Monthly Archives: August 2014

Renunciation Costs To Soar

Citizenship, FATCA, Relinquishment and Renunciation

If this report in Diplopundit is accurate, the cost to renounce U.S. citizenship will soar from $450 to $2350.

The percentage increase in the renunciation fee is 422%. With an estimated 2,378 annual renunciation of citizenship cases, this increase would net the USG an estimated $4,518,200. Using the projected FY 2014 workload, Consular Afffairs’ estimated change in annual fees collected for affected consular services is $64,003,862.

U.S. Department of State is expected to justify this with this statement:

The CoSM demonstrated that documenting a U.S. citizen’s renunciation of citizenship is extremely costly, requiring American consular officers overseas to spend substantial amounts of time to accept, process, and adjudicate cases.

Hmmm. I seems no one thought of another solution. Make the process easy. Allow it to be done via mail like Canada and many other countries do.

is european fatca next?

FATCA

is a european fatca next? a newspaper in lebanon is reporting european states may bring in their own version of fatca.

Some bankers have said that European states are expected to follow the example of the United States and ask their citizens abroad to disclose their bank accounts to European financial authorities in a bid to combat tax evasion.

wait. those countries do not tax their citizens living abroad. but, of course, we know fatca is not about taxes. it is about power and control through information and threats.

Concern from a Wild Rose Constituent re: FATCA/IGA

FATCA, ,

Today I emailed the following letter to my MP – Blake Richards Member of Parliament (Wild Rose Alberta).
Dear Mr. Richards
In the past month I have done two things you should know about, as my elected Member of Parliament:
1. I donated money to help fund a lawsuit against my own government to protect my rights as a Canadian citizen.
2. I vowed never to vote Conservative again.
As my elected official you should know that I believe that my government has taken the easy way out by placating the United States, and the big banks, rather than standing up for individual Canadian rights. And the consequence of that is the loss of my vote, and something I would never have thought feasible – my donation to a lawsuit to challenge my own government.
As a member of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, you should know that millions of Canadian citizens are now at risk for identity theft. As of July 1st, Canadian banks are forced to send the private information on ‘suspected US persons’ bank accounts, and those of their spouses and business partners, to the CRA. That information will then be sent on to the IRS, which has been repeatedly in the news about security breaches.
Are you not at all concerned that a foreign government will have the personal information on millions of Canadians?
Are you not at all concerned that millions of Canadians are at risk to have large financial penalties imposed by a foreign government?
Are you not at all concerned that millions of Canadian will have to take the onerous steps to relinquish or renounce US citizenship, creating a drain on finances, as well as health?
Are you not at all concerned that respected and renowned Canadian lawyers believe that the FATCA IGA is in violation of Section 15 of our Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms?
Mr. Richards, I am writing to you, not only to express my concerns, but to give you an opportunity to tell me what you are doing to protect the rights of Canadians in your constituency from a foreign government. If you want a chance to win back a voter, this is the time – tell me how you will protect Canadians like me – law abiding, tax paying Canadians – from the might of the United States government who are enforcing their laws in my country.
Regards,
Outraged Canadian

Non-US Accounts Being Reviewed in UK at the Expense of Non-US Persons

FATCA


“Some individual customers are being contacted by their banks or other financial providers if, for example, they appear to have links with the US or own property there. But tens of thousands of other families are beginning to receive letters, and invoices, simply because they have established run-of-the-mill family trusts.”
The family in the article owes at least $635 CDN plus VAT. This is beyond outrageous. At what point will people begin to take action?
Article is HERE

ACA Update on RBT & Request for Testimonials

FATCA

American Citizens Abroad has posted an update with information concerning their efforts to replace Citizenship-based Taxation with Residence-based Taxation. They are also calling for testimonials about how legislation is affecting you and for your support in by writing the Tax Committee directly responsible for tax reform and asking for the implementation of RBT.
 
Update on Residence-Based Taxation RBT – August 2014
ACA has been hard at work in Washington, DC bringing RBT to the attention of the legislature and the Administration. ACA has met with all the members of the Americans Abroad Caucus, and the Ways & Means and Senate Finance committees. ACA has been asked by the committees involved in tax reform to provide our input on the tax treatment of Americans living and working overseas. We are proud that ACA is now the government “go to” source for information on many of the issues affecting overseas Americans, and we regularly submit comments to government hearings on issues important to our membership.
Media attention on the issues of overseas Americans is growing. More and more major media outlets like Bloomberg, CNN, Forbes, Time, Politico and others are talking about RBT and FATCA. Much of this attention is due to the ACA commitment to bringing the issues of overseas Americans to the attention of the media. ACA is regularly solicited for interviews and quoted in the media.
Continue reading ACA Update on RBT & Request for Testimonials →

Solving U.S. Citizenship Problems – Montréal Québec – September 23, 2014

FATCA

Life planning, Career planning and the Reality of U.S. Citizenship for Americans Abroad including Life Preparation for U.S.Citizen-children of U.S.Citizens

Presenter: John Richardson, B.A., L.L.B., J.D., is a Toronto lawyer and a member of the Ontario Bar. Citizenshipsolutions.ca
Where: Atwater Library, 1200 Atwater Ave, (just below St. Catherine – Metro less than a block away), Montréal, Québec, H3Z 1X4 MAP
When: Tuesday, September 23, 2014, 7:00 – 9:00 pm
Admission: $20 individual or $40 for a family of up to four people. Payable in cash at the door, please (to cover costs). Hope to see you and your families on September 23. Spread the word!
Continue reading Solving U.S. Citizenship Problems – Montréal Québec – September 23, 2014 →

Are You a Canada-U.S. Dual Citizen? @cbcallinaday is Following a New Law That Affects You

FATCA,

 
*****
Friday August 15, 2014
The facts on FATCA
As of Canada Day, Canadian banks are required to start getting into compliance with a U.S. law called FATCA, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. It requires them to hand over the account information of clients with ties to the U.S., such as people with Canada-U.S. dual citizenship. That information goes to the Canada Revenue Agency, for release to U.S. tax authorities.
It’s a lot to absorb for dual citizens, so we’ve done several interviews this summer on the legislation and the arguments for and against it. And in case you missed any of them, you can get caught up by listening to a FATCA primer by a tax law expert, an interview with an Ottawa dual citizen who’s affected, a defence of the U.S. model of citizenship-based taxation, and our latest: the legal case against Canada’s acceptance of FATCA.
Are you affected by FATCA? Get in touch with us and tell us your story. We’ll continue to follow the issue in the months to come.
*****
The above paragraph links to Alan Neal’s radio interviews with Allison Christians, our own White Kat as well as Prof. Michael Kirsch and one of our lawyers, David Gruber.
The site is inviting comments on this story here. No comments have been posted yet – time for Sandboxers to dig in!

Read the FATCA Lawsuit Claim

FATCA Lawsuit, ,
On behalf of the millions of us affected by FATCA, and by our Canadian government’s betrayal of our rights, the very brave Virginia Hillis and Gwendolyn Deegan have filed the lawsuit that we are hoping will force our government to protect our rights as Canadian citizens and residents.
It’s been quite newsworthy that these two women had the gumption to take on our government, and that two very renowned lawyers, Joe Arvay and David Gruber (of Farris LLP) have been retained.

smile. irs is watching u

FATCA

smile apesmile. irs is watching u.
this article may have been posted while i was missing in action, but coping with fatca tells us not 2 worry about it. instead, it suggests we just get with the program.
http://business.financialpost.com/2014/07/29/coping-with-fatca-law-firms-book-offers-advice-for-americans-living-in-canada/
of course, the author of the article has no connection to u.s. instead, he is a former london ontario attorney who defrauded canadian banks of 67 million dollars-the largest bank fraud in canadian history. i remember it well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Melnitzer
sorry 4 lower case and no links. energy and typing still limited, still in hospital.