# the non-compliance progress report



## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

Time for a short update. (Dual US/Canadian citizen by virtue of US birthplace, living in Canada, willfully non-compliant on US taxes largely for reasons of stubbornness, plus some laziness).

The good - I have a new US passport acquired through a European address so in the very unlikely event that information is of interest to the IRS, future enquiries will disappear into a void. In the meantime, ten years of hassle-free business travel awaits. No more border interrogations.

The bad - The family investment broker, when asking what to do with my tiny, ancient, RRSP, also asked if my wife or I happen to be US citizens. FATCA slowly beginning to rear its ugly head, though compliance is years away. I said that I was sorry but my present policy is to neither confirm nor deny the existence of any citizenship other than Canadian. I don't think he was too pleased by that. If push comes to shove I may look to move the money to a smaller credit union, for which the rules are looser (frankly it's going to be a great marketing angle for them - open an account with us, and we won't send your data to the American government).


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

Nononymous said:


> The family investment broker, when asking what to do with my tiny, ancient, RRSP, also asked if my wife or I happen to be US citizens. FATCA slowly beginning to rear its ugly head, though compliance is years away. I said that I was sorry but my present policy is to neither confirm nor deny the existence of any citizenship other than Canadian.


That's a reasonable answer in the circumstances. I think I might have answered the same way. He didn't actually ask the correct question even for tax and financial purposes. The correct question is some variation of, "Does the United States government consider you a U.S. person for tax purposes?" U.S. citizens are not the only individuals fitting that description.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

> (frankly it's going to be a great marketing angle for them - open an account with us, and we won't send your data to the American government).


Maybe, but I suspect any smaller banking institution would hardly want to call down the wrath of the IRS upon themselves by daring to advertise this handy little tip! 

What's interesting in all this is the level of awareness seems to vary greatly by country. Being next to the big US of A, you Canadians have apparently been bombarded with advertising and press releases and all. The Germans seem to have taken it all to heart (though after finding out they were bugging Angela's phone, perhaps they'll chill out a bit ). But here in France, no one has heard anything about any of this. My Italian friend says that no one in Italy seems to have heard of FATCA and all there, either. 

I asked my bank (more in jest than anything else) to simply replace my US nationality with my French nationality in their records once I got my identity card and had reason to go see the bank for something else. They never batted an eye at the request.
Cheers,
Bev


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## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

I'm not sure that too many people in Canada know that it's coming, actually. There's the odd blip now and then, a few things turn up in the business pages, then its back to silence.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

I suspect that there will be more stuff in the media over the next few months as we enter the US "tax season." 

But all the articles I've seen quoted seem to come from Canadian newspapers. There was a short piece a couple weeks back in The Economist - but it only really touched on the problem without going into great detail. The only information about the US tax issue over here has been in various expat directed publications - and even then, it's mostly through the US expat organizations (mostly AARO and ACA). I guess this is all pretty much limited to the English speaking countries.
Cheers,
Bev


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## maz57 (Apr 17, 2012)

@ Nononymous

I haven't been asked the question yet, but in view of the fact that I became a Canadian citizen last December with the intent of losing my US citizenship I would truthfully answer "no, I 'm a Canadian" if I am ever asked.

The fact that I have not yet been able to obtain a CLN (due to US consulate obstructionist policies) is not relevant to this question in my opinion. I doubt a Canadian financial institution would press the question any further than that. They've asked the question, gotten an answer, and therefore done the due diligence required of them. They certainly can't be expected to understand the complexities of US citizenship and tax law.

@ BBC

If I were ever asked the question in the form you described, I would truthfully answer: "I have no knowledge of what the US government might consider about me or anyone else for that matter." The US government has some pretty wierd ideas about who they consider to be a "US person".

I informed the US consulate about my loss of US citizenship when I became a Canadian; they have not told me what (if anything) they have done with that information.


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