The U.S. government owns all of it's citizens???

a reply to: BasementWarriorKryptonite

The banks have to have someone versed in American tax laws if they do business with Americans. I read this one testimony where the bank took the name off the woman's account and sent her a second card in her husband's name!

If you have time on your hands Google this. People go through a whole lot because of this.

a reply to: Expat888

The rules have been changed. If you have one direct connective parent going back 10 generations, they got you. Its law as of last year.

originally posted by: ArchPlayer
a reply to: Expat888

The rules have been changed. If you have one direct connective parent going back 10 generations, they got you. Its law as of last year.

I was reading its because there were gazillionaires with dual citizenship being told by accountants that gots cheaper. The problem is its effectively put the Govt in everyones business and creating criminals out of thin air.

a reply to: Iamthatbish

Before I started going to university I worked for all four major and one smaller Australian bank. I can't say for sure what happens because there's obviously a lot I wouldn't know, but I'm almost certain that for the US government to know that an American citizen had money in an Australian bank account there is no way for them to find out unless the account holder tells them.

Again, I could be wrong, but I never encountered it. Our banking laws are very strict, though.

a reply to: 8675309jenny

Yes, congratulations, OP!

Great thread and information. I was just talking to someone recently who insisted that he wouldn't owe taxes on his last job since the company was based outside US, and he worked for them as a private contractor 1099, outside of the country, as well.

Doesn't matter. If you have a social security number, you are owned. That's your tracking number, to keep track of where you are, and what you'll owe. Great points, everyone, about the "exchange" of citizenship, if you need to be rescued, and have been taxed all your life because you are US property, with that tracking number. So, you've paid the price for your citizenship in taxation, but you need to be rescued, because of your US status (re: you get taken prisoner somewhere as a political tool) who is going to be there to come and get you? It's another example of governments and political and religious swirl and people just trying to live out their lives but get caught in that horror. Your extrapolation about patriotism, at that point, love and duty to God and country patriotism and all that crap is redefined. And then think about how many veterans of wars are treated after their service...

I recently had an appointment at the local SS office due to SSI disability benefits (and I am grateful that this government is helping me out, don't get me wrong). But the interesting thing is during the appointment to assess what benefits I qualified for, the worker, in the middle of asking about possible assets, asked if I'd been out of country in the last year. Raised a flag for me immediately.

What difference would that make, in assessing my benefits? It's a rhetorical question, btw. Being able to get benefits in my current situation is a wonderful thing, because I need that help right now. However, the exchange is whatever and wherever I spend that money will be closely tracked, just like my whereabouts. I don't dispute their right to do that, to a point, because that money should only apply to assisting in my cost of living, i.e., where I live and what the bills are. But if I travel, I will have to deal with extra scrutiny, by my own country. It's a no-no, really. I shouldn't be leaving the country at all if they are helping with my living expenses.

Anyhow, my point is about having a social security number and really what that is and what it means to your life. You are correct, also, that in renouncing your citizenship, there is then a stigma that you are some kind of traitor. Once our government started using language like "homeland," we were all in trouble,imho, It's real close to "fatherland." Both religiosity and nationalism, are applied in this way, the next step in that paradigm, is sacrificing your life either for God or for country, which really devalues your life as an individual.

At the time of Hitler's rise in Germany, sacrficing your life for the "fatherland" was viewed as the highest honor. Just as it applies in religiosity, the Muslim Brotherhood and all the other radical religious and political groups aligned with Islam, both dying and killing infidels is a duty and "highest honor." This is the radical end of the religious/political spectrum of the paradigm we're living in, and very dangerous to individual quality and value of life. Mixing the two (religious and political) always leads to this insanity, it seems.

a reply to: BasementWarriorKryptonite

Idk, I got so caught up in the testimonies. But there are banking laws at play.

I also agree with tetra. We are owned.

I've typed this before but it applies here too. While both my children and myself are millennials... when I was born my parents waited YEARS to fill for a SS number. My kids got them before they were a day old. They certainly weren't working at a day old!!

a reply to: BasementWarriorKryptonite

That is not true. The IRS can find you based on digital exchange now. It is not the 1970s - with the digital world, when you leave your passport is scanned FIRST. They know you gone. From there, they find out where you are at. Then if you are working overseas, they got their hand into your pockets, and will send your file to the special division that handles expatriates.

This is a serious thing that most Americans won't or don't know how to address. Simply put, nobody has talked about the pink elephant in the room, and that is that the country, at any time, can start collecting overseas assets via their expatriates. Also, in an extreme circumstance, if they decided to shut the borders down, they can CALL BACK ALL EXPATRIATES, their children, and those with Dual Citizenship whether or not they know they have it. Literally. Be aware that America has tax treaties with over 42 countries where the IRS and the foreign tax agencies exchange tax data on their residents.

"Many Americans think because they’re earning money in another country – and paying that country’s taxes – they have no liability when it comes to their home country and that they are not required to pay expat tax USA. That’s totally not the case. You still should file a return with the U.S. every year, whether you have income or not. You are not legally required to do so if you don’t owe U.S. taxes, but it’s an important preventative measure as there is a Statute of Limitations on tax disputes. If there is a dispute over back taxes, you start running out the clock on the Statute of Limitations if you file. If you don’t, the IRS can conduct a personal audit at any time in the future and you’ll be liable if they decide against you."

hxxp://money.cnn.com/2013/10/30/news/us-expat-tax/ has some nice stories about Expats abroad who cannot afford to stay abroad due to the convoluted rules and regulations about taxes.

a reply to: ArchPlayer

Oh, yeah…I forgot the passport issue, which is just like the ss number, another tracking method by those who own us.

linklinkE-
Home » News
State Department Puts Biometric Chips in U.S. Passports
July 10, 2013 - 2:29 PM
By Penny Starr

State Department Voluntarily Puts Biometric Chips in Passports of U.S. Citizens
U.S. passport with the biometric integrated circuit. (AP)

(CNSNews.com) – Since 2002, the federal government has required foreigners entering the United States through the State Department’s Visa Waiver Program to have a biometric integrated circuit in their passport. But the State Department itself extended that requirement in 2007 to cover U.S. passports issued to U.S. citizens.

When asked by CNSNews.com why the decision was made to include biometric chips in the passports of U.S. citizens, it was referred to the department website’s Frequently Asked Questions about electronic passports.

According to the website, the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002 required foreigners participating in the Visa Waiver Program--which permits entry into the United States without a VISA for a limited period of time--to have these integrated circuits or chips on their passport.

The wonderful "integrated circuit," has been with us since 1952, when it was first developed.
More:

“The chip securely stores the same data visually displayed on the photo pages of the passport, and additionally includes a digital photograph,” the website reports.

The website notes that “previously issued” passports without chips can still be used for travel, with the exception of VWP travelers. But a U.S. citizen cannot obtain a new passport now without a chip.

originally posted by: ArchPlayer
a reply to: BasementWarriorKryptonite

That is not true. The IRS can find you based on digital exchange now. It is not the 1970s - with the digital world, when you leave your passport is scanned FIRST. They know you gone. From there, they find out where you are at. Then if you are working overseas, they got their hand into your pockets, and will send your file to the special division that handles expatriates.

So countries tax departments all talk to eachother? I think I just threw up a little bit in my mouth.

a reply to: tetra50
The articles that I read about these new passports say they are best in a safe deposit box when you are in the country.

The new Smart ID is the same way.

a reply to: ArchPlayer

How reasonable is it to try and call back people that for whatever reason don't want to be here or be citizens? I understand its a possibility, it just seems like noone would come back.

a reply to: tetra50

Yep...touched right on that. You can be TRACKED. S&&F for the proof Tetra.

a reply to: BasementWarriorKryptonite

Throw up a little more. Repost: America has tax treaties with over 42 countries where the IRS and the foreign tax agencies exchange tax data on their residents. This is exactly why other countries just don't want to deal with America anymore.

originally posted by: BasementWarriorKryptonite
a reply to: DJW001

It doesn't seem so long ago - actually, it wasn't that long ago - that to be an American citizen was like being a Roman citizen way back when it meant you were almost untouchable and so, so lucky.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who's head is spinning with how fast that all unravelled. It's just...bewildering. How? How did it happen?

Can anyone even say when it happened - it just sort of crept up on everyone.

I think that was more US perception of themselves abroad. When I was 11, 40 years ago, on a family vacation in Mexico, for almost 2 months, in Puerto Vallarta, on the long slow leg of our travels home, was outside the motel, and was chased by a middle aged Mexican man, and it was terrifying. I felt he was going to kill me, he errupted in pursuit like in a movie, kind of exploded into it and cornered me on the second story balcony. And he really angrily yelling, Are you American? Are you American?

I said, No, No, I'm Canadian.

Then a big smile came over his face and he said, Si, Canadian? Si! And let me go.

I'd been playing with an American girl on that trip and suspected she might have died or been sacrificed or something if she'd been the one he cornered.

a reply to: Iamthatbish

Since when has America been reasonable Bish? I'm not suggesting expatriates being called back was an option. I was stating that America could do it MANDATORILY. Of course no one would go back, hence why they would make it mandatory. Besides, after the government got as much control over overseas interests and the expatriats were no longer worth anything, they would still punish them for leaving by throwing them under the jail. And in this political climate, and throw EBOLA in the mix, I'm not putting a damn thing past them.

originally posted by: MichiganSwampBuck
From what I have read, it is really hard to renounce your citizenship in the U.S.

If they get around to securing the borders, it will probably be to keep the citizens in, not illegals out.

By the time they get around to it -
there will be only one reason

and you are correct, it will be to force people to stay
don't think it can happen?

I lived close to the E/W Border in Germany and was one of a few westerners with open access to the communist side - and let me tell you it was bleak as the worst night shown in a horror movie just before the "surprise" killing

and everyone was afraid to talk to anyone in public
(oops that's the way it is in the US now because of all the people being thrown out of jobs for the slightest un-PC talk)

Actually, I think you have uttered a prophetic statement.

To all of you who have no intention of returning to the US, just renounce, it is easier than living in fear of the TSA,NSA,IRS who are intent on making the lives of average Americans look like the latest horror movie.

Be sure to legally change your name too and get a new passport under the new name.

That way you can still visit Disneyland if you choose, but you can also do that in Tokyo and Paris.
The Paris one is totally awesome and way better than the CA one.

originally posted by: ArchPlayer
a reply to: BasementWarriorKryptonite

Throw up a little more. Repost: America has tax treaties with over 42 countries where the IRS and the foreign tax agencies exchange tax data on their residents. This is exactly why other countries just don't want to deal with America anymore.

Yes. This addresses this, and it's a big factor motivating our "owners."

US anti-tax evasion legislation known as FATCA – the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act – has caused upheaval among the American expat community and dual Swiss-US nationals living in Switzerland where it was agreed in February.
“People are very angry and upset but some are really scared,” declared Jackie Bugnion, a director and tax specialist at American Citizens Abroad (ACA), a Swiss-based organisation that calls itself “The voice of Americans overseas”.
Alongside Eritrea, the United States is unique in requiring its overseas citizens – estimated to be around six million according to US State Department figures – to pay taxes.

At the individual level, on top of filing their annual tax return, a US citizen also needs to send the IRS a special form detailing their foreign assets if over a certain amount. This is in addition to FATCA’s older cousin Fbar – the Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts report – for anyone with savings of more than $10,000 abroad, which has to be filed each year.

Neither Hornung-Soukup nor Ungar’s case is unique or even rare. According to the Geneva-based expatriate advocacy group, American Citizens Abroad (ACA), which follows this issue closely, increasing numbers of US nationals in Switzerland are being denied banking services. However, according to ACA tax director Jackie Bugnon, the banks may not be totally to blame since they are “held hostage to US policies,” which require opening of American-held accounts to the scrutiny of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

The backlash against US clients has been building up since 2008, with the news that Switzerland’s largest financial institution, UBS, helped wealthy Americans hide billions of dollars in undisclosed offshore accounts to evade taxes. The bank had to pay a $780 million fine and release the names of 250 suspected American tax dodgers. In recent years, however, Swiss banks have stepped up their efforts to curb the flow of undeclared money from the U.S. and elsewhere.

The United States is the only developed country (the other one is Eritrea) that taxes its citizens who live overseas, even if their income is generated in a foreign country and they live abroad permanently. Due to the financial burden of double taxation – by their country of residence and the U.S.–growing numbers of US citizens take the drastic step of relinquishing their American nationality. This year, nearly 2,400 expatriates have given up their U.S. citizenship or turned in their green cards.

When I was a little boy in school saying the pledge of allegiance, I knew it was complete BS. Never saw myself as anything less than a citizen of the Earth with no ruler (except my parents for the time being) and no authority between me and the universe that created me. Always felt that way, and never fooled by the fake political facades and silly ego-maniacs wearing suits and trying to convince the world they are smart and know what they're doing. Never fooled by the fake facade of our cops or our military. Known it was power grabs the whole time.

Public school indoctrination = fail. National pride and blind allegiance to nations is against individual intelligence.

a reply to: Visitor2012

Hence why America is pushing for the less motivated home schooling exclusively on the internet initiative.