[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzlG28B-R8Y]
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Home ownership good tax free investment in Canada natpo.st/OEiX37 – but not tax free cap gain for US citizens – renounceuscitizenship.wordpress.com/2012/08/17/u-s…
— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) September 19, 2012
Interesting article in today’s National Post.
Question: This article makes the point that home ownership is treated as a retirement planning vehicle for many Canadians. A principal residence is NOT a tax free capital gain for US citizens. As you know citizenship-based taxation disables US citizens abroad from retirement planning. Many US citizens are dual Canada/US citizens. 3% of the population of Canada are US citizens. How can the US prevent 3% of the population of Canada from retirement planning? This is a direct assault on the sovereignty of Canada. The government of Canada needs to wake up to this.
Does this effect of US citizenship-based taxation violate human rights laws?
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Leaving aside the effect of this on US citizens abroad, this is also very bad for the “Homelanders”. This policy discourages home ownership. Obviously this will have a negative effect on wealth and financial planning in the US. If I were an investor in the US, I would invest in rental property. The US is becoming a nation of renters, and debtors with few assets.
I can’t believe that there is no serious discussion about tax reform going on during this election. There is a clear link between home ownership and wealth. A discussion of “tax rates” is NOT a discussion about tax reform. “Form Nation” has simply gone out of its mind. Every time I think about what the US is doing, I feel as though I have entered the “Twilight Zone“. There is no rationality to it at all.
Be happy you don’t live in the Twilight Zone.
