Monthly Archives: September 2017

US Consulates and US Embassy in Canada cease to offer US Social Security Assistance

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I received the following email today from the U.S. State Department: notifications@state.gov. It is clear that the U.S. will no longer be offering “Social Security Services” from the U.S. Consulates or Embassy in Canada. I presume this also means that the Social Security numbers cannot be obtained from U.S. Consulates in Canada. Assuming this to be true, this is one more big headache for Americans in Canada who are attempting to become U.S. tax compliant.
What follows it the bulletin from the State Department:
_________________________________________________________________________________________
United States Embassy Ottawa, Canada
Notice Regarding Social Security Services
September 29, 2017
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has consolidated its overseas operations and will no longer be offering social security assistance through the United States Embassy or Consulates in Canada. Effective October 1, 2017, individuals residing in Canada who require social security services or have questions about SSA benefits must contact their nearest SSA field office in the United States.
Please be advised that as of October 1, the United States Embassy and Consulates across Canada can no longer accept telephone calls, emails, or walk-in consultations regarding Social Security issues.
For questions regarding your application or your benefits, residents in Canada can find their designated field office on the SSA website: https://www.ssa.gov/foreign/canada.htm. SSA may require you to appear in person to submit your SSA application.
For general information on SSA services for people living outside the United States, please visit https://www.ssa.gov/foreign/.
If you are already receiving SSA benefits payments, there will be no change in the method of distribution of those payments.
For further information for American citizens in Canada:
• See the Department of State travel website for the Worldwide Caution, Travel Warnings, Travel Alerts, and Canada Country Specific Information.
• Enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive security messages and make it easier to locate you in an emergency.
• The U.S. Embassy in Ottawa is located at 490 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 1G8, and is open from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. You can reach us at 1-613-688-5335 during business hours. If you are a U.S. citizen in need of urgent assistance outside of business hours, the emergency after-hours number for the U.S. Embassy is 1-613-238-5335.
• Call 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the United States and Canada or 1-202-501-4444 from other countries from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).

What's a #GreenCard anyway? It's NOT what you don't know. It's what you know that isn't true!

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Introduction – It’s about the right to live permanently in the United States
There are tens of thousands of people who have “Green Cards” who live outside the United States. Some of them want to maintain their Green Cards which they understand to mean maintaining their right to live permanently in the United States. Otherwise do NOT want to maintain their Green Cards meaning they do NOT want to maintain their right to live permanently in the United States.
The “Green Card” itself, is different from the “right to live permanently in the United States”.
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Travel Documents: Canadian citizens need either a U.S. or Canadian passport to enter Canada by air (or by land)

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This post is a reminder for Canadian citizens traveling outside of Canada who wish to return to Canada by air! YOU NEED THE RIGHT KIND OF “TRAVEL DOCUMENT” TO RETURN TO CANADA!
Section 6 of Canada’ Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the right of Canadian citizens to enter Canada.

6. (1) Every citizen of Canada has the right to enter, remain in and leave Canada.

Yet, certain travel documents are required as proof of identity and citizenship.
There is a distinction between a “travel document” and one’s “citizenship or immigration status”. The “travel document” is generally considered to be “proof” of the “citizenship status”. A Canadian “permanent resident” card, which is valid for at most five years, is proof of having the status of “permanent resident” of Canada. A U.S. Green Card, which is subject to renewal, is a document that is proof of having the status of being a lawful permanent resident of the United States. All travel documents are valid for finite periods of time and must be renewed.
The expiration of the “travel document” does not affect the “citizenship” or “immigration” status. For example, the failure to renew the U.S. Green Card does NOT mean that you lose the right to live permanently in the United States. (You will be required to file U.S. taxes until your status as a lawful permanent resident has been terminated. The recent cases of Mr. Topsnik, discussed here and here, confirm that Green Card holders are subject to U.S. taxation until their status as permanent residents has been terminated.)
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Part 2: The problem is NOT “worldwide taxation”. The problem is imposing “worldwide taxation” on people who don’t live in South Africa or the USA and are “tax residents’ of other countries.

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As goes taxation, so goes civilization.

This is Part 2 of my post discussing the South Africa tax situation. Part 1 is here.

This is a follow up to my post exploring whether South Africa is moving to a tax system that is based on “citizenship-based taxation” or (in the case of the United States of America) “taxation-based citizenship”. That post was the result of a “special request”. The response from that first post included:

I now understand the difference between the SA system and the US. I believe that the similarity that caused the consternation when this first came up was the issue of “tax residency”. CBT mandates that those declared US citizens by the US are simultaneously declared US tax residents. In a similar fashion SA has a concept of tax residency that *does* include some people who do not physically reside in SA but NOT just because they’re citizens. I get it. Thanks again for clarifying this!
That being said, I think the term “tax residency” is crazy. I wish that someone with the power to influence terminology in the general usage of language could come up with something that accurately describes the basis on which a person can be taxed by a country in which that person does not live. Taxes don’t reside; people do, and they can only live one place at a time. Any ideas? 🙂

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Part 1: South Africa is NOT attempting to compete with USA by challenging the US monopoly on citizenship-based taxation

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As goes taxation, so goes civilizations

This is Part 1 of my posts discussing the South Africa situation. Part 2 is here.

There have been a number of suggestions in various blogs that South Africa is somehow taxing on the basis of citizenship. American citizens (whether by accident or design) are most sensitive to any discussion of “citizenship-based taxation”. After all, U.S. tax policies combined with FATCA (which is part of the Internal Revenue Code) are destroying the lives of those who have entered the U.S. tax system.

I recently received an email that asked:

They’re talking about SA expats, people who no longer live in SA, being taxed by SA. Like us, these people are residents and earners in countries other than their country of origin (and, I would assume, citizenship). http://www.internationalinvestment.net/regions/south-african-expats-hit-tax-exemption-removal-plans/ If this is not CBT, on what basis are they being taxed? If SA is just wanting to expand its definition of tax residency on what basis do they feel they can apply this to someone who no longer lives in their country?

The short answer …

South Africa imposes “worldwide taxation” on those who are “tax residents” of South Africa. The rules for an individual to qualify as a “tax resident” of South Africa are here. South African “tax residency” is irrelevant to citizenship.

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