people didn’t renounce because they are traitors or tax cheats. Many are patriotic Americans who built lives and paid taxes from Australia to Zimbabwe. But, IRS wants to claim them and seize their financial records because of their birthplace. Others are Accidental Americans because parents were temporarily living in the U.S. when they were born (like London’s Boris Johnson), or because a U.S. hospital was the closest one for their birth (like a Canadian police officer). I know of one Canadian caught in the FATCA nightmare whose mother went into premature labor over 50 years ago on an overnight trip to Buffalo!

Many financial institutions Build the Wall by refusing accounts to anyone born in America. Sadly, there are so many people now wanting to shed American citizenship that some U.S. Consulates have waiting lists of a year. Some are no longer responding to requests. Armed with alternative facts, sanctions and penalties, the U.S. Treasury and IRS have forced financial institutions and governments around the globe to comply with FATCA through bully-boy tactics. Your Russian Putin pal signed on, and so did China, Iraq and Mexico. But not Iran, Syria or Eritrea.

It’s strange about Eritrea, because it is the only other nation on the planet that taxes its citizens living outside its borders. But this tiny African dictatorship at least makes it easier than America does. Eritrea requests expat citizens pay 2% of their income using one simple form. No demand for financial records. No imposition of unwanted citizenship on everyone born there. In contrast, some tax compliance thugs threaten Americans outside the U.S. that the IRS will “Lock them up” if these mainly middle class folks don’t file tax returns. Notably, you haven’t released your tax returns, so I have no idea if you have offshore accounts or if you reported them.

You can straighten this out with an Executive Order for U.S. Treasury to stop tormenting millions of honest law-abiding folks who just want to live their lives in peace and protect their families and their privacy. You can urge Republicans in Congress to repeal FATCA and move to resident taxation as part of tax reform. Please ask your Chief of Staff to help. Mr. Priebus said FATCA is unconstitutional. The Republican National Committee even passed a resolution vowing to repeal FATCA and adopt residence based taxation. So dump FATCA, a “failing piece of garbage.” Please do it now. Make America Great Again, for all Americans.

Sincerely,

A concerned former U.S. citizen”

There are a few people in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) who believe that compliance with the U.S. FATCA law will harm the citizens of T&T.

— If you can spare a few minutes of your time to send an email — and feel that sovereign countries should not comply with the U.S. FATCA (extortion) law, because that law is harmful, then EMAIL YOUR THOUGHTS BY THIS FRIDAY to The Secretary, Joint Select Committee on Tax Information Exchange Agreements Bill, 2016, Office of the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago at jscfatca@ttparliament.org

— See here and here for articles mentioned/authored by Jim Jatras on the attempt of this “tiny island nation” — that puts other countries to shame — to retain its sovereignty.

Consider the text of the T&T Constitution where you will find the statement: “1. (1) The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago shall be a sovereign democratic State.”

Go to the link found by Badger where you will find:

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cross-posted from citizenshipsolutions.ca

by John Richardson

Introduction …

Most meetings with Mr. #FBAR take place in "The Twilight Zone" https://t.co/9UJw0GxGIf pic.twitter.com/uqjqYsKKtZ

— Citizenship Lawyer (@ExpatriationLaw) February 5, 2017

This post is one more of a collection of FBAR posts on this blog. The most recent FBAR posts are
here and here.

The “unfiled FBAR” continues to be a problem for certain Homeland Americans with “offshore accounts” and all Americans abroad, who continue to “commit personal finance abroad”.
 

Be careful what you "fix for"! What to do about the unfiled #FBAR https://t.co/sAh01HpWin via @ExpatriationLaw = "small steps = big results"

— John Richardson – Counsellor for US persons abroad (@ExpatriationLaw) February 5, 2017

 
The above tweet references a recent post which discussed how to “fix past compliance problems“. The introduction included:
 
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reposted from cafemoi blog
by John Hanson

This is one of the finest posts I have ever read. And while it does not address all expats (i.e., Accidentals may not identify with this), it is perhaps, the only way we will ever change the minds of Homelanders and the U.S. government. As John so eloquently states:

People are the front line of foreign relations. If you can sway the people, you sway the government. You cannot sway the people by swaying the government first.

I am also reminded of Don Maisch’s wonderful paper outlining the potential loss of foreign students due to FATCA.

@smerconish You've been blogged #FATCA https://t.co/KlGDP601O0

— John Hanson (@JohnXHanson) February 5, 2017

I watched Smerconish last night on CNN. And before you label me a Libtard or a liberal lackey, and yes, I despise Fox News and the alt right, I am quite disgusted with mainstream media’s filtering the real Obama stories. I rarely watch any news on television anymore, and when I do, it’s usually Canadian CBC, CTV, or BNN. I like my news to be about the news. Stations like Fox and CNN should have the word News stricken from their titles.

Anyway, I like Smerconish. He tends to speak his mind, and his mind is very much in line with my own leanings: centrist, questioning all, and searching for the best. I know you righties cannot comprehend these concepts, so please stop reading before your brains explode. Except I am done with left-right bullshit in this post.

At one point he interviewed Mark Wrighton, chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis. He was a spokesman for 48 university heads who oppose the seven-nation ban. When Smerconish made the following statement, my hackles raised.

Who would we rather Iranians get their news and information about the United States from, their Supreme Leader or the twelve thousand who come here to study and go home to spread the word about the United States?

It is a valid point. It is a point I can relate to; because it is a point I have been making for years. People are the front line of foreign relations. If you can sway the people, you sway the government. You cannot sway the people by swaying the government first. This ban cuts off the cultural exchanges, it is a virtual wall that ensures prejudice on both sides will fester and metastasize. Such a ban not only shuts off all grass roots reconciling but also spurs anti-American sentiment and terrorist recruitment. That this and other bans are bad is a no-brainer to a thinker and someone who wants a peaceful world.

I have been making this point not about students or immigrants but about emigrants. The United States has some 40 million foreign nationals (people with foreign citizenships), but it also has some 9 million citizens living abroad. I am one of these people, or I was. We live in foreign countries, live foreign lives, speak foreign languages, immerse ourselves in their cultures, collaborate with them in all facets of life, and if we stay long enough, we become one of them. We are the front line of spreading the ways of America to the rest of the world. We are plenipotentiaries with boots on the ground.

We should be treasured assets of freedom, democracy, and world peace, yet we are treated as criminals and called traitors by the Treasury Department, former President Obama, the dipshit lefties (sorry, but the idiot and his ilk infuriate me) like Chuck Schumer, and we are ignored by all mainstream media, like Smerconish who can rail about 12,000 foreigners but ignore 9 million Americans.
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FATCA is NOT about PROTECTING America’s Tax Base.FATCA is about EXPANDING America’s Tax Base into the Economies of Other Nations

Yesterday an article made the rounds with an interesting idea;

THE ONLY REFUGEES WHO SHOULD BE ENTERING THE UNITED STATES ARE THE AMERICAN REFUGEES WHO FLED OBAMA’S AMERICA…. WE HAVE THAT DUTY TO OUR FELLOW AMERICANS”

In 5 years I have never heard anyone come forward with this attitude. In spite of having no desire to go back myself, I do appreciate that somebody is finally showing some concern for us. It’s refreshing!

But they didn’t give up their citizenship because they all of a sudden became un-American; no, they did it because of a law that has turned living and/or working abroad into an expensive, onerous, bureaucratic nightmare for the ordinary American citizen.

FATCA and its ridiculous system has ensnared law-abiding American expats into a constant battle with the IRS, all over the day-to-day activities all citizens engage in.

A well-known citizenship lawyer clarifies that after years of confusion about tax, penalties, IRS programs and information reporting forms, to add insult to injury, FATCA is not even about tax! Read John’s interesting observation; it is our governments who did not understand what they signed by implementing the IGA’s and they need to reverse this before each country loses too much capital due to unfair citizenship taxation.

A comment from FATCA needs to go but unfortunately the FATCA refugees are never coming back

John Richardson:

Thanks for drawing attention to #FATCA and #Americansabroad.

It has become clear that FATCA is is NOT about identifying American residents who engage in tax evasion. In other words;

FATCA is NOT about PROTECTING America’s tax base.

Rather:

FATCA is about EXPANDING America’s tax base into the economies of other nations.

"Thanks for drawing attention to #FATCA and #Americansabroad.It has become clear that FATCA is…" — John Richardson https://t.co/OY15EmerG1

— Citizenship Lawyer (@ExpatriationLaw) February 1, 2017

The United States believes that any person “Born In The USA” (and therefore a U.S. citizen) is required to pay taxes to the United States REGARDLESS OF WHERE THEY LIVE IN THE WORLD AND REGARDLESS OF WHERE THEIR INCOME IS EARNED. This requirement exists with respect to income earned outside the United States.

Think of it: the mere fact of a U.S. birthplace obligates somebody to pay taxes to the IRS for life! Somebody “Born In The USA”, who may have left the United States as a child, has a lifetime tax obligation to the United States.

The United States is currently expanding it’s tax base into other nations. It does so by hunting for people who (1) were born in the United States and (2) live in other nations. How is “FATCA Hunt” taking place? How does “FATCA Hunt” actually work?

In practical terms, the USA is forcing non-U.S. banks to “hunt” for people with a U.S. place of birth. Once identified their existence is reported to the IRS. The vast majority of people identified are actually citizens and residents of other nations. For example, on or about September 30, 2016 the existence of approximately 315,000 Canadian bank/brokerage accounts of (mostly) Canadian citizen/residents were reported to the IRS. Why? Because the account holder had a U.S. place of birth or were otherwise under suspicion of having a “U.S. connection”. Most of these reported do NOT consider themselves to be U.S. citizens at all.

Citizens of some European countries (example France) are not able to maintain bank and financial accounts because of a U.S. place of birth.

So, yes people are severing any possible ties to America. Believe me, if you were being “hunted” because of a U.S. place of birth, you would do the same thing! If severing that “U.S. tie” includes “renouncing U.S. citizenship” (which it often does), this is perfectly understandable.

A minor UPDATE:

We had hoped that the submission to the Federal Court of Canada for the FATCA IGA enabling legislation Charter-Constitutional trial would have been made in January, but there is still a “technical” issue that has to be sorted out first by the Case Management Judge, who is supervising the litigation.

I am hoping (but not promising) that our submission can be made in February/March and still anticipate that the trial will take place in 2017 (I am guessing that the location will be in Vancouver).

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