Have you received a FATCA letter or been warned of the consequences of being a U.S. person?
 
Why am I getting letters from my bank all of a sudden?

The “FATCA Hunt” – the hunt for U.S. persons (whatever that is) began on July 1, 2014 which was “Canada Day”. Although both the definition of “U.S. person” and whether one meets the definition is not always clear, the search has begun. The level of FATCA awareness has begun. Some organizations are actively warning people that “U.S. Personness” matters. The purpose of the warning is presumably to encourage people to ”come clean” and deal with their U.S. tax situations. In some cases, there is no particular warning – just a letter indicating that they are suspected to be a “U.S. person”. Often one must prove to the institution sending the letter that one is not a U.S. person.
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In the comment stream, some used various pejorative terms to describe my last post: infantile, tin-foil hat etc. Others said that it was perfectly ok for the government to impose the long form census since safeguards are in place to protect the information and StatsCan has a good track record in that regard. Besides the government really needs this information in order to do a good job, and some argued, to realize how bad FATCA is.

I am hoping for a little more actual dialogue on the nature of the privacy invasion. You see, I am unsatisfied in this post 9-11, post Edward Snowden revelations, era, that the government make assurances that private information be kept private for the anonymous usages of StatsCan. My issue is whether the government fails to uphold one the deepest principles of English common law since the Magna Carta–that every person is king of their own castle (i.e., the Castle Doctrine). There are just some lines that government should not step over–and the only allowable reason for stepping over those lines is if the government suspects that a crime has been committed. But never ever may a government force people to divulge information that belongs to their private and personal life: e.g., how many hours you spend playing with your children.  It is completely inappropriate for government to ask these kinds of questions.

And if the government will throw you in jail for refusing to answer these kinds of questions, how much more will they be willing to violate your Charter rights by sending your banking information to the IRS? I am not impressed with our young handsome PM’s first act. I called him King, but the fact is that in the English-speaking world, the Younger Trudeau is insisting on the power that kings have been barred from exercising for centuries by the Castle Doctrine. Thus, it is a violation of natural law, and so naturally there are many people who become extremely irate over the violation of their personal jurisdiction–as elder Trudeau said, the government has no business in our bedrooms–but the government doesn’t belong in our kitchens, our living rooms nor in our children’s rooms either.

The government insists that it needs accurate information. But truly, if the government is justified in forcing people to fill out 40-page questionnaires revealing certain details of their private lives, would it not be better to collect the information just by installing cameras into their bedrooms, living rooms, kitchens, and children’s bedrooms? In this way, direct surveillance would permit for a better picture of Canadian households and provide the necessary and most accurate information for StatsCan. Be assured however that your private information will be only for the eyes of bureaucrats who need the information.

[This is crossposted from our ADCS blog by John Richardson.

— Following the negative decision of Justice Martineau in the Summary Trial, Plaintiffs Ginny and Gwen instructed the Arvay team to appeal the ruling. Consistent with Federal Court Rules, the Federal Court of Appeal was asked to permit the appeal to be heard together with all other (expected) appeals arising out of the Constitutional-Charter trial. The Crown attorneys did not object to this request and on November 6, 2015 Madam Justice Dawson of the Federal Court of Appeal granted permission to “park” (hold in abeyance) the summary trial appeal until all Charter trial appeals are heard.

As John Richardson says below, this is important because it preserves our right to appeal on arguments that might ultimately prove to be successful, and, by arguing all appeals in one hearing, will also reduce legal costs for all parties.]

A brief update:

As you know the Alliance For The Defence of Canadian Sovereignty is appealing Justice Martineau’s decision from the August 4, 5/15 hearing.

We have been successful in arranging for that appeal to be heard along with the hearing in the main Charter trial.

This is good because it BOTH preserves the right for the appeal to be heard and minimizes the costs of a separate appeal hearing.

John Richardson

Justin Trudeau, King of Canada, has issued his first edict: the reinstatement of the long census form. Minister in charge of Canadian census Navdeep Singh Bains, will jail people who refuse to divulge personal information required by the long census form:

[The Liberal government] didn’t provide details on how it plans to make sure that people actually fill it out, although Navdeep Bains, the minister of innovation, science and economic development, said “the law is the law” and the Statistics Act hasn’t changed, which suggests penalties would include jail time. Bains said restoring the long form will mean a return to solid, high-quality data.

It seems lost on Bains that saying that “the law is the law” does not make any particular action of the government morally right. Putting old ladies in jail because they refuse to fill out a form is disproportionate to the alleged crime. That it is an invasion of privacy and a violation of universal human rights makes it all the more despicable. But the new Trudeau government seems to be carrying on the tradition of the elder Trudeau’s attitude towards law, as we discussed earlier (see, Burning down barns is not wrong because it is illegal; it is illegal because it is wrong).

In the past, the government found one woman guilty of refusing to fill out the long census form. She was 79-years old.  I have seen how government persecution of senior citizens can lead to fear and sometimes premature death, as in the case of friend of the Isaac Brock Society Mark Pinetree, who lived out his final years in fear of the IRS. He was a psychiatrist who had moved back to Brazil after becoming a US citizenship, not realizing that the IRS would persecute him even though he no longer lived in the USA.

In any case, if we were hoping that the government of Trudeau the Younger would respect the privacy rights of citizens of Canada, we now have tangible evidence that the new King doesn’t really believe in privacy. This bodes ill for those hoping for the repeal of the FATCA IGA.

I have, on occasion, taken a plunge into social media to see where our beloved topic of FATCA is being discussed and/or used. There is a considerable amount of posting being done on the topic, and I think it’s important to realize that, despite the plight of U.S. persons living abroad, enforcing FATCA is actually part of the job description for those who administer the violation of our rights on a 9-to-5 basis.

Often, during my seemingly endless scrolling on sites like Twitter and Instagram, I encounter posts by individuals who live overseas and work for foreign financial institutions.

Some of these posts are simply group selfies – taken to commemorate the conclusion of FATCA trainings that are intended to help staff understand the ins and outs of reporting. Some posts are flat-out advertising for financial services to help those caught up in the FATCA dragnet.

But I came across one post recently that really caught my attention.

It was an Instagram photo – a small, black and white poster that, apparently, makes its home on the wall of a Russian bank employee’s office. (Based on what I saw of the user’s profile.)

Aside from the obvious “W8” and “W9,” the poster’s text is Russian, and the image is borrowed from a famous World War II Russian propaganda poster.

The original WWII poster, entitled “Motherland is calling!” was created by socialist realism artist Irakli Toidze. According to history, Toidze’s wife had burst into his studio to announce that the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany were at war. Her face and posture in that moment were used by Toidze in the poster, and the original text is the Soviet military oath used between 1939 and 1947.

From what I’ve read, the poster was among Stalin’s favorites (he was personally approving every propaganda poster at the time). Stalin was so moved by the poster that he  ordered 5,000 copies printed upon seeing it.

Since then, the poster has been re-purposed as propaganda for many causes – including the cause of one particular Russian bank to whimsically ensure FATCA compliance.

The literal translation on the Russian bank version of the poster is “FATCA form can’t wait!”

Below, on the paper being held by the woman, the text translates to “W 8 or W 9?”

I reached out to the owner of the Instagram account to verify the context of the poster and they responded with: “actually it’s a joke, re soviet motivation poster) the direct translation is: “FATCA for [sic] does not wait! Form W8 or W9?”

That’s some joke.

The fact that a Russian bank has a “motivational” poster hanging in an office to envourage staff to get a W8 or W9 from suspected U.S. persons is interesting, to say the least. More like painfully ironic, given the context of the original poster.

Despite the overtones and irony of the original World War II poster, I think it shows a perspective of FATCA that we don’t always see – that of everyday people who are simply doing a job they aren’t in a position to question – much like the job of those whom the original poster was meant to “call,” I suppose.

 
UPDATE NOVEMBER 4, 2015: This Information Session is postponed until the weekend of January 16-17, 2016
 

In the interim, if you are interested in paticipating in a telephonic version of the meeting, please email
citizenshiptaxation at gmail dot com
and we will email you the details.

There are now several Brock commenters who have brought to light what we have already known in the years of Brock commentary — the hypocrisy in the subject of US tax evasion provided by the USA itself: Tax Justice Network’s *Financial Secrecy Index – 2015 Results*.

The US has jumped from sixth place to third in the Financial Secrecy index, which is prepared by the Tax Justice Network (TJN) every two years. It is estimated that between $21 and $32 trillion worth of private financial wealth resides in so-called tax havens across the globe, where they are untaxed or lightly taxed.

While TJN noted that “most countries’ secrecy scores have improved,” the United States is the “greatest” concern and is “more of a cause” for worry than any other individual country.

“Our analysis also reveals that the United States is the jurisdiction of greatest concern, having made few concessions and posing serious threats to emerging transparency initiatives,” the TJN said in a press release.

The United States is one of the few countries whose secrecy score has worsened since the previous survey in 2013.

“The US stays a tax haven, and undermines global co-operation,” the TJN concluded.

Don says; we can agree:

Perhaps the Trudeau Government should be reminded about Canada’s place on the Secrecy Index – 29th.

The USA is the 3rd most secret banking country in the world behind Switzerland, and Hong Kong.

The US should put its own house in order before going to countries like Canada.

badger provides RT *Question More* “Tax haven: US ‘threatens’ global efforts to fight tax evasion, financial crimes”.

U.S. Placed Above Cayman Islands in Financial Secrecy Blacklist comes from a Tom Alciere comment earlier today.

Both Barbara and The Mom provided The Guardian’s US overtakes Caymans and Singapore as haven for assets of super-rich, which was also highlighted in a query/comment at ADCS-ADSC, saying

*Please make this hypocrisy known as widely as possible*.

Of interest to ADCS and IBS, the following sections in particular:

2) Rebuilding our criminal law system:
•Reinstate the Law Reform Commission and Court Challenges programme.
3) Reverse trend to slippery citizenship:
•Repeal C-24 (only one citizenship exists – unless obtained by fraud, citizenship is citizenship).
•Repeal FATCA (found in omnibus C-31)

The complete list is available at:
http://elizabethmaymp.ca/fixing-what-harper-broke-a-to-do-list-for-the-incoming-government/

JC suggested this conference be highlighted in a post at Brock.

 Allison Christians:

I’ll be there to talk about U.S. citizenship based tax and #FATCA
https://twitter.com/taxpolblog/status/659882576958660608

Taxpayer Advocate:

Professionals from around the world will be attending International Conference on Taxpayer Rights. Register today: http://ow.ly/TY4tH

 

The IRS *Taxpayer Bill of Rights*

Each and every taxpayer has a set of fundamental rights they should be aware of when dealing with the IRS. Explore your rights and our obligations to protect them.

 The Right to Be Informed

The Right to Quality Service

The Right to Pay No More than the Correct Amount of Tax

The Right to Challenge the IRS’s Position and Be Heard

The Right to Appeal an IRS Decision in an Independent Forum

The Right to Finality

The Right to Privacy

The Right to Confidentiality

The Right to Retain Representation

The Right to a Fair and Just Tax System

JC:

We need to add a few more to the taxpayer bill of rights: Right to Reasonable Compliance Costs.
https://twitter.com/JCDoubleTaxed/status/659883830791176192

Need TPBR #11 Right to Reasonable Compliance Costs with TPA focus on vast inequity in this regard for US persons overseas.

https://twitter.com/JCDoubleTaxed/status/659884772479504386

#10 The Right to a Fair and Just Tax System >> Neither Fair nor just for USP overseas > No Services! > TPA Should highlight

https://twitter.com/JCDoubleTaxed/status/659894268396335104

For USP Overseas. How can US FBAR Compliance be fair and just (TPARight #10)when rpt of employer accts costs job or promotion?