The Ex-Patriot Act: Proposed 2012 United States Federal Law

The United States is one of only two countries (the other is Eritrea, a military dictatorship) that taxes its citizens and long-term residents, no matter where they live. Even Americans who haven't lived in the United States in decades must pay tax on their worldwide income as if you never left. What's more, they must comply with complex reporting obligations, with violations subject to draconian civil and criminal penalties.

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When You Need to Disappear

Whistleblower Edward Snowden needs to disappear if he is to avoid kidnapping, assassination, extradition, or deportation to the United States.  If you're ever faced by a situation in which you need to disappear, right away, what would you do?

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How the USA Captures Whistleblowers and Other Political Enemies

Sitting in a restaurant in Belize City last week, I was mesmerized by television reports describing NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.  Most of the press coverage of Snowden's leaks has dealt with the breathtaking scope of the U.S. government surveillance he revealed.  But, I've been thinking about the reprisals that he's likely to face—and what options the United States has to force his return.

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No Statute of Limitations for Failing to File U.S. Tax Returns

It's not something you want to think about, but old taxes can come back to haunt you. This is especially true of returns you've never filed. The statute of limitations—that legal egg timer, normally set to three years—never starts to run on unreported activities. And there are cases now of the IRS going back decades, collecting big money—plus penalties and interest—on form-filing failures, accounting errors, and innocent mistakes by unwary people.

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U.S. Government Watchdog Agency Urges IRS to Intensify Efforts to Identify Offshore Tax Cheats

While you’d never know it reading recent headlines describing IRS targeting of conservative “Tea Party” type groups, a much larger IRS effort is underway to identify U.S. persons who have failed to disclose reportable and possibly taxable non-U.S. investments.

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Fractional Reserve Banking: It’s Not Your Money…You Only Think It Is!

In the aftermath of the forced confiscation of bank accounts in Cyprus, the question that clients ask me most is, “could it happen here?” “Here” is wherever the client lives or invests, and could be the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, or any other country.  The answer is yes. This result stems from the nature of our modern financial system, built as it is on the flawed foundation of a poorly-understood concept called “fractional reserve banking.”

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Cell Tracking for Dummies

No, I’m not saying that you’re a dummy.  What I am saying is that it’s easy for someone to monitor your cell phone activity.  Almost any dummy can figure it out,  hence the title "Cell Tracking For Dummies".

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Beep for the U.S. Citizen!

I arrived here in the Commonwealth of Dominica earlier this week.  It's always a pleasure to come here; I go through the "residents" line at passport control and the official stamps my Dominica passport with the notation "RR" for returning resident.

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