Hello Maple Sandboxers!
Special for the holidays I have created a Greedy Giver campaign to raise extra money from those who don’t feel that this issue is about them. This is for you Brockers to share with friends and family who feel that giving to this campaign “doesn’t get them anything”.
Well now it can and will for a short time. (Click above pic or below coupon to take you to the campaign).
Please share this far and wide via email, Twitter, Facebook and whatever other means you can think of.
An example of a coupon that can be purchased on Greedy Giver to fund our campaign:
All posts by GwEvil
My Letter to the Editor at Beach Metro News
I asked Beach Metro News to publish our ADCS press release, but they said it was against policy. However, the editor told me that if I was to write a Letter to the Editor, it would go into the next edition of the paper. Sure enough, he featured it prominently on page 6 with a headline he added that couldn’t be better. Perhaps our gang could go make some comments 🙂
Click here to make comments on the online version:
GwEvil’s Letter to the Editor
Expatriate Americans Break Up With Uncle Sam to Escape Tax Rules
Our own Noble Dreamer in the news. Wall Street Journal reports:
Expatriate Americans Break Up With Uncle Sam to Escape Tax Rules
By LIAM PLEVEN and LAURA SAUNDERS
“Ms. Moon is among record numbers of Americans cutting ties. U.S. offices abroad reported that 1,001 U.S. citizens and green-card holders had renounced their allegiance in the first three months of the year, according to Andrew Mitchel, a lawyer in Centerbrook, Conn., who analyzes Treasury Department data. That figure puts 2014 on track to top last year’s total of 2,999 renunciations, he said, which was the most since the government began disclosing the data.”
House of Commons Votes to Help U.S. IRS Seize Bank Records of Canadians. Bill C31 Passes – FATCA is Now the Law in CANADA!
Maple Sandboxers! Please distribute this far and wide. We need the media to pay attention to this story.
Please download this Press Release PDF and send it out to your Local Papers, TV and Radio Stations! Tweet and post on Facebook!
We need people to wake up and join the Legal Challenge, but they won’t do so unless they know what is happening to our country.
ADCS-ADSC Press Release
Here is the .PNG version for Twitter and Facebook posting (please “save image” to download the .png) and attach to your Twitter and Facebook posts:
Our new ADCS-ADSC Logo
We shall not stand up for Canadian citizens and residents in Canada.
We shall deem their ‘US indicia’ more important than their Canadian citizenship and permanent residence.
We shall change Canadian law of the land to enforce extra-territorial law in Canada.
Question from “Don” – If Harper wakes up some morning and finds the IGA has been ruled unconstitutional, how easy or difficult would it be for him change the Charter to enact ‘legal’ discrimination? In other words, what are his options?
Another MP letter answering a constituent, this time from the Minister of National Revenue:
Dear XXX:
Thank you for your correspondence of February 12, 2014, about the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) enacted in the United States.
I understand from your email that you are opposed to FATCA and are critical of actions taken by the Government of Canada.
As you are aware, the U.S. uses citizenship as the basis for taxation while Canada and most of the rest of the world use a residency-based approach. I understand that this situation creates unique challenges, including compliance burdens for U.S. citizens who reside in Canada or elsewhere in the world, even when they do not owe U.S. tax. Please note that the U.S. citizenship-based tax system has been in place for many years and is not altered by the recently signed intergovernmental agreement under the Canada–U.S. tax treaty.
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) administers taxes and benefits only in Canada. Therefore, it encourages U.S. taxpayers looking for information on their U.S. tax obligations to visit the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) website atwww.irs.gov and read its guidance on the streamlined filing procedures for non-resident U.S. taxpayers atwww.irs.gov/uac/Instructions-for-New-Streamlined-Filing-Compliance-Procedures-for-Non-Resident-Non-Filer-US-Taxpayers .
While FATCA was enacted by the U.S. government to promote U.S. tax compliance, it has raised concerns in Canada among dual Canada-U.S. citizens and Canadian financial institutions. If the Canadian government had not signed the intergovernmental agreement, non-compliance with FATCA could have subjected Canadian financial institutions and their account holders to sanctions, including special U.S. withholding taxes on payments to them from the U.S. Also, compliance with FATCA would have forced Canadian financial institutions to report information directly to the IRS, potentially violating Canadian privacy laws.
You can find more information on why the intergovernmental agreement was signed on the Department of Finance Canada website at www.fin.gc.ca/treaties-conventions/notices/fatca-eng.asp .
As Minister of National Revenue, I can assure you that the CRA will administer fairly any legislation enacted to implement the intergovernmental agreement according to the privacy and confidentiality rights of Canadians. The intergovernmental agreement is strictly an information-sharing agreement and the CRA does not collect the U.S. tax debt of a Canadian citizen if the individual was a Canadian citizen at the time the debt arose.
Canadians who hold financial accounts can find more information at
www.cra.gc.ca/tx/nnrsdnts/nhncdrprtng/menu-eng.html .
I trust the information I have provided clarifies the position of the CRA on this matter.
Yours sincerely,
Kerry-Lynne D. Findlay, P.C., Q.C., M.P.
Minister of National Revenue
CANADIANS TAKE FIRST LEGAL STEP TO PREVENT HARPER GOVERNMENT FROM IMPLEMENTING U.S. FATCA LAW
For Immediate Release March 10, 2014
Today a small group of Canadians began the long legal process to prevent the Conservative government from helping the United States impose a bad law on Canada.
With the announcement of an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) for the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) on February 5, 2014, Finance Minster Jim Flaherty makes discrimination against one million innocent Canadians and their families – those the U.S deems “U.S. persons” – mandatory.
Finance Canada has requested public input on the FATCA agreement, which will override federal laws to meet demands of a foreign power to seize private financial records of Canadians.
Canadian citizens Dr. Stephen Kish of Toronto and Lynne Swanson of London Ontario responded today to that request by retaining prominent constitutional lawyer Joseph Arvay of Vancouver to provide a legal opinion on whether this legislation violates Canada’s Constitution including the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and if so how a constitutional challenge might be mounted.
“It’s time for Canadians to get angry. FATCA is a threat to all Canadians and cannot be captive to party politics. MPs must NOT be required to vote along party lines – They must vote their conscience in a free vote” says Dr. Kish.
In less than one week a funding initiative, organized by Dr. Kish and Ms. Swanson, raised the money required to pay for this legal opinion.
“It is despicable the Harper government thinks so little of Canadians that they are forced to raise money from those with limited means to retain counsel to ensure their fundamental rights are protected from foreign demands,” says Ms. Swanson.
“As a Canadian citizen for 41 years, I never thought I would see the day when demands of a foreign government would take precedence over Canadian laws. The implications of this for Canada and for all Canadians are chilling.”
CONTACT: Lynne Swanson maplesandbox@yahoo.ca
C3F Press Release