Jim Carrey did not switch. He is still a Canadian citizen. He has dual citizenship. You don't need to give up dual citizenship for anything in Canada. The only exception I can think of is Conrad Black whom Chretien forced to choose between getting an Order of Canada or renouncing his British citizenship or his seat in the UK House of Lords?
Ahhh, you're right.
Thought you had to give up citizenship if you didn't want to play taxes in both countries though.
The problem is that when Cruz renounced his Canadian citizenship, he said "I renoonce..." and was thus turned down.
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I'm not sure what the rules are for different situations, but I am a dual citizen of Canada and the US. I was born in the US to Canadian parents and as such was given Canadian citizenship upon entry to Canada when I was 4 or 5. I would assume it can go the other way.
It can. As part of its recent crackdown on global tax collectibles, the USA is looking for people, including Canadians, who may not even realize they're USA citizens.
Cowperson
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It can. As part of its recent crackdown on global tax collectibles, the USA is looking for people, including Canadians, who may not even realize they're USA citizens.
Cowperson
Very true.
My wife was born in Edmonton (she's recovered since) to American parents. She has never lived a day in the US nor has she ever worked a day in the US. Even so, the US government expects her to file US income taxes. Even worse is that I, as her husband, someone who has zero ties to the US, also have to file a US tax return every year. The IRS has pledged a general threat that anyone who is considered a US citizen and does not do this is subject to a heavy fine. Our initial reaction was basically, "so what? IS the IRS going to freeze our assets in our Canadian bank if we don't file?" Yes. That is exactly what they would do and the Canadian banks and the government have done basically nothing about it.
The other option is that she can renounce her US citizenship but in order to do so she has to back file something like 5 years worth of US tax returns, go through two interviews at the US embassy and pay a significant fee for processing the request. It's basically a government sponsored extortion.
This is all based on a law that has been on the books for decades but it was never enforced. The enforcement started about 3 years ago when the government and IRS were having issues generating enough revenue through the traditional tax structure. The rich pay, relatively speaking, almost no tax in the US after all of their legal deductions. Meanwhile, taxes have gone down for both the middle class and poor in the US. In other words, the US tax structure is so out of whack that the US needs to find new, exciting and morally ambiguous ways of squeezing blood from the stone. Historically speaking, this has some parallels to the Roman Empire and the circumstances that led to the fall of Rome.
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My wife was born in Edmonton (she's recovered since) to American parents. She has never lived a day in the US nor has she ever worked a day in the US. Even so, the US government expects her to file US income taxes. Even worse is that I, as her husband, someone who has zero ties to the US, also have to file a US tax return every year. The IRS has pledged a general threat that anyone who is considered a US citizen and does not do this is subject to a heavy fine. Our initial reaction was basically, "so what? IS the IRS going to freeze our assets in our Canadian bank if we don't file?" Yes. That is exactly what they would do and the Canadian banks and the government have done basically nothing about it.
The other option is that she can renounce her US citizenship but in order to do so she has to back file something like 5 years worth of US tax returns, go through two interviews at the US embassy and pay a significant fee for processing the request. It's basically a government sponsored extortion.
This is all based on a law that has been on the books for decades but it was never enforced. The enforcement started about 3 years ago when the government and IRS were having issues generating enough revenue through the traditional tax structure. The rich pay, relatively speaking, almost no tax in the US after all of their legal deductions. Meanwhile, taxes have gone down for both the middle class and poor in the US. In other words, the US tax structure is so out of whack that the US needs to find new, exciting and morally ambiguous ways of squeezing blood from the stone. Historically speaking, this has some parallels to the Roman Empire and the circumstances that led to the fall of Rome.
You and your wife have to file but do you have to pay any American taxes or is it just a big nuisance?
My wife was born in Edmonton (she's recovered since) to American parents. She has never lived a day in the US nor has she ever worked a day in the US. Even so, the US government expects her to file US income taxes. Even worse is that I, as her husband, someone who has zero ties to the US, also have to file a US tax return every year. The IRS has pledged a general threat that anyone who is considered a US citizen and does not do this is subject to a heavy fine. Our initial reaction was basically, "so what? IS the IRS going to freeze our assets in our Canadian bank if we don't file?" Yes. That is exactly what they would do and the Canadian banks and the government have done basically nothing about it.
The other option is that she can renounce her US citizenship but in order to do so she has to back file something like 5 years worth of US tax returns, go through two interviews at the US embassy and pay a significant fee for processing the request. It's basically a government sponsored extortion.
This is all based on a law that has been on the books for decades but it was never enforced. The enforcement started about 3 years ago when the government and IRS were having issues generating enough revenue through the traditional tax structure. The rich pay, relatively speaking, almost no tax in the US after all of their legal deductions. Meanwhile, taxes have gone down for both the middle class and poor in the US. In other words, the US tax structure is so out of whack that the US needs to find new, exciting and morally ambiguous ways of squeezing blood from the stone. Historically speaking, this has some parallels to the Roman Empire and the circumstances that led to the fall of Rome.
Yeah the tax code is amazingly out of whack there. I guess they haven't tried to update it as a whole in 25+ years or so, so all the deductions and other things they add to it every year just throw the whole thing out of kilter more and more.
The good news is they are actually finally starting to do something about it. Though, the congressmen and senators and whomever else is in charge of changing and updating it have had all their suggestions and recommendations locked in a 50 year vault so their constituents and more importantly the lobby groups won't know who did what and who took what benefits and loopholes away.
Very messed up, but possibly the best of a very crappy situation, and unfortunately how it will have to be till they get some of the big money out of politics, which is probably never.
You and your wife have to file but do you have to pay any American taxes or is it just a big nuisance?
As of yet we haven't had to pay US taxes so it's mostly a nuisance, especially considering we also have to file in Canada and Australia. However, the other thing that it has forced us to do is move our money from our TFSAs to RSPs. The IRS doesn't recognize the Canadian "Tax Free Savings Account" as being free from US tax and if we still had active TFSAs we'd likely have to pay US tax on the interest, which of course, is the exact opposite intention of TFSAs.
So, the impact hasn't been huge but it bothers me on principle that a foreign government can essentially arbitrarily force me, a Canadian living in Australia with no formal ties to the US, to file a tax return. It's really just another form of colonialism in my opinion.
Frankly, I think the people that are ultimately at fault for this are:
1) The US right wingers (including clowns like Cruz) who insist on keeping federal taxes lower on millionaires in the US than in any other developed nation.
2) The Canadian government for allowing the IRS to steamroll them with nary a whimper. Of course, they're not just going after 'US citizens' living in Canada but also everywhere in the world.
3) The Obama administration for not sticking to their guns and also for allowing the IRS to run roughshot around the world.
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As of yet we haven't had to pay US taxes so it's mostly a nuisance, especially considering we also have to file in Canada and Australia. However, the other thing that it has forced us to do is move our money from our TFSAs to RSPs. The IRS doesn't recognize the Canadian "Tax Free Savings Account" as being free from US tax and if we still had active TFSAs we'd likely have to pay US tax on the interest, which of course, is the exact opposite intention of TFSAs.
So, the impact hasn't been huge but it bothers me on principle that a foreign government can essentially arbitrarily force me, a Canadian living in Australia with no formal ties to the US, to file a tax return. It's really just another form of colonialism in my opinion.
Frankly, I think the people that are ultimately at fault for this are:
1) The US right wingers (including clowns like Cruz) who insist on keeping federal taxes lower on millionaires in the US than in any other developed nation.
2) The Canadian government for allowing the IRS to steamroll them with nary a whimper. Of course, they're not just going after 'US citizens' living in Canada but also everywhere in the world.
3) The Obama administration for not sticking to their guns and also for allowing the IRS to run roughshot around the world.
Taxation without representation.
Irony.
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As of yet we haven't had to pay US taxes so it's mostly a nuisance, especially considering we also have to file in Canada and Australia. However, the other thing that it has forced us to do is move our money from our TFSAs to RSPs. The IRS doesn't recognize the Canadian "Tax Free Savings Account" as being free from US tax and if we still had active TFSAs we'd likely have to pay US tax on the interest, which of course, is the exact opposite intention of TFSAs.
So, the impact hasn't been huge but it bothers me on principle that a foreign government can essentially arbitrarily force me, a Canadian living in Australia with no formal ties to the US, to file a tax return. It's really just another form of colonialism in my opinion.
Frankly, I think the people that are ultimately at fault for this are:
1) The US right wingers (including clowns like Cruz) who insist on keeping federal taxes lower on millionaires in the US than in any other developed nation.
2) The Canadian government for allowing the IRS to steamroll them with nary a whimper. Of course, they're not just going after 'US citizens' living in Canada but also everywhere in the world.
3) The Obama administration for not sticking to their guns and also for allowing the IRS to run roughshot around the world.
The USA government gave foreign governments a choice . . . . comply or face trade penalties. Foreign governments have been deciding its a lot easier and cheaper to throw a few thousand people under the bus instead of having limited access to the world's largest consumer market. You can't eat your principles.
In fairness, there are lots of USA foreign resident tax dodgers and this is low hanging fruit for a USA federal government needing to shore up its tax base. You can see the motivation.
The depth of the crackdown, however, has been surprising. People who didn't even know they were USA citizens seems punitive and grabby.
Secondly, I've found it interesting that someone earlier in this thread said quitting Canadian citizenship is only $200 and some paperwork. I think that quitting USA citizenship is pretty difficult and you basically have to "settle up" with USA tax authorities before they let you go. It could be a large, large bill for many.
The tax grab also extends to former green card holders as well, not just citizens.
Cowperson
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The USA government gave foreign governments a choice . . . . comply or face trade penalties. Foreign governments have been deciding its a lot easier and cheaper to throw a few thousand people under the bus instead of having limited access to the world's largest consumer market. You can't eat your principles.
In fairness, there are lots of USA foreign resident tax dodgers and this is low hanging fruit for a USA federal government needing to shore up its tax base. You can see the motivation.
The depth of the crackdown, however, has been surprising. People who didn't even know they were USA citizens seems punitive and grabby.
Secondly, I've found it interesting that someone earlier in this thread said quitting Canadian citizenship is only $200 and some paperwork. I think that quitting USA citizenship is pretty difficult and you basically have to "settle up" with USA tax authorities before they let you go. It could be a large, large bill for many.
The tax grab also extends to former green card holders as well, not just citizens.
Cowperson
I like your choice of using USA instead of America when referring to our friends south of the border. Referring to them as America is a recent phenomena that's followed the collapse of Communism and a subtle reference to American domination of our society. The USA is no more America than Chile is.
Actually, all US citizens regardless of residency are able to vote in primaries and federal elections.
Unlike non resident Canadians who aren't able to vote from abroad yet still pay taxes in many forms such as RRSP withdrawals or paying PST when visiting.
The US is consistent. Once an American, always an American with the right to vote and the costs associated with citizenship.
Canadian nationality with its priviliges and costs is much more squishy and inconsistent imo.
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Actually, all US citizens regardless of residency are able to vote in primaries and federal elections.
Unlike non resident Canadians who aren't able to vote from abroad yet still pay taxes in many forms such as RRSP withdrawals or paying PST when visiting.
The US is consistent. Once an American, always an American with the right to vote and the costs associated with citizenship.
Canadian nationality with its priviliges and costs is much more squishy and inconsistent imo.
Unless of course you're a Democrat, or someone who may be inclined to vote Democrat, in a State with a Republican government. Then that 'right to vote' becomes questionable.
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Unless of course you're a Democrat, or someone who may be inclined to vote Democrat, in a State with a Republican government. Then that 'right to vote' becomes questionable.
Well, that is for the American politics part deux thread.
Actually, all US citizens regardless of residency are able to vote in primaries and federal elections.
Unlike non resident Canadians who aren't able to vote from abroad yet still pay taxes in many forms such as RRSP withdrawals or paying PST when visiting.
The US is consistent. Once an American, always an American with the right to vote and the costs associated with citizenship.
Canadian nationality with its priviliges and costs is much more squishy and inconsistent imo.
Red Slinger isn't American and so can't vote but still has to file US taxes or is he now an American because his wife has dual citizenship.
^^^
Red Slinger doesn't automatically become American but he can get a green card and apply for citizenship sooner than other type of green card holders.
He certainly has a legitimate gripe but he married an American who has to follow US law until she decides to give up her US citizenship.
^^^
Red Slinger doesn't automatically become American but he can get a green card and apply for citizenship sooner than other type of green card holders.
He certainly has a legitimate gripe but he married an American who has to follow US law until she decides to give up her US citizenship.
It seems he married a woman who didn't consider herself an American as she was born and raised in Canada. They must have changed the rules because my mother was born in Canada to an American father but despite living in the States for many of her younger years, she never became an American. She would have needed to apply.
The way it looks now, any offspring of an American citizen automatically becomes an American so all children no matter where they are born are Americans and this will go on in perpetuity.
^ That's correct. My wife was born in Edmonton to two US parents who later became Canadian citizens.
I've read similar stories of people around the world. My situation isn't too bad really. There have been some reports of retired pensioners having to "settle up" thousands of dollars worth of back taxes with the IRS leaving them basically destitute. Because these people have no real voice in the US and their own governments aren't willing to support them, the IRS is playing global bully. The US government is flexing it's muscle around the world and, so far, nobody has pushed back on their morally questionable tactics. It'll be interesting to see the US response if a real economic superpower like China or Japan were to take issue with the US actions. I can't imagine the US government imposing sanctions on the Chinese government for a few thousand "ex pats" in China refusing to pay US taxes. Although, I also can't really imagine the Chinese government giving a crap about those people enough to rock the boat with the US.
I don't want to sound like a whiner. Really, in my life this is way down the list of my problems. But for some people it's much more serious. And it's all because the wealthy conservatives in the US refuse to pay their fair share and make it a huge political issue. Seems to me that the US is at the front of a very slippery slope into a hybrid of plutocracy and pseudo-facism. Speaking of which, I heard Sen. Ted Cruz has renounced his Canadian citizenship...
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