Imagine going backrupt years ago, then the government decides to un-do that decision and again make you liable for that debt.

Anderson, 51, has been in federal custody since he was arrested last month at Dulles International Airport. He will be facing charges of concealing nearly $450 million of his personal income in offshore shell corporations and for failure to pay over $200 million he owed in federal and District of Columbia taxes for over two decades.

In bond hearing last week both Anderson, who was attempting to negotiate his release on bond, and his attorney argued that he had been a lifelong resident of the Washington D.C. area and that he intended to defend himself against government accusations. In an interview with the Washington Post, Mr. Anderson stated the government's charges were inaccurate and that not all of his income was for his personal use, but also for the benefit of a charitable foundation that he managed.

Judge Paul L. Friedman ruled that there was “ample reason to doubt that Mr. Anderson would appear for trial if released.” He further added that the grand jury indictment portrayed Anderson as a man who moved hundreds of millions of dollars out of the United States through a web of corporations located in Panama, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the British Virgin Islands and also kept this hidden for more than a decade.

Judge Friedman also noted that Anderson had concealed his identity by using aliases and had many properties and connections in other countries, thereby making it easy for him to hide from U.S. law enforcement.

“The nature and the circumstances of the offense with which Mr. Anderson is charged demonstrate not only his considerable incentive to flee and evade prosecution, but also his considerable experience in conducting business abroad and moving money and assets across borders without detection,” the judge wrote.

Frustrating, yes, but blaming the UK isn't really the solution.

If the United States didn’t require expatriate citizens to file and pay income tax, then there wouldn’t be an issue. People would emigrate (more than likely to their ancestral homeland) and that would be it. It is the requirement to pay income tax after they have emigrated that makes people do this.

With regards to any US located investment for a foreigner, unless you are in a restricted country like Cuba or North Korea, when you dispose of the assets, there is a withholding tax on the gain (not the principal, just the increase in value). This can be returned based on your eventual taxation rate (if you had a losses that covered your gains) for that year, but to do that, you need to file an income tax return for the US for that year.

I don’t have anything invested directly in the UK so I am not aware of how it works there.

“Even better, Canada’s Legislature amended the Retail Sales Tax Act earlier this year to be retroactive effective May 1997. The amendment specifically affected certain companies which had to come out of pocket for 12-years worth of tax that they had previously been exempt from. Ouch.”

It is a little big disingeneous to state this without the background:
a) It was NOT Canada’s legislature, but the province of Ontario
b) It was not to collect sales tax from 13 years past, it is a tax that businesses have already been paying and the law was a clarification/change to address a court decisiont (you might find it sneaky, but my point in stating this is that companies are not having to go back and pay back sales tax for 13 years as they have already been paid. Actually in Canada you don’t have to keep records for more than 7 years, so it would be impossible go back that far and collect).

It is one thing to complain about the feeling of being overtaxed, but commenting on things without bringing the context goes a long way to discredit your points to anyone that already doesn’t feel that way. If all you want to do is preach to the choir, then fine.

And as for the $23,000, that's not a lot of $$ when they are making so much from their casino that hardly a one of them ever works. I just went to their shop, and guess what – not one Native American clerking there. They hire others at minimum wage. Having been to other reservations elsewhere, I don't believe any “pleas of poverty” from any of them. Elsewhere, not a one of them worked, either.

It seems to be a consistent theme in US legislation to try to come up with doublespeak abbrevations that no one would dare to oppose without being painted as HEARTless (excuse the pun..).

How much risk is a foreigner getting themselves into by having a precious metal account with places like KITCO in the US and Goldmoney from the UK.

I assume governments are more likely to impose capital controls on non resident, overseas investors/foreigners, as we don’t vote.

Thanks
D

As for Canadian perfidy, beware any govt which enacts retroactive laws. Anytime what is legal today could be rendered criminal/taxable/whatever & punishable tomorrow creates only a climate of fear, distrust, graft & subterfuge.

Another perfidy is the elimination of statutes of limitations ex post facto. Example from the US: Congress eliminated the statute of limitations on student loans as well as eliminated them from the possibility of bankruptcy.

Are you thinking you're glad borrowers have to cough up and repay their student loans? Well, you're an idiot – the govt went after people who repaid their loans years ago, and no longer had their paperwork since the statute of limitations (7 years) had passed since completing repayment. I personally know several people who had paid off loans in full years earlier who got hit for repayment all over again – plus interest and penalties! One person I know got hit for over $20,000 – they had only borrowed $1000 back in the 1970's and repaid it by about 1981. Without the long-discarded old paperwork, they could no longer prove it had already been repaid. What if they did that to your income taxes, and you had to now prove you were all paid up from back, oh, say, 1980, 1990, or even 2000?

Whats youre take?