“Hitching a ride” – FATCA – The Trojan Horse of the Hire Act – Updated with Roger Conklin comment

Hitching A Ride – Is A “Trojan Horse” Provision Legitimate?

 

@SenCarlLevin thinks extraneous legislative amendments should be banned http://t.co/yAvxf2eH How can he justify #FATCA http://t.co/DnK1BOKH

— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) April 28, 2012

 

In order for legislation to have “moral force”, it should at a minimum:

1. Be read by legislators prior to it becoming law; and

2. Not contain provisions that are unrelated to the main purpose of the legislation – i.e. NOT “hitch a ride”

“Hitching a ride”** is especially easy if the Congressmen don’t read the legislation.  Nancy Pelosi commenting in relation to Obamacare, noted that it was important for Congress to pass the bill, so that the American people (and presumably Congress) could learn what was in it.

FATCA is unrelated to the  purpose of the HIRE Act. It simply “hitched a ride” into the Hire Act. Who knows how many Congressmen read and understood the Hire Act prior to voting in favor of it? Provisions that “hitch a ride” into legislation are analagous to  soldiers left inside a Trojan Horse*. Once the primary legislation takes effect, the “hitchhiker provisions” will be unleashed on an unsuspecting public.

FATCA has been referred to as the “neutron bomb” of international finance. It is the most dangerous act of American Imperialism ever.  It will  hasten the demise of the U.S. as a world power.

The Isaac Brock Society

What follows is yet another article motivated by the Atossa Reuters article. Pretty soon that “Peter Dunn” guy (and maybe the other Peter Dunn too) is going to a household name! Here is the last paragraph.

How sad is that?  The cons outweighed the pros, of being an American no less.

As a head of any organization, what would you think if you had customers that would pay real money to leave you because you were such a pain in the buttocks to deal with?  Hopefully it would give you pause.  Perhaps it should.

When Your Customers Flee Complexity

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“Peaceful resistance” to FATCA will result in an alternative financial system

By kicking the banks @SenCarlLevin triggers new world financial system – Goodbye U.S. – Hello Shanghai – #FATCA #FBAR http://t.co/jEpIbttS

— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) April 20, 2012

Ever since the FATCA discussion started, I have always wondered:

Why would the rest of the world  comply with FATCA? I read about compliance costs. I read about trying to cut deals with the IRS. What I don’t understand is why countries don’t take a much longer term view of this. Remember:

People always overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.

The Isaac Brock Society

A couple of days ago, I posted that former IRS lawyer Steven Mospick has publicly acknowledged the insanity of citizenship-based taxation – a fantastic step in the right direction.

Today, I want to call your attention to the fact that the Taxpayer Advocate Twitter account – @YourVoiceATIRS retweeted  the following:

RT @SpecialReports: Thousands of Americans renounce citizenship out of tax frustration http://t.co/rFUM4EzC

— Taxpayer Advocate (@YourVoiceAtIRS) April 20, 2012

The link in the tweet is to the Atossa article. Click on the link – you will be astounded at how viral her article has become. In fact, her article has even caused us to ask the question: Who is the real Peter Dunn.

Again, this is fantastic news and will continue to raise the profile of this issue. Thank you Nina Olson!

 

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The Isaac Brock Society

Ottawa is starting consultations with industry groups and immigrant settlement organizations across the country to develop a new “startup-visa program” to fast track immigration of entrepreneurs.

“Canada cannot afford to lose out in the competition for foreign entrepreneurs among immigrant-receiving countries,” Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said.

Tories launch bid to speed up immigration for entrepreneurs

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U.S. citizens “Born Free” renounce U.S. citizenship to live “Form Free”

Some things never seem to change – specifically the need to “Live Free”

Just came across an interesting blog post called “My thoughts on U.S. citizenship for young people“, the author encourages young people to renounce their U.S. citizenship as early as possible. Certainly “young adults” over the age of majority should be educated about the obligations, liabilities and  opportunities of U.S. citizenship. Any decision to renounce citizenship is important and needs to be made in an educated and calm state of mind.

I would guess that the author’s sentiments are largely the result of his life having been taken from him by the IRS assault on dual citizens. This can be understood only by those who have lived this nightmare.  Incredibly the “IRS jihad” has been against some of America’s most patriotic citizens. Their scars will be permanent. It’s not what you take from them. It’s what you leave them with.

The author then explains, why for “young people”, renouncing U.S. citizenship, is an important investment in their future.  Here is an excerpt:

Message to financial planners: The rules are NOT the same for U.S. citizens living abroad

I have previously posted on the problem of investments that are effectively prohibited to U.S. citizens living outside the U.S.

The following comment which recently appeared at the Isaac Brock Society is (IMHO) deserving of a separate post. Amazing how helpful the Atossa article has been. Seems that all “Peter Dunns” are very helpful too.

Updated. You can follow the responses to this comment:

How financial planning is different for #americansabroad – thread starts here: http://t.co/vAMXSdTw But also remember #FBAR #FATCA #OVDI

— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) April 19, 2012

Americans meet in Lausanne as tax filing day raises new questions

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.

New HR Block blog offers tax tips for U.S. citizens abroad – As goes “Form Nation” so grows HR Block!

Life in “Form Nation” (or is it a “waste of a life”) …

Click here to read comments about this video.

PAYING tax always hurts. But America’s tax code seems designed to make it hurt as much as possible. It contains 3.8m words, and was changed 579 times in 2010 alone. Taxpayers must wade through a swamp of gobbledygook: tax compliance consumes 6.1 billion man-hours annually, according to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). That’s the equivalent of 3m people working full-time, year-round—more than the entire federal workforce. Each year, Joe Taxpayer must sign a thick return that he cannot plausibly understand. And woe betide him if any of its contents should turn out to be inaccurate.

The Economist – March 24, 2012

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

A second lawyer notes that expatriation is on the rise. #FBAR #FATCA http://t.co/lDRhAH6w

— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) April 12, 2012

Another U.S. person living outside the U.S. expatriates. Choose between having a life and being a U.S. person! http://t.co/EFq4Dq2R #FATCA

— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) April 12, 2012

US citizen renounces, rejoices, receives CLN (Certificate of loss of nationality) Could it be because of #FBAR #FATCA http://t.co/i2K00tIu

— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) April 12, 2012

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: