�U.S. persons� in Canada express fear and loathing of tax crackdown

You can be sure if the Swiss, with their 'so tight you can't drag a needle through the butt' banking laws, didn't cave in to these laws, then Canada has no chance.

If it's such a problem, renouce your citizenship.

Way to read the article!

Many are trying to accommodate the US laws, of renouncing their citizenship, but the US is making it as difficult as possible in this pathetic attempt at a cash grab.

Funny...for most of the people affected, the were US citizens, until the US was desperate for money.

All for a fraction of what they gave to one bank during the bailouts.

We should be ashamed of our government for letting this happen. It's a joke.

It's not just US citizens, it's US persons = people who snobird there or have another connection. Also people who didn't even know they were deemed US citizens. Like being born in the US to Canadian parents, or being born in Canada to US parents.

But, US/Canada has a reciprocal tax agreement. AFAIK, you don't pay tax on the same income twice. If you reside in Canada, you pay Canadian taxes. Shouldn't also have to pay US taxes on that income. Certainly wasn't a problem for me when I worked in the US.

They shouldn't have to renounce their citizenship. The US is the only country that charges tax by citizenship, not residence.

Try getting a refund from the Canada Revenue Agency.

I worked in the US twice: a few days short of 6 months in 1997. Since I was there less than 6 months, just paid tax to Canada and not the US. But in 1999/2000 I worked there for 9 1/2 months. That was a little over 6 months for 1999 alone. I called the IRS for tax rules; what they did is mail me a copy of exact text of the Canada/US Income Tax Treaty. They couldn't be bothered summarizing or simplifying or anything, just sent the whole law. The CRA wouldn't give me that, but one copy is enough. It states any Canadian who works in the US has to pay income tax to both countries. And similarly, any American who works in Canada has to pay the US income tax. However, whatever income tax you paid to the other country, is deductible from what you have to pay to your home country. In Canada the T1 form has a line for "foreign tax deduction". What I did was take what I paid to the IRS, convert to Canadian dollars using the conversion rate that CRA accepted at the time, and that was deducted from my taxable income. Of course the foreign tax deduction is a complicated calculation rather than just subtracting. I believe I ended up paying more. But that's the way it works.

I argued at the time that I was not a resident of Canada. CRA argued that because I still had a bank account in Canada, and because I still owned property (my house), that I was a resident of Canada. They said I would have to cut all ties to Canada to be considered a resident of the US. I wouldn't do that, intended to return to Canada. And real estate prices have skyrocketed since I bought my house in Winnipeg in 1990; so keeping my house was a sound decision.

Florida didn't have income tax, and my employer set payroll up as a "W2". That's an IRS code. That means I was a contractor, but not incorporated. CRA does not permit anything like a W2, in fact they went out of their way to ensure employers can't do that. Someone who is a "W2" does not have income tax deducted from each paycheque, but pays one lump sum at the end of the year. And the employer does not pay the employer portion of Social Security, their equivalent to both EI and CPP. The US blends them together in a big mess.

When I paid taxes to Canada, since the last province I lived in was Manitoba (and my house is there), I paid Manitoba provincial income tax. The reason for complicated formula for foreign tax credit is to proprate it between federal and provincial. Canadian federal income tax was higher than American, and since I paid Manitoba tax but Florida didn't have any, that meant I had to pay Canada substantial income tax.

These people should be able to subtract what they paid in income tax to the CRA from any income tax owing to the IRS. That foreign tax credit (whatever the IRS calls it), would cancel out everything. Why would they owe?

The best part is that for years you don't get any of the perks of being an American because you renounced that citizenship but, as soon as it comes to money you're an American citizen again, like it or not but still without the benefits.

I guess Barry is pissed that's he's Kenyan and paying US taxes so, everybody else should be doing the same whether they live in the States and are American Citizens or not.

Given this idiotic new law by the US Gov't all Canadians with foreign investments in America should be standing by for an IRS Tax bill to arrive soon.

What really stinks about this is, what guarantees do we have that the banks aren't just gonna send our financial information wholesale to the IRS out of fear they might miss someone and get penalized?

Besides, what American with the means would be stupid enough to use Canada as a tax haven?

They might.
The deal with the Swiss is that the banks a list to the IRS of anyone who claims citizenship as USA on their application form.
Then they send a list of anyone the IRS asks about.

These days Swiss banks will not open an account for an ex-pat American.
They just won't do it.

And they are pushing a 'Voluntary disclosure' for the banks still under investigation, since they can't sign up for that deal.

I would not expect Canadian banks to take their client's privacy with any
level of secrecy.
The Swiss can't get around it either.

Barry is raking it in, about $5 billion so far.





No one.
There are so many better places.


They might catch of bunch of dual citizens though.
With back taxes and penalties and interest... could be a good haul for Obongo.

They need $trillions to balance the books.

Barry has run out of Hope and now needs some

They might.
The deal with the Swiss is that the banks a list to the IRS of anyone who claims citizenship as USA on their application form.
Then they send a list of anyone the IRS asks about.

These days Swiss banks will not open an account for an ex-pat American.
They just won't do it.

And they are pushing a 'Voluntary disclosure' for the banks still under investigation, since they can't sign up for that deal.

I would not expect Canadian banks to take their client's privacy with any
level of secrecy.
The Swiss can't get around it either.

Barry is raking it in, about $5 billion so far.





No one.
There are so many better places.


They might catch of bunch of dual citizens though.
With back taxes and penalties and interest... could be a good haul for Obongo.Dual citizens, hell, they're going after everyone with any sort of connection to the US.
My wife's nephew is a prime example. Born in Canada with an American father, he has lived his entire life in Canada. His entire working career is in Canada, yet because some stupid knobs in the US arbitrarily declared him to be a US citizen, he's gonna get robbed by O'Bummer. Christ, the guy hasn't even set foot in the US.
At this point, O'Bummer is no better than the looters in Ferguson. No, actually he's worse. He's not just stealing, he's happily violating the financial privacy of everyone in various sovereign nations.