Maple Sandbox Historical Archive – 2012 to 2016

URGENT: Finance Canada Doing FATCA Briefing Today!

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Get ready everyone. Today may be the day.
I was just contacted via e-mail by Barrie McKenna of the Globe and Mail:

It looks like Canada has reached an agreement with the US on FATCA. Details at 2 p.m. Are you around to react later today? Please let me know, or perhaps suggest someone else. Thanks

I responded:

OMG! Yes, I am available to speak with you. Can I share the information from you with others and on the web?

What is your source that a deal has been reached?

His reply:

Finance Dept. is doing a media briefing shortly on “issues associated with FATCA,” embargoed to 2 p.m. I am making an assumption they have an IGA with US.

So, this is not for certain an IGA has been reached. But, we should know if that is reason for the briefing when the media is able to release the details at 2:00 p.m.
I’ll keep you updated as soon as I learn more.

31 responses to “URGENT: Finance Canada Doing FATCA Briefing Today!”

  1. OutragedCanadian Avatar
    OutragedCanadian

    OMG! I’m actually NERVOUS!

    Like

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  2. RefugeeFromAmerica Avatar
    RefugeeFromAmerica

    Get ready everyone…we are about to be sold down the river. Canadian citizenship reduced to “junk paper” status…

    Like

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  3. WhiteKat Avatar
    WhiteKat

    Me too! IsaacBrockSociety must be swamped, I can’t even get into the site.

    Like

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  4. calgary411 Avatar
    calgary411

    Thanks for this.
    Joe Smith posted at Isaac Brock: http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2014/02/05/d-day-today/

    Like

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  5. Goerge3rd Avatar
    Goerge3rd

    Real news finally.

    Like

    Reply
  6. nervousinvestor Avatar
    nervousinvestor

    Yes, the Brock site has been giving resource errors a lot today …. must be flooded with traffic I guess.
    I am whispering a prayer.

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  7. Tim Avatar
    Tim

    As I said on IBS I don’t think this is the announcement of an actual signed deal. Instead there are two possibilities:
    1. They have finally grown a spine due to the FATCA related media coverage of the past few weeks.
    2. They don’t have a signed deal in hand but are trying to get out in front with the media in advance of an actual signing in the coming weeks.
    2A. They don’t have a signed agreement in hand but feel they to release New Zealand style the implementation legislation now due to time constraints.
    The latter #2 possibility is politically stupid as ourselves and other will simply rebut whatever arguments come out of the Department of Finance in the coming weeks. Additionally for days and weeks to come Flaherty won’t even have a signed agreement in hand.

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  8. AtticusinCanada Avatar
    AtticusinCanada

    Does anyone know which media outlets are carrying this live if any? I’d like to hear it directly. I think if he’s selling us down the river we have a right to hear it in real time.
    If it’s not an agreement then….then why the announcement?

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  9. Tim Avatar
    Tim

    My understanding is it will not be an actual announcement by Flaherty of anything. Just a background briefing from the Department of Finance. So probably no official announcement.
    As I said on IBS:
    Remember whatever happens this is only the beginning not the end. I am pretty confident this will be something short of an IGA however, my previous words apply even in that case. Whatever happens take a few deep breaths and lets move on to the next round.

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  10. Blaze Avatar
    Blaze

    As Hazy has said, we are all doing too much tea leaf reading (including Barry McKenna!)
    I am now having a cup of tea to calm myself down. Now what are those tea leaves saying?!?

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  11. calgary411 Avatar
    calgary411

    OMG, another OMG moment.

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  12. Goerge3rd Avatar
    Goerge3rd

    Blaze were you able to talk to the constitutional lawyer on my suggestion about using pledges to finance a successful Supreme Court challenge? I am pretty hidden so I do not want a bank seeing a check to the Constitutional lawyer. How about the Civil Liberty association.

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  13. Pacifica777 Avatar
    Pacifica777

    Financial Post.
    “After months of negotiations, Canada has signed an inter-governmental agreement with the United States aimed at limiting the involvement of Canadian banks and their customers in a controversial U.S. crackdown on tax evaders.”
    http://business.financialpost.com/2014/02/05/canada-signs-agreement-to-dull-impact-of-u-s-crackdown-on-tax-cheats/
    Disgusting Quislings.

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  14. OutragedCanadian Avatar
    OutragedCanadian

    http://www.cnbc.com/id/101392987
    Canada and U.S. sign agreement on tax evasion
    posted a couple of minutes ago, haven’t fully read it yet
    And Reuters:
    http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/02/05/canada-usa-fatca-idUKL2N0LA1G120140205

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  15. AtticusinCanada Avatar
    AtticusinCanada

    Bill Curry is tweeting me that Canada and the U.S. have reached a deal on FATCA.

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  16. calgary411 Avatar
    calgary411

    From: James Fitz-Morris
    Sent: Wednesday, February 05, 2014 11:58 AM
    To: caroltapanila
    Subject: Re: FATCA Today….????
    Yes – still trying to get it sorted out.
    there’s an exemption for RDSPs – still trying to figure out if the exemption is on the taxes – or just the automatic reporting of them.
    On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 1:07 PM, wrote:
    http://maplesandbox.ca/2014/urgent-finance-canada-making-fatca-briefing-today/
    Regards,
    Carol Tapanila

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  17. OutragedCanadian Avatar
    OutragedCanadian

    so, how do we find out what is actually in this SIGNED IGA?

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  18. Blaze Avatar
    Blaze

    I haven’t heard from Barry yet, but here is an article from the National Post that Lea Turkington just sent to several of us from the UK.
    Lea said simply: “So sorry Canada.”
    http://business.financialpost.com/2014/02/05/canada-signs-agreement-to-dull-impact-of-u-s-crackdown-on-tax-cheats/
    It’s signed.
    I will start a new thread.

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  19. WhiteKat Avatar
    WhiteKat

    So, I guess Lynne has the answer to her simple question now.

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  20. Goerge3rd Avatar
    Goerge3rd

    Is this just a standard type 1 agreement.

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  21. OutragedCanadian Avatar
    OutragedCanadian

    So, does CANADA get to decide who is, or is not, a US ‘person’, then?

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  22. Pacifica777 Avatar
    Pacifica777

    Reuters.
    “The Canadian officials told reporters in a briefing session that the agreement addresses serious privacy concerns they had with the original FATCA, which would have also imposed a 30 percent withholding tax on foreign businesses that do not comply with the law.
    The IGA also narrows the scope of information required to be collected from account holders in Canada, the officials said. Some smaller financial institutions will be exempt as well as certain registered savings vehicles such as Canadian registered retirement savings plans.”
    http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/05/us-usa-fatca-idUSBREA141U820140205
    “addresses serious privacy concerns”? Sounds like an oxymoron in the context of FATCA.

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  23. Goerge3rd Avatar
    Goerge3rd

    What is happening on Supreme Court Challenge?

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  24. RefugeeFromAmerica Avatar
    RefugeeFromAmerica

    Other than the obvious Charter challenge to come, the only real option left for us “US persons” is to move all our assets to our local credit union. The big banks lobbied hard for this to protect their profits at the expense of the human rights of what they consider to be an insignificant group of second-class Canadians, namely us. I’m sure the credit unions did not and would not have asked for this. If all US persons were to move their assets from the big Canadian banks to credit unions in protest, I can guarantee you that they will take notice. I’ve already issued this threat to my bank and received a call directly from one of their national VPs in response. Now that this has come to pass today, I will be carrying through on my threat and will be moving everything we have (a non-neglible amount) to the local credit union. I urge you all to do the same.

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  25. Goerge3rd Avatar
    Goerge3rd

    How are you going to deal with Canadian Equity and Canadian Bonds.

    Like

    Reply
  26. calgary411 Avatar
    calgary411

    From: James Fitz-Morris
    Sent: Wednesday, February 05, 2014 12:07 PM
    To: caroltapanila
    Subject: Re: FATCA Today….????
    I’m afraid it’s signed and done.
    50+ pages in the agreement – still waiting for a copy. Legislation to be unveiled either later today or tomorrow.

    Like

    Reply
  27. monalisa1776 Avatar
    monalisa1776

    Wow, that SUCKS 😦

    Like

    Reply
  28. osgood Avatar
    osgood

    Canada joins New Zealand and the other poodles as colonial US outposts. I don’t know where this ends but it’s nowhere good.

    Like

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  29. George3rd Avatar
    George3rd

    Calgary 411
    Beside RDSP recalitrant accounts will not be shut down they will send your sond birtdate. You do not even need to get SSN
    2.
    Suspension of Rules Relating to Recalcitrant Accounts
    pg 14
    article 4 item 3
    Notwithstanding paragraph 3 of this Article, with respect to each Reportable Account that
    is
    maintained by a Reporting Financial Institution as of June 30,
    2014
    ,
    and subject to paragraph 4 of Article 6
    of this Agreement, the Parties are not required to obtain and
    include in the exchanged information the Canadian TIN
    or the U.S. TIN, as applicable, of any relevant person if such taxpayer identifying number is not in the records of the Reporting Financial Institution. In such a case, the Parties shall obtain and include in the
    exchanged information the date of birth of the relevant person, if the Reporting Financial Institution has such date of birth in its records

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  30. George3rd Avatar
    George3rd

    We do have a better deal than UK rest of Euro, Swiss, Japan and Mexico.
    I still will not buy US assets or cross the damn border. It is even better than that damn 1995 US Canada tax treaty

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  31. badger Avatar
    badger

    I agree. I won’t deal with a CBA member, and the only reason I might leave one remaining small account with one is to wait to see if they ask me to prove that I am NOT a US citizen and abrogate my Canadian Charter rights so that I can report them. The CBA and their investment arms/kin urged the Canadian government to sign an FATCA IGA, and thus, for me, they embody the word ‘perfidy’ :
    “per·fi·dy
    ?p?rfid?/
    noun
    literary
    noun: perfidy; plural noun: perfidies
    1.
    deceitfulness; untrustworthiness.
    synonyms: treachery, duplicity, deceit, deceitfulness, disloyalty, infidelity, faithlessness, unfaithfulness, betrayal, treason, double-dealing, untrustworthiness, breach of trust; ”
    Whereas the World Council of Credit Unions has been fighting FATCA and was for REPEAL.

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