Maybe 30,000 Extraterritorial Prisoners?
As this last day of covid calendar year two crawls through its final hour, this new article outlines collateral damage on the renunciation front. Sauve qui peut!
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/dec/31/americans-seeking-renounce-citizenship-stuck
Ten years ago today: The @IsaacBrockSoc (per Petros) broke the news of Santa’s arrest
Circa December 24, 2011 Breaking News: In anticipation of #FATCA, Santa Claus arrested as part of Obama #FBARFundraiser https://t.co/5hqKrFYXtx
— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) December 24, 2021
Over the last ten years, the Isaac Brock Society has been a source of research and education. It has also been a source of news reporting:
“Reporting On What The Mainstream Media Would Never Have The Courage To Report”
For example …
On December 24, 2011 Brock (per Petros) was the first to report the arrest of Santa Claus along with the shocking accusation of Santa’s possible US citizenship.
December 2021: Brock Turns 10 – Special Thanks to Pacifica777 For Her Moderation
A Tenth Anniversary
People often overestimate what they can achieve in one year and underestimate what they can achieve in ten years!
From @HelenBurggraf 2016: Isaac Brock Society: Blog of Canadian 'Accidental Americans' becomes global info resource https://t.co/ZZMQObwGmX
— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) December 18, 2021
The Isaac Brock Society was launched in December of 20211 on wordpress.com. In early December 2011 I received an invitation from Petros (one of the original founders of Brock) to participate as an author. My first post was on December 12, 2011. That first post was the first in more than 500 more original posts and (I am guessing) thousands of comments. Brock was formed after the summer of 2011 which was a particularly significant period of US hostilities toward Americans abroad. This hostility was facilitated in equal parts by:
– the media (delivering messages from the IRS and compliance industry)
– the IRS (conflating resident Americans with Americans abroad)
– the cross border compliance industry (pressuring long term Americans abroad to enter the OVDI/OVDP programs)
The Summer of 2011 And The World Which Spawned Brock
Canada FATCA Litigation Appeal Update
Australia Treasury Seeking Submissions on Tax Treaty – Deadline 31 October
Australia Treasury is seeking submissions from stakeholders on Australia’s Tax Treaties. Deadline 31 October. More details at:
Fix the Tax Treaty: Treasury Tax Treaty Consultation
Fix the Tax Treaty: Treasury Submission
The Australia Treasury site;
and in this article by Helen Burggraf in AmericanExpatFinance.
Thanks, JC, for informing us of this.
U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeal rules OK for IRS to prevent Americans from using passport
Thanks to Mike for finding this article.
As reported by the National Review, a U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeal ruled that it is ok for the U.S. Department of State to revoke a U.S. passport (to be used e.g., for international travel) if the IRS has certified that the person owes more than $50,000 in federal taxes.
As the Court says: “…the passport revocation serves only to incentivize repayment of the tax debt.”
See the July 20, 2021 ruling.
Do US persons have a right to international travel?
Lawsuit to Force Dept of State to Reopen Renunciation Services at all Locations; Will Also Publicise the Outrageous Difficulties of Renouncing and Shed Light on Why US Expat Policy Makes Renunciation Necessary.
Fabien Lehagre, founder of l’Association des’Américains Accidentels/ the Association of Accidental Americans is instituting a lawsuit, aiming to force the State Department to reopen the services of the US Embassy that handle renunciation / relinquishment requests.
The lawsuit’s purposes are:
➡️ Because this action will allow us to publicize the fact that the State Department is depriving tens of thousands of people of a fundamental right.
➡️ Because this action will allow us to make the link with our first complaint which aims to make it free to obtain a certificate of loss of nationality.
➡️ Because this action will allow us to shed light on the reasons why tens of thousands of citizens who have American nationality want to renounce American nationality: discrimination induced by FATCA, impact of Citizenship Based Taxation, difficulty in investing as a US Citizen.
➡️ Because the fees necessary to finance this litigation are very low compared to the real cost of a lawsuit in the United States.
PLEDGE SUPPORT and/or CONTACT Fabien for further information at this link!
EndFATCA: “End Discrimination Against EU Citizens in the EU” Petition and Website
EndFATCA is fighting to end FATCA and discrimination against EU/US duals citizens and US citizens in Europe, as well as remove barriers to renunciation.
They have previously submitted a petition and appeared several times before the EU Parliament in the past five years. They are now presenting a supplemental petition to the European Parliament on September 2nd. Any resident of the EU, or any person with EU citizenship who resides anywhere in the world, can sign the petition. Please add your support! (You can also read about the Petition on the EU Parliament’s wehsite: Petition No 0323/2021)
The 13 requests in the Petition are also briefly described at this link
As well as Europeans, EndFATCA’s website is of interest and use to US persons and FATCA fighters around the world, as it also includes access to 1300 supporting documents and a list of all important initiatives around the world against FATCA.
My Canadian bank just sent me a “Request to validate your tax residency information” at online account sign-in
Perhaps all Canadian banks routinely send out requests, at online account sign-in, to their customers to obtain info on tax residency — and this is old news.
Anyway, this morning I received this online request, for the first time, while trying to sign into my online account at my Canadian bank. I am a long-term customer at the bank:
“Hello STEPHEN,
Request to validate your tax residency information
To comply with Canadian tax law, we’re required to have clients validate that their tax residency information we have on file is correct and complete.
Our records show that your tax residency information needs to be confirmed.
Here are the next steps you need to take
• Online Banking: Select Customer Services > Change your tax residency
• Mobile Banking: Select Customer Services > Personal information > Change your tax residencyPlease review your tax residency information now and update as required.
I understand
Tax residency is a method used by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and by other countries to determine how much tax you should pay. Most countries, including Canada, determine taxes based on the amount of time you spend in the country, rather than your citizenship. For instance, some Canadians spend the winter months outside of Canada. The U.S., however, taxes all U.S. citizens as U.S. residents. It is your responsibility to determine your tax residency status in other countries.
[Customer clicks on “I understand” and is then asked three questions:]
Are you a tax resident of Canada? Yes/No
Are you a U.S. person for tax purposes? Yes/No
Do you pay taxes in any other country? Yes/No
By selecting continue I declare, as required by Canadian law, that the tax residency information and U.S. person status (including my Tax ID number) are to the best of my knowledge and belief, correct and complete. Failure to provide may result in my account information being reported to the relevant authority and I may be subject to a penalty under the Income Tax Act.”