So, You Think You May Be A U.S. Citizen – Think Again!

I never left the U.S. – The U.S. left me!

 

The lyrics to our National Anthem were written by Francis Scott Key, as the British bombed Baltimore, during the war of 1812. On September 11, 2001 the United States was attacked. In a misguided attempt to protect Americans and to punish the guilty, the government passed laws which undermined the very freedoms that America was built on.

John Adams, one of the founders of the U.S. constitution noted that:

“.. it’s of more importance to community, that innocence should be protected, than it is, that guilt should be punished.”

Since September 11, 2001 the freedoms of U.S. citizens have and continue to be eroded.

It has become more important that the guilty be punished then the innocent be protected.

Great Moments in Foreign Taxation

International Liberty

It is easy to criticize the many types of bad tax policy in the United States.

• High marginal tax rates
• Pervasive double taxation
• Mind-boggling complexity
• Grotesque unfairness
• The Internal Revenue Service

But let’s not forget other nations have bad policy as well. I have written many times, for example, about the stunning greed of many European nations (including effective tax rates of more than 100 percent!).

Today, though, let’s look at a couple of examples from the developing world.

We’ll start in Afghanistan, where we learn that bad tax policy helped bring the Taliban back to power. Here’s some of what Ashley Jackson wrote for CapX.

When the Taliban dramatically gained control of Afghanistan in August 2021, they used bombs and guns to swiftly overcome state security forces. But they also had another valuable and effective weapon at their disposal: taxes. Long before the withdrawal of US troops…

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Renouncing US citizenship – online discussion – with @Expatriationlaw – Saturday Nov. 9/19

#Citizide? Letting Go And Moving On – Online Renunciation Discussion – Sat. Nov. 9/19 – 7:00 a.m. Toronto EST Time – registration required https://t.co/W3BUSHlZMr via @ExpatriationLaw

— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) November 6, 2019

Cook v. Tait 44: “Sovereignty”, “Citizenship” and use of “citizenship” to further the interests of the “sovereign” – The evolution from #CookvTait to #FATCA

As citizenship evolves …

I began this post in 2015. It has languished in draft form since that time. It is now November of 2017. As #TaxReform17 comes to an end, I feel motivated to finish it. It is now 2019. Really, it’s probably now or never. This post draws heavily from posts, insights and comments from a number of bloggers and (past) contributors to the Isaac Brock Society. Your comments have helped to shape this discussion. This post will continue my Cook v. Tait Book (a collection of posts written about U.S. citizenship based taxation taxation-based citizenship, which started in 2011. (Much of the Cook v. Tait book appears as a resource at the Isaac Brock Society – a rich source of comments about life in an FBAR and FATCA world.

About citizenship: One way or the other, citizenship matters ..

The purpose of this post is to explore various aspects of the concept of citizenship through the 20th century and the first part of the 21st century. This is an interesting topic in it’s own right. It is particularly important in the context of Cook v. Tait. As the likelihood of a lawsuit against “citizenship-based taxation” increases, the importance of understanding “the evolution of citizenship” increases. I propose to consider this issue under the following “Part”s:

Part A –  Citizenship under international law – An aspect of the Sovereignty of Nations

Part B – Citizenship, international law and citizenship evolution triggered by “war”

Part C – Evolution of citizenship under U.S. “domestic law” – 1967 – Afroyim – The U.S. Supreme Court and the “constitutionalism” of U.S. citizenship

Part D – Notions of Citizenship in the 21st Century

Part E – The forced imposition of U.S. citizenship

Part F – Citizenship as a weapon – The role of “citizenship taxation” in the “weaponization of finance”

Part G – Citizenship-based taxation as a way of controlling the life choices of Americans abroad

Part H – Citizenship-based taxation as a mechanism to export U.S. cultural values to the rest of the world

Part I – Dual citizenship in a world of U.S. extra-territorial laws

Part J – Citizenship-based taxation as a way to export U.S. cultural values to the Muslim world

Part K – Multiple citizenships and public office: Australia’s “Citizenship Seven”

Appendix – Modern thinking and research on the rights and obligations of citizenship

_________________________________________________________________________________

RT: Why #Americansabroad are now the problem in the #taxreform17 debate – U.S. citizens live in fear!

My comment on the “state” of Americans abroad and the broad outline of the Trump tax proposals on the Isaac Brock Society site. Please read the complete thread.

 

This is reasonably positive. Come on people. Barbara has it right when she writes:

“In certain respects, it’s a good thing that TTFI is not mentioned in the document. Can you imagine the shrill outcry that would result? “Ya mean them trillionaires bathing in champagne in their Riviera mansions don’t have to pay taxes? Hang them!” Politically, it is in our favor if TTFI is inserted in the meeting rooms of the Ways & Means Committee, and not coming from the pen or mouth of Trump.”

If you think for a minute that a 9 page skeletal outline of tax reform is going to include the concerns of Americans abroad you are delusional. The point is that there is NO ASPECT of these proposals that is inconsistent with territorial/residential taxation for individuals. This is intended to be is a statement of the general principles (a possible constitution if you will) of tax reform. The point is that the concerns of Americans abroad CAN fit into this. It is now the job of Americans abroad to make sure that their concerns WILL fit into this. The door is open to convey the message. But, the message must be conveyed.

The problem now is less the proposals and the committees. The problem is the simple fact that few Americans abroad are taking the time to express their concerns. I will say it again. At this particular point, the problem is less the U.S. Government than it is the inaction of Americans abroad. The number of people who have responded to the requests for letters and petitions is pathetically low. In fact the numbers are so low that the fact of the low numbers is doing harm. They are so low that it’s now easy for the drafters of the legislation to say:

Look how few Americans abroad are complaining. There really cant be much of a problem, can there!

Sure there are reasons for not participating. Sure Americans are terrified of their own Government (the new litmus test for determining whether they really are American). But, the simple fact is that with VERY FEW exceptions, Americans abroad are NOT participating in the fight for (a once in a generation) legislative change. It reminds me of a bumper sticker I once saw that read:

“When my ship came in, I was at the airport.”

Quite pathetic really.

Ask not, what your country can for you! Ask what you can and should do for yourself and your children!

Do you want your children to be born into tax slavery when you had a chance to object to it?

Apparently so.

By the way, here is the outline of the Trump tax proposals:

 

Tax-Framework

So, what do you think?

 

 

A @USCitizenAbroad describes her changed perspective of America from living outside the United States

Perspective | Trump is making Americans see the U.S. the way the rest of the world already did https://t.co/CyUDcGQZNj

— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) September 11, 2017

The article referenced in the above tweet is fascinating. The article is a short version of Suzy Hansen’s  newly published book “Notes on a Foreign Country“.

The following tweet will take you to more about Ms. Hansen and the book.

 

Unlearning the myth of American innocence https://t.co/aYvlYfPIAz

— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) September 11, 2017

 

Khadr apology and settlement about violation of Charter rights, Trudeau says

Prologue 2014:

"Why do our most heinous criminals have more rights than I do, asks a Nova Scotia police officer" pre @LynneBlaze https://t.co/1D8W37cNUr

— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) July 10, 2017

(Those who need a “reset” in terms of the issues in the “Alliance For The Defence of Canadian Sovereignty Lawsuit” should watch the complete video here.)

Canada in 2017:

Khadr apology and settlement about violation of Charter rights, Trudeau says https://t.co/VNXXrr3wfw – Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian

— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) July 10, 2017

The article referenced in the above tweet includes:

On Friday, the government confirmed a payment had been made to Khadr to settle a longstanding lawsuit. Khadr’s suit claimed Canada had violated his rights and was complicit with the United States when he was detained at the U.S. base in Cuba, denied access to a lawyer and tortured.

The Supreme Court of Canada in 2010 ruled Khadr’s rights had been violated.

The apology sparked fresh public debate about Khadr, but Trudeau says the settlement is not about the details of Khadr’s case but the fact his rights were violated.

Trudeau says the Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects all Canadians, “even when it is uncomfortable.”

“When the government violates any Canadian’s Charter rights, we all end up paying for it,” he said.

Trudeau says the Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects all Canadians, “even when it is uncomfortable”

Pierre Trudeau would have believed that the Charter of Rights of protects all Canadians. Justin Trudeau doesn’t believe that. In theory constitutional (including Charter rights) are great things. In practice “rights” often make people feel uncomfortable.

The examples of Canadians with a “U.S. taint” and Mr. Khadr make people uncomfortable. That is perhaps why both really are “Charter of Rights” cases!

(Of course the Supreme Court of Canada has not (unlike in the case of Mr. Khadr) YET ruled that the rights of Canadians with a “U.S. taint” have been violated. Perhaps, that is the real difference.)

#Americansabroad: “Ask NOT what the Homeland can do for you! Ask what you can do for the Homeland!

What follows is the full text of the Facebook post referenced in the above link. Really now, it’s time to understand that taxation is NOT the price you pay for Government services (or certainly not civilization). It’s something you are required to pay to support the Homeland. Homelanders abroad, Accidental Americans and other dual citizens, academics, and those opposing FATCA, FBAR, PFIC, CBT and other forms of U.S. extra-territorial harassment should really be asking:

“Ask not what the Homeland can do for you! Ask what you can do for the Homeland?”

#FEARBar (“Foreign Email Account Report”) update – All indications lead to reporting

FEARBar – “Foreign Email Account Report” – #Offshore email reporting – coming to an informatio… https://t.co/uyufo1vZcf via @USCitizenAbroad

— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) June 22, 2017

The above tweet references a post written four years ago in June of 2013. The post predicted that at some point the United States would require disclosure (in addition to FATCA (Form 8938) and FBAR (FinCen 114) and other forms) of the email accounts used by Americans abroad.

That post concluded with my prediction:

The purpose of FBAR and FATCA is to …

Provide the U.S. with information that is outside of its jurisdiction. In other words, the U.S. has no legal right to the information. Therefore, by threatening “life altering” penalties, the U.S. forces its citizens to provide this information to the U.S. government.

If the contents of bank accounts is important, then the contents of an email account would be even more valuable.

You heard it here first:

The next information return that the U.S. will require is the:

“Foreign Email Account Report” – FEARBar for short!

Congress will (like FATCA) unknowingly pass the general legislation (slipped in as part of a Hiring Act) and authorize the IRS to specify the contents of the return. What an Orwellian World!

FEARBar coming to an information return near you!

Why Tax Citizens – America’s Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Café Moi

America has an obsessive-compulsive disorder. The rest of the world thinks so, based on America’s seemingly non-sensical, misguided, and random behavior. Examples are long and storied: the failure to adopt the metric system, the insane void of gun control, a refusal to fund the United Nations yet an expectation to run the organisation by its lonesome, a fetish for free trade yet a near communist obsession with cheap oil and food, and the list runs on. These are decisions most of the rest of the world has made; because they make sense. Such a patient cannot accurately judge their own actions and motivations, so don’t bother arguing this point if you are an American living in the 50: I won’t listen to you just as you won’t listen to me.

I am focusing on income tax. Americans believe all its citizens must pay income tax. It is a value grounded…

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#FATCA Hearings (4/26/2017) – a very brief introduction

Café Moi

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (#FATCA) is a law requiring all foreign financial institutions (FFI) to provide the United States’ Internal Revenue Service (IRS) with financial account details of any American Persons who has accounts with it. If a FFI does not comply, then it is subject to a 30% withholding tax on all its American transactions.

There are arguments for and against #FATCA, and even though I am fully against it, I will try to present both arguments.

Argument For

• The United States has suffered from tax evasion where its citizens and residents park their nest eggs abroad tax free. FATCA forces other countries to report these monies to the IRS. Estimates of taxes that will be recovered vary from $250 million a year to $792 million per year. The actual amounts received in taxes to date is only about $400 million.
• Since implementation in 2010, the Treasury…

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