Category Archives: Are you a U.S. citizen?

April 17, 2013: Happy Birthday to Canada’s Charter of Rights

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On Sunday Justin Trudeau became the newest leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. Canadians over the age of 55, have been denied “Freedom 55″ by accident of where they were born, remember the day Justin was born. Yes, he is the son of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Love him or hate him, Trudeau Senior made his mark on Canada. His legacy was the “Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms”. At the time the Charter was enacted, the focus was on “individual rights”. Interestingly, many opposed the Charter because they thought that to give Canadians individual rights would make the country too much like the United States. Most would agree, on balance that the Charter has been a good thing for Canada.

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U.S. government memo lays out legal case for deadly drone strikes against American citizens

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mcelroy

It isn’t what we don’t know that gives us trouble, it’s what we know that ain’t so. Will Rogers

The Obama administration is giving the world more reason why no sovereign nation should allow a U.S. citizen inside its borders. A drone attack on that U.S. citizen will be an attack on that country!

Pete Yost of the Associated Press reports that:

An internal Justice Department memo says it is legal for the government to kill U.S. citizens abroad if it believes they are senior al-Qaeda leaders continually engaged in operations aimed at killing Americans.

The document, reported Monday by NBC News, provides a legal rationale behind the Obama administration’s use of drone strikes against al-Qaeda suspects.

The 16-page document says it is lawful to target al-Qaeda linked U.S. citizens if they pose an “imminent” threat of violent attack against Americans, and that delaying action against such people would create an unacceptably high risk. Such circumstances may necessitate expanding the concept of imminent threat, the memo says.

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Tina Turner to renounce U.S. citizenship and likely to pay money to do so!

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The real story (assuming it is true) is NOT becoming a citizen of Switzerland. The real story is the renunciation of U.S. citizenship. Switzerland does NOT require her  to renounce U.S. citizenship to become a citizen of Switzerland. Furthermore, becoming a citizen of Switzerland does NOT mean that she loses her U.S. citizenship. Hence, it is clear that she is voluntarily relinquishing her U.S. citizenship. Chances are she will pay (or has already paid) a good deal of money in the form the Exit Tax to do this. To put it simply:

Tina Turner is paying money to get rid of her U.S. citizenship!

It’s gotten to the point where people are buying their way to freedom from the U.S.

It will be interesting to see how the “Homelander Elite Corp” spin this story.

She’s simply the best!

Letter of a Canadian businessman to his dual U.S./Canada citizen son on the occasion of his high school graduation

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“Good citizenship” and “Your citizenship”

The Isaac Brock Society recently featured a discussion  about how and when to advise young people about the potential problems of U.S. citizenship and whether they should consider renouncing U.S. citizenship. As parents, teachers, mentors and friends we should pass on to our young people the benefits of our (in varying degrees) knowledge, wisdom and experience. We do this because we want to equip them with the skills they need to make the best life decisions that they can.

The books:  “Letters of  A Businessman to His Son” and “Letters of A Businessman to His Daughter“, by G. Kingsley Ward, are wonderful examples of  this principle.  They are chock full of practical advice and thoughts on -  the only business that really matters – “The Business of Life”.

I have been inspired by Mr. Ward. Here is the letter (with many factual modifications to protect the young person in question) that I wrote  on  the occasion of  that young person’s  High School graduation. Continue reading →

Americans meet in Lausanne as tax filing day raises new questions

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The following fine article is being reproduced with  permission and attribution to Geneva Launch.

Americans meet in Lausanne as tax filing day raises new questions

Tax filing day has different implications for Americans abroad

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – This is the day when Americans back home are scrambling to get their tax forms to the IRS, but outside the US the difficulty of remaining tax compliant is leading a growing number of citizens to hand in their passports: on average, 7 Americans a day took the oath to stop being a US citizen in 2011.

For many of them, and this writer is one, 18 April offers a reminder of sorrow, not to be part of the nation one grew up believing in, but also relief that a major burden, often perceived as unjust, is gone.

“I’m just really relieved now”, says one former US citizen, who was grappling with the impact on pension money that could have been taxed twice, by the US and by the country of residence because their retirement fund laws differ.

The number of renunciations of citizenship (called “loss of citizenship” by the US Department of State) rose to 1,780 in 2011, the highest number ever. It is well up from the 235 figure for 2008, although overall the numbers have been steadily climbing since the US Department of Treasury began publishing them in 1998. Names of anyone who renounces and whose name is provided to the Treasury by the US Department of State are listed in the Federal Register. Continue reading →

Another expatriation driven by U.S. tax complexity and the time it takes – Expatriation is on the rise!

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An interesting  post appeared today on Phil Hodgen’s blog. It appears that expatriation is on the rise. (Who could have known?) Note that the reasons have nothing to do with the payment of tax. They have everything to do with the the inability to live a normal productive life as a U.S. person living outside the United States.

What follows is an excerpt from his post: Continue reading →

U.S. citizenship has been priced out of the market

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The costs of U.S. tax and reporting compliance

I have written a number of posts on the problem of compliance with U.S. tax and reporting requirements . Most people want to be and remain in compliance. My previous posts have opined that: the IRS and lawyer fear mongering coupled with  complexity have made compliance  difficult. The simple fact is that most people don’t know what to do. Taxpayers do NOT trust the IRS. Furthermore, the “not knowing what to do” is having a terrible effect on people’s lives (to the extent that they still have one). These views are echoed by the Taxpayer Advocate Report to Congress.

Interestingly, I realize that none of my posts has focused on what may be the single biggest obstacle to compliance.

It’s the cost stupid!! Continue reading →