Archive for August 2012
2012 Aug 31 – IRS
Instructions for new streamlined filing compliance procedures for non-resident, non-filer U.S. taxpayers
IRS (31 Aug 2012)
“This procedure is available for non-resident U.S. taxpayers who have resided outside of the U.S. since January 1, 2009 and who have not filed a U.S. tax return during the same period. These taxpayers must present a low level of compliance risk as described.”
2012 Aug 29 – Moody
Kim G.C. Moody / Roy A. Berg
Tax in Canada and the US: the differences that really matter
Moodys Tax Advisors (29 Aug 2012)
The authors highlight seven separate points as key differences: (1) Taxation of individuals (2) Estate tax (3) Corporate taxation (4) Foreign reporting requirements (5) Double taxation (6) Variations in exit/departure tax (7) Status of paid tax preparers. Item 5 provides a link to another essential posting of theirs that has continuing value (and so is featured in the selective reading list appended to the Start Here section). Item 7 provides the fact that “according to the IRS there are only 2,392 such [qualified] individuals in all of Canada.”
2012 Aug 22 – Berg
Roy A. Berg
IRS says FBAR penalties not collectible under Canada-US Treaty?
Moodys Tax Advisors (22 Aug 2012)
Canadian tax professionals pursue verification of Canadian government claims that IRS had confirmed that FBAR penalties would lie outside the scope of the Canada-US treaty — and find no supporting evidence.
2012 Aug 16 – Current
Current relinquishment cases in Canada demonstrate the need for guidance
Flott & Co (16 Aug 2012)
A law firm specializing in United States citizenship issues describes two Canadian cases where US officials seemed less than clear and efficient in handling relinquishments.
2012 Aug 13 – Gifford
James Gifford
Why Canadian residents may soon owe tax to the IRS
Moodys Tax Advisors (13 Aug 2012)
Expiration of current taxation provisions and/or the budgetary situation of the United States make it possible, even likely, that Canadian residents subject to US taxation will soon owe taxes to the United States.
2012 Aug 2 – Saunders
Laura Saunders
The renouncers: who gave up U.S. citizenship, and why?
Wall Street Journal (2 Aug 2012)
http://blogs.wsj.com/totalreturn/2012/08/02/the-renouncers-who-gave-up-u-s-citizenship-and-why/
Saunders has put time and effort into trying to get a handle on the latest quarterly list of persons abandoning U.S. citizenship. The closing two paragraphs aptly focus on a case motivated by “frustration with paperwork generated by a flurry of new laws aimed at policing offshore accounts.”