2011 Nov 17 – Davies

 
Don Davies
Getting results: Response from Minister Flaherty re United States taxation of Canadian citizens
Vancouver Kingsway Member of Parliament [Blog] (17 Nov 2011)

http://dondavies.ndp.ca/post/getting-results-response-from-minister-flaherty

Davies reproduces the 28 August 2011 letter he sent to three relevant Ministers in his capacity as Official opposition Critic for Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism. Appended as 3-page pdf file is the Oct 26 response from Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty. A two-page letter is followed by Fact Sheet — October 2011: U.S. Tax and “FBAR” Filing Requirements for U.S. Citizens in Canada, a document which includes this explanation as an endnote:

Penalties imposed under FBAR will not be collected by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA):
The Canada-United States Income Tax Convention contains a provision which allows for the collection by a country of taxes imposed by the other country, including civil penalties. This provision does not apply to penalties imposed under laws, such as the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act, that impose only a reporting requirement (as opposed to those that impose taxation along with reporting requirements). Also, the CRA does not and will not collect the U.S. tax liability of a Canadian citizen if the individual was a Canadian citizen at the time the liability arose (whether or not the individual was also a U.S. citizen at that time).