The Guardian is the latest publication to pick up the FATCA story.
In Banks Forced To Comply With FATCA Despite Not Being In The US, Canada is the lead.
Unfortunately, it uses the TC words: Tax Cheaters. It also uses the D word: Dual.
The following doesn’t address Canada specifically, but seems to describe our situation, as well as that of some other countries.
One example is determining exactly how the banks will ascertain the information in question. The IRS has basically suggested that financial institutions ask about the citizenship of everyone who opens or maintains an account. If Americanism is detected, the account holder’s assets must be evaluated for certain criteria that indicate a possibility of tax evasion. Many observers consider this line of inquiry to be incredibly intrusive and an offense to the expectation of personal privacy.
Another looming issue that has watchdogs up in arms is that compliance with the American law may run afoul of standing sovereign laws that govern the transmission of confidential information. Americans with dual citizenship or visas still expect that certain rights will be guaranteed by the constitution of the other country, and the collection and communication of personal data interferes with those rights. Obedience to FATCA may require breaking statutes that regulate that interaction unless the host nation can devise a means to legislate its way out of breaking its own constitution.
Maple Sandbox Historical Archive - 2012 to 2016 
Leave a comment