I just got a letter from the IRS: Update.
Posted April 22nd, 2008 by IamVoting4RonPaul
output
I made a clerical error in my 2006 taxes and was sent a "bill" by our government. I called the IRS and talked to one of their phone-flunkies and she couldn't help so passed me on to an IRS attorney who was surprisingly helpful -- she found the clerical error.
No problem -- fix the error and resubmit with a letter of explanation. I did and never heard back from the IRS (this is a year ago now).
Today I receive a letter which tells me I owe $3,147.05 in taxes, penalties and interest.
They never updated my file showing that a corrected return had been sent with zero taxes owing.
I only file (apart from the felony charge) so I can visit my family without any hassle. I don't even live in the US and earn no money there.
As long as I have a US passport and social security number, they own me.
Needless to say, I am royally pi$$ed and am very close to renouncing my citizenship.
Lisa C.
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Update:
The IRS received the tax return, with my corrections, nearly a year ago but failed to enter the corrections into the computer. They let it sit for a year to accrue penalties and interest before sending me a letter which took 22 days to arrive.
After a two-hour international phone call and fax -- the freaking government OWED ME $88!
Complete and utter waste of manpower and resources.
Abolish them Ron!!!
Lisa C.
p.s.--thanks for your support DPers
Bookmark/Search this post with:
tax court petition
file a tax court petition certified!, they hate people who will fight back, the internal robbing service is getting desperate, alot of people waking up to this snowball system our gov has placed on us, fight back and dont be scared.
Not sure what that is.
I'm on hold with the IRS as I type this -- we'll see what happens.
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Lisa C.
www.women4ronpaul.com
check out
http://livefreenow.org/ the guy who runs it is in my meetup group they are real nice people i wouldnt doubt if they knew some info or can give u to the right direction
Thank you ICON -- much appreciated.
I am going to call the IRS first thing and I have contacted a tax attorney. We'll see how that goes.
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Lisa C.
www.women4ronpaul.com
NO one can take your citizenship away!
NO one but yourself can take your citizenship away if you were born in the United States. If they do it's by you own consent. Show me where in the constitution they can take your citizenship away for not paying an IRS bill.
I never said the IRS can take your citiizenship away.
I said that there is a rule for people who WANT to RENOUNCE their citizenship.
If you leave the US and the IRS think that you're leaving to avoid taxes, they will call you an "economic citizen" even though you are no longer a US citizen. They don't even have to have proof. You might want to leave the US because you love snails and want to spend the rest of your life snail farming in France. YOUR reason doesn't matter to them. You have to be worth something for them to do this to you.
This "economic citizenship" means that you must continue filing your US axes for ten years even though you are no longer a US citizen. You will not be able to enter the US if you don't comply AND you could be up for felony tax evasion.
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Lisa C.
www.women4ronpaul.com
Ok-
say I wanted to move to Australia on an intended marriage visa- get married within 9 months and am a legal citizen of Australia- am I still bound to sending the IRS my Australian equivalent of a w-2? Seems absurd if Im not using the public services (roads, military etc etc).
It doesn't work that fast.
Firstly, make sure you get married in Australia on a fiancee visa. Once you are married, you apply for permanent residency. After 4 years, you can apply for citizenship. So if all goes well, and you don't have any problems, the whole process will take about 4.5 to 5 years roughly.
At that time, you can renounce your US citizenship if you choose. You go into the consulate with your US passport and your Australian passport and make an official declaration in front of a consular officer and, most likely, sign a form and surrender your US passport.
Only at that time will you be free from filing US taxes. Although, to make sure you are "square" with the IRS, you would probably want to file for the tax year leading up to you renouncing your citizenship.
You send the IRS the same tax forms as everyone else but you don't attach anything because there is no w-2 equivalent here. It's basically on the honor system, but the US and Australia have an arrangement. The Australian government will give the US tax information if you are a not yet an Australian citizen. The IRS "gives" Americans overseas an $80,000 tax credit so you only pay taxes on income over that amount and you get credit for having paid taxes to Australia. We also don't have to get our taxes in until June (you still have to pay in April if you owe, however). Good luck finding a tax preparer that knows how to deal with expat taxes. I had to pay $500 -- I only owed $42 (this is for 2007 -- not last year which is causing me grief).
Yes, it is absurd.
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Lisa C.
www.women4ronpaul.com
Thank You : )
Im planning to go back in Oct 08 with any luck the process will be relatively smooth : )
Are you coming on a fiancee visa?
Just have plenty of proof of your relationship and there should be no problems.
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Lisa C.
www.women4ronpaul.com
yes Ill be coming on a fiancee visa
Do you have any idea how long it will take to process? We plan on submitting it in May at the latest and Im just guessing that it should be accepted and I can book flight by Oct. I have no criminal history and have held a US passport since '88 and renewed in 06 -im really an open book- Im counting on the fact that US and Oz are pretty cooperative with one-another to make it a smoother deal than if I were coming for political asylum from a different country or some sketchy motivation. Just a simple "unna be together" kinda thing. I dont know what factors determine what makes it a lengthier process for some- but Im crossing my fingers that we are a shoo-in.
The fiancee visa was pretty quick.
I submitted it at the Australian consulate in LA. My husband-to-be and I started putting things in both of our names and had letters written for us plus cards from our engagement party, etc. They like to see some sort of relationship history. We only knew each other for a few weeks before we got engaged but took the time to gather quite a bit of info. Since you are coming on a fiancee visa, your fiancee is financially responsible for you until you get your permanent residency. You will have a hard time getting work until you get married and get residency. Temp work was all I could get because most companies have a policy about hiring and residency. Fiancee visas just don't cut it with most. Anyway, they will look at whether or not he/she can support you. That would be the biggest hurdle I suppose.
Like I said, make sure you get married in Australia or it can cause all sorts of immigration problems (been there, done that). If you do decide to get married somewhere else, go straight to the consulate with your marriage cert. and you will have your status changed to perm. res. If you get married in the US and show up in Australia, you will have breached your fiancee visa and they can send you home, married or not.
Let me know what happens.
Good luck.
___________
Lisa C.
www.women4ronpaul.com
I was a month in Perth (all of Feb and into March of this year)
living with my fiancee (listed the adress on the custom forms) We'll be "together" one year as of Apr 26 - Ive saved every email (6 a day) and it chronicles our entire courtship and we will spend 3 1/2 weeks together in the US in Jun/July this Summer & meet MY family. I'm hoping that will be enough to demonstrate its not a "mail-order bride " thing : ) I dont know what else we could give em !
Perth is great. Too bad it's full of Western Australians.
I lived in Subiaco for two years. The weather is like California and the beaches are awesome. Too bad it's SOOOOOO far away from anything. It's not like you can hop in the car and in two or three hours be in another city or state. Two or three hours out of Perth gets you basically no where (although the Margaret River area is nice). Can be a bit claustrophobic at times. Make sure you get up to Broome.
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Lisa C.
www.women4ronpaul.com
I took tons of pics Margaret Riv !
and Busselton - the wine region is amazing and I agree the weather was like my native So Cal (im in SW washington state now- rains 10 mos outta the year and I hate it : )). We are looking into making a last move to Tassie within 5 years. The beaches I saw on the WA coast were the most beautiful Id ever seen ! (I didnt have a chance to see any of the rest of the country- just alot of WA)
Just my 5 cents (as you know, no pennies here)
It is a good idea for your both to start fresh in a new spot and if that is part of your medium-range plans anyway, it's a good idea.
My husband was from New South Wales and the Western Australians were so rude to him because he was from "over east". They have a real inferiority complex and consider themselves Western Australians first. It all just got a bit petty after a while. I couldn't get a job and even had an HR Director escort me outside so she could "politely" tell me that I would never get a job in Perth because I was American. She really thought she was being kind and doing me a favor.
In the end, she did do me a favor because I retired at 25 and having had a job since.
It's not easy being an American here. I'm not "boo-hooing" it's the facts. I've come across many Americans in my time here and most of them would like to go home. There was a study done in South Australia that showed Americans and Japanese are the first to leave. 75% of Americans leave after two years. I"ve wanted to chuck it in many times. If it wasn't for my husband I would have left after my first three months. I was told by an American here that it would take ten years to even start feeling at home here -- he was right.
The "holiday" will wear off after about three months. You'll have good days and bad days. There used to be a great American club in Perth -- try to find them.
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Lisa C.
www.women4ronpaul.com
Gawd its funny you mention all that : )
My inlaws in Mandurah are so region -snobbish its not even funny. Lovely people and at first I attributed it to simple civic pride- but they began to sound militant lol Its like theres WA and "other" to them. Ive not yet had the pleasure of being called "bloody yank" but Im told to expect that soon enough. I was there over the days preceding and after "Sorry Day" and it seems that people were in a more than hospitable mood- either because they were into it and feeling nice- or not into it and were just glad Im not Aboriginal haha- either way I have funds set aside for an emergency return flight juuuuust in case : )
What until you're called a "Sepie"
Sepie --> Septic Tank --> Yank
They love to shorten things and play with words.
Sorry to tell you but your future in-laws are typical Western Australians. It gets a bit sad over time.
That's why I said starting over in a fresh place (Tassie) might be a good idea.
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Lisa C.
www.women4ronpaul.com
Hillary Clinton
Fortune Favors the Bold
sponsored a bill that would require men corresponding with women who are foreign nationals online to prove that they are not sex offenders before they are allowed to communicate
Hillary just wishes someone would perve on her.
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Lisa C.
www.women4ronpaul.com
I am a citizen. My parents made sure of that.
Do you pay sales tax ZEITGEIST? If so, you are a taxpayer as well.
I only play their game because I value seeing my family. They can pick me up at immigration if I do not file, so I do.
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Lisa C.
www.women4ronpaul.com
they
make up things as they go along they say I owe 3,120,000 and this is the state tax people.
Tomforrow they
do that on purpose to get you to dispute the amount. If you dispute the amount then they have on the record that you owe them something!
They sent me one along time ago and I would not address it with them
State tax? Wow.
I refuse to pay state tax. I don't live in that state anymore and I pay plenty of sales tax when I visit.
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Lisa C.
www.women4ronpaul.com
Lisa, I know you live
overseas, but where? And why do you have to file tax forms, unless you are in the military, or your spouse is? Our government sucks, we need a revolution, what do you think?
Hi Tess, see my response below.
I thought we WERE the revolution?
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Lisa C.
www.women4ronpaul.com
This is what sucks
your right, but prove it.
As I understand it,
A US citizen can live aboard and not pay taxes.
But if they fail to file, they may lose their citizenship and if visiting the US be jailed.
This does not exist with any other country in the world.
Anyone know different?
***************************************************
http://www.youtube.com/wa...
http://www.youtube.com/wa...
Watch and feel the power!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Filing and paying are two different things.
We HAVE to file but we don't necessarily have to pay.
In the US, if you earn less than, say, $13,000 you don't have to file. If you are an American living overseas you MUST file even if you earn ZERO -- different rules. If you don't file, you can be brought up on felony charges. Most Americans living overseas don't know this and don't file but the IRS is getting cute. They are waiting for people like myself to apply for a new US passport (due to it expiring). I would send my old passport in to Sydney and they will now do an IRS check on me. This is how they will catch people. Too bad for Sally, the stay-at-home mom/US citizen who earns no income, she will get caught, fined, and who knows what else?
Americans are taxed on their worldwide income. If you go visit a friend in Canada, Ireland, India, where ever, and babysit for an hour and they pay you $5 for your trouble -- you must report that to the IRS.
It does occur in one other country -- Libya.
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Lisa C.
www.women4ronpaul.com
How will they know that I am living overseas and not in the US.
I mean if a person makes less than 13,000 and does not have to file then how would the IRS know that you are living overseas and chosing not to file insead of living in the US and making less than 13,000? Besides I thought that an individual is not required to file a tax return legaly? The constitution stats only corporations must file a tax return. States that have a law saying an individual must file only aplys in the case that indivduals are already required to file on the federal level. By signing a tax return you are waving your 5th amendment rights to not give incriminating evidenve against your self. Legaly the 5th amendment protects you from having to file, but if you sign the tax return then you wave your 5th amendment and every thing on the return will be used against you and that is where the IRS finds mistakes and prosecutes.
Tell your story to the IRS when they pick you up.
I do not wish to get "picked-up". If you have been reading, you'll know why.
How do they know your not in the US???
When you fly out of the country, your passport is scanned. When you enter the country, your passport is scanned. They know you have left.
Secondly, your passport is only good for ten years. You must renew it. If you live overseas, that means dealing with a US consulate. The IRS has started checking passport applications against tax returns.
If you leave and never intend on setting foot in the US, it's not a problem as long as you have a 2nd passport. You cannot renounce your US citizenship unless you have taken up citizenship somewhere else.
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Lisa C.
www.women4ronpaul.com
How will they know that I am living overseas and not in the US.
I mean if a person makes less than 13,000 and does not have to file then how would the IRS know that you are living overseas and chosing not to file insead of living in the US and making less than 13,000? Besides I thought that an individual is not required to file a tax return legaly? The constitution stats only corporations must file a tax return. States that have a law saying an individual must file only aplys in the case that indivduals are already required to file on the federal level. By signing a tax return you are waving your 5th amendment rights to not give incriminating evidenve against your self. Legaly the 5th amendment protects you from having to file, but if you sign the tax return then you wave your 5th amendment and every thing on the return will be used against you and that is where the IRS finds mistakes and prosecutes.
double
double
double
double
So you are screwed?
The Fed isn't even a government body but decides you aren't an American?
That has to be crap!
***************************************************
http://www.youtube.com/wa...
http://www.youtube.com/wa...
Watch and feel the power!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No, not the Fed, the IRS.
They can hold you hostage as an "economic citizen" even after you renounce your citizenship and hand back your US passport. They only have to believe you are leaving the US for tax reasons -- no proof is needed by them and you might be totally innocent of anything. After the 10 years is up, you can visit the US on your new country's passport -- up until then you can't visit your family. Hope grandma doesn't die during that time -- too bad for you.
As an aside, you do know your passport doesn't belong to you, don't you?. It is the property of the US government and you must surrender it if asked to do so. They grant you the "privilege" of holding a passport. Most people who apply for one get one, but the government can say "no" for whatever reason.
No, I'm not screwed yet. I have proof that I sent them the corrected IRS form. They dropped the ball, not me -- but, hey, they're the IRS -- they don't make mistakes.
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Lisa C.
www.women4ronpaul.com
Un freaking believable for a "free" society!
***************************************************
http://www.youtube.com/wa...
http://www.youtube.com/wa...
Watch and feel the power!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PS. The IRS and the FED are the same.
***************************************************
http://www.youtube.com/wa...
http://www.youtube.com/wa...
Watch and feel the power!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That's discouraging
Try resending the corrected return, hopefully that would help.
Libera me, let the truth break, what my fears make--Leslie Phillips
I will try and call them tonight when it's morning in DC.
The people on the phone at the IRS sound like the same people you order burgers from at the drive-through. Affirmative action at its finest.
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Lisa C.
www.women4ronpaul.com
Pretty bad when US citizens
Pretty bad when US citizens have to fear their own government.
I guess we know exactly where we fit, in this Jefferson quote...
"When the government fears the people, there is liberty. When the
people fear the government, there is tyranny."...Thomas Jefferson
http://groups.yahoo.com/g...
Bingo. Our Founding Fathers
Bingo. Our Founding Fathers are rooting us on from Heaven. We are following in their footsteps and I'm proud to be a Freedom and Ron Paul supporter.
They won't let you renounce your citizenship...
...while you still "owe" the bastards. But it's a damned good idea (along with losing the SS # and "passport") - AFTER you pay the extortion...
http://groups.yahoo.com/g...
I'm not paying it.
I owe them nothing. They will get nothing.
Yes, it's called economic citizenship. It is mainly to stop high net worth Americans from leaving the country. If you have a high income, high assets, or both you can renounce your citizenship but the IRS will claim you as an economic citizen for 10 years. You will not be allowed to enter the US during this time.
In essence, you are no longer a citizen of the United States but a citizen of the Internal Revenue Service.
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Lisa C.
www.women4ronpaul.com
A Small Ray of Hope
.
If the economy crashes and plunges the U.S. and the world into a worse-than-1929 scenario, I don't think you'll have to worry about the IRS for a little while. Certainly not for ten years.
Zenpiper, the IRS will be the last "man" standing.
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Lisa C.
www.women4ronpaul.com
Zenpiper, the IRS will be the last "man" standing.
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Lisa C.
www.women4ronpaul.com
Oooh...
That's a hell of a situation to be in.
We can all say what needs to be done, but who here led by example today?