Jerusalem consulate offering to evacuate US citizens from Gaza
We're in our sealed room. The siren just went off.
I just received the following email from the Jerusalem consulate:
United States Consulate General Jerusalem
July 10, 2014
The U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem alerts U.S. citizens who desire assistance departing the Gaza Strip to email JerusalemACS@state.gov no later than 8:00 am on Friday, July 11 with the information below for you and each immediate family member who will travel with you. Immediate family is defined as spouse and children aged 18 and under only.
Full name as it appears on your Palestinian ID documents – all four names (if you do not have a Palestinian document, give us your name as written on your U.S. passport)
U.S. passport number
Date and place of birth
Palestinian ID number
Palestinian passport number and validity
After receiving your information, the Consulate General will be back in touch with you regarding next steps.
We just heard a boom.
Labels: dual citizenship, Gaza, Hamas rockets, Jerusalem
Bank of Israel implementing FATCA rather than waiting for data exchange agreement
Last week, I reportd that the Bank of Israel was going to enter into a
data exchange agreement with the US Internal Revenue Service to spare the banks having to report information on US citizen accounts in Israel to the American authorities. Now, apparently stung by US investigations into the activities of the Swiss branches of Israeli banks, the Bank of Israel has decided to
implement FATCA immediately.
The banks must apply FATCA by mapping their US customers and having
them sign the appropriate forms. The Bank of Israel is ordering the
banks to appoint an officer responsible for the matter, establish work
procedures, and reporting processes to management. The banks will also
examine the need to sign an agreement with the US authorities and to set
procedures for handling uncooperative customers - including "the option
of refusing to provide banking services to a customer who does not
cooperate with the implementation of the provisions."
Most, if
not all, of Israel banks are ready to implement FATCA and have signed
their US customers on the forms. As a consequence, the banks have lost
quite a few customers, who decided to withdraw their money and close
their accounts. "Globes" has estimated that more than $4 billion have
been withdrawn from accounts in Israeli banks.
Last week, "Globes" reported that the Ministry of Finance
is in advanced talks with the US Department of the Treasury on an
agreement for the sharing of information on bank accounts held by
foreign residents, and that the economic social cabinet will discuss the
agreement soon.
The agreement will supersede the US government's
demand that Israeli banks will report directly to the US authorities.
Instead, the banks will send the information about US customers to the
Israel Tax Authority, which will send it to the IRS. Despite the
advanced stage of the talks, it is unclear whether an agreement will be
signed before FATCA comes into effect in July.
The Bank of Israel is
demanding that the banks prepare to implement FATCA whether or not the
agreement is signed. "A financial institution that does not cooperate
with the US authorities is liable to various sanctions, including a 30%
deduction from payments originating in the US," it says.
For the record, if you're a US citizen, you're a US customer. And that's making a lot of Americans
give up their US citizenship.
Facing an increasingly out-of-control federal government
in Washington, D.C., record numbers of Americans are giving up their
U.S. citizenship in an effort to escape onerous requirements enforced by
the IRS — which apply no matter where in the world a citizen lives.
Because the IRS requirements have already become so bad, a growing
number of banks around the world are refusing to even accept American
customers in an effort to avoid U.S. government bullying and mountains
of regulations. Following a trend in recent times, with citizenship
renunciations continuing to hit new records, some members of Congress
are slowly starting to take notice.
According to official figures and experts cited by the Wall Street Journal,
almost 2,400 people so far this year have either given up their U.S.
citizenship or turned in their green cards. That means the numbers thus
far are up by at least 33 percent over 2011, when 1,781 did so, more
than twice as many as in preceding years. In 2012, meanwhile, almost
2,000 people reportedly decided to permanently sever Uncle Sam’s grip,
and experts say the real numbers are even higher. By comparison, just
742 renounced their citizenship in 2009.
The exodus is widely expected to continue or even accelerate —
especially among the wealthy and mobile — unless and until Congress
takes action to rein in the IRS and reduce the draconian burdens imposed
on Americans abroad. The U.S. government, of course, is almost unique
in the world in that it demands that citizens pay U.S. taxes and file
massive amounts of complex paperwork no matter where on the planet they
reside and work. According to reports, the only other government in the
world to seek tribute from citizens abroad is the one ruling Eritrea.
Does the American government want us to give up our citizenship? It sure feels that way.
Labels: Bank of Israel, dual citizenship, Internal Revenue Service, Israeli banks, Israeli taxes, Swiss bank account, taxation
Uncle Sam wants YOU and the government of Israel is going to help him get you
If you're an American citizen living in Israel, the IRS wants to try to put the squeeze on you to pay for Obamacare, and
the government of Israel is going to help them.
The agreement will be an alternative to the provisions of the US
Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), which requires non-US
financial institutions to sign the agreement directly with the US
authorities to send them information about American customers.
As
"Globes" has reported, the new agreement will be reciprocal. "The
agreement will include an option under which, subject to certain
conditions, information will be sent from the US tax authorities to the
Israeli tax authorities about the income of Israeli residents in the
US," states the document.
The document predicts that the
agreement will boost Israel's tax revenues, because the Tax Authority
will obtain information about Israelis' financial assets in the US. It
cautions, however, that the amount of these revenues cannot be
estimated.
It seems, however, that the sharing of information between Israel and
the US is not equitable. While the Israeli authorities will
automatically send the US all information about US persons, the US
authorities will only send information to Israel in special cases.
Israel is not the first country to sign such an agreement: the US has
similar agreements with the UK, Denmark, France, Japan, and Spain, and
more countries have expressed a willingness to sign such agreements in
the future. The agreement with Israel will include provisions for
protecting the information's confidentiality and for restricting its use
by the IRS, due to privacy concerns.
If you're a US citizen living in Israel, you have a choice. You can give up your American citizenship. There's been
a lot of that since President Hussein Obama took office. But if you need to travel to the US for any reason, you may not want to give up that citizenship after all. There's recently been an
80% increase in rejections of applications from Israelis for US tourist visas.
Labels: dual citizenship, Internal Revenue Service, Israeli banks, Israeli taxes, taxation
Good news for Americans abroad: Republican National Committee calls for repealing FATCA
At its annual meeting in Washington on Friday, the Republican National Committee backed a resolution that
called for the repeal of the Federal Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), an act whose effective date has been delayed several times, and which has caused nightmares for American citizens residing abroad.
The 2010 law which goes into effect in July requires foreign
international financial institutions to provide the Internal Revenue
Service with information on U.S. citizens living abroad who hold more
than $50,000 in their accounts at the end of the year.
Congress
passed the law in an effort to crack down on Americans who evade paying
taxes by hiding financial assets overseas. But the law has been sharply
criticized by banks, libertarian groups, and Americans living in Canada
and overseas who say it's made it very difficult for them to open bank
accounts, obtain loans or conduct other financial transactions because
several foreign financial institutions won't take them on as clients
because they don't want to have to deal with the IRS.
Some U.S.
ex-patriot groups say the law is partially responsible for the increase
in the number of Americans renouncing their citizenship. That number has
grown from 742 in 2009 to more than 1,854 last year, according to State
Department figures.
By the way, I went to renew my US passport last week, and renouncing your American citizenship will set you back $450 (compared with $110 for renewing your passport). Just being informative....
Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/01/25/215744/rnc-approves-fatca-repeal-resolution.html#storylink=cpy
Labels: dual citizenship, Internal Revenue Service, taxation
US slammed for not helping 14-year old attempted murderer
A 'Palestinian' is seething that the United States is not doing enough to help his 14-year old son. The boy, who was born in New Orleans, has been
arrested for attempted murder for throwing stones at Israeli cars.
The IDF says that the
age of detainees is irrelevant when set against the fact that throwing stones
can kill, but human rights groups have condemned such jailings
nonetheless.
Muhammad Khalak was accused, along with two other youths, of
pelting both military and civilian vehicles outside the village of
Silwad.
The case was adjourned until next week.
Khalak’s father
Abdulwahab accused the United States of not doing enough to help his
son.
“The US government is obligated to do something for us, but it
doesn’t even care. They’ve lost the issue somewhere in their back pocket,” he
said, adding that consular authorities had visited the boy but not promised any
help.
The US Consulate in Jerusalem declined to comment, citing American
privacy laws. A US State Department spokesman in Washington on Wednesday said he
was unaware of the case.
Abdulwahab said his son, born in New Orleans,
was maltreated and had his teeth braces broken during the course of his arrest
in the early hours of April 5 in which, he said, heavily armed soldiers entered
the family home.
The IDF declined to comment on the
accusations.
Boo. Hoo. He's an attempted murderer. Since his father cannot or will not prevent him from being a menace to society, he should be locked up in a place where other people will be safe from him.
Labels: dual citizenship, Fatah Youth, stone throwers, United States
IDF banning dual citizens from submarines
There are hundreds of people in this country who hold dual citizenship - yours truly included. Now, the IDF has decided that people who are
dual citizens cannot be in its submarine unit.
The IDF now demands that new candidates for service in Israel's submarine fleet waive their foreign citizenship in order to join the elite unit.
The demand to concede one's dual citizenship is made at certain IDF combat units and for posts requiring high security clearance. Submarine fleet recruits receive a notification stating they must renounce their foreign citizenships in order to qualify for the prolonged training, as part of their security screenings.
Submarine fleet recruits who fail to complete the year-long training lose their foreign citizenships nonetheless.
The recent move raised strong opposition among fleet reserve officers,who claim that the new requirement will limit the number of volunteers to the unit.
"This is absurd. Many excellent recruits hold a dual citizenship but wish to serve in an elite unit such as submarine fleet,"an ex-officer said. "In a country that fights for every recruit, especially for elite units, this demand should not be made. Soldiers serve for only a few years, and must not pay by losing the foreign citizenship that can be used later in life."
Security officials say that in recent years there was a decline in number of units that demand a foreign citizenship waiver as part of the security clearance process. The criteria for receiving a security clearance are decided by the units, the Shin Bet and the National Security Council, according to the level of exposure to classified materials during one's service.
In many combat units, candidates are required to declare any foreign citizenship, but not to renounce it.
I may be missing something here, but I don't see the point of making these recruits give up their dual citizenship.
Labels: Dolphin class submarines, dual citizenship, IDF
