Taxing Away Citizenship: Do American-Canadian dual citizens consider their status to be an inconvenience? by James Eastman-Timmons A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Sociology Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario ©2015 James Eastman-Timmons ABSTRACT Despite growing tolerance of dual citizenship in an era of globalization, this status continues to be problematized by the governments of both the United States and Canada. This is evident in recent changes to Canadian Bill C-24, in which new grounds have been established to revoke the Canadian citizenship of ‘dual citizens,’ and by recent political discourse, which depicts dual citizens as Canadians of ‘convenience’ with ‘thin’ attachments to the nation. This thesis explores how dual citizenship may instead be ‘inconvenient’ for particular citizen subjects, namely ‘American-Canadians.’ To demonstrate this, twenty-three narratives of current and former ‘American-Canadian’ dual citizens were analyzed. It would seem paradoxical to suggest that an individual with a robust citizenship on each end of the hyphen could experience inconveniences. Nonetheless, I will demonstrate how the citizenship-based tax laws of the United States create insecurities for this population and lead to impulses to renounce this ‘robust’ citizenship. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Throughout my time at Carleton, both as an undergraduate and graduate student, the support of Dr. Daiva Stasiulis has greatly assisted my growth as an academic. I would like to offer my sincerest thanks to Daiva for her care and guidance as a supervisor. As well, I am grateful to have received her helpful ideas and comments on earlier drafts, all of which made this work possible. I also thank Dr. Amrita Hari for her assistance with this thesis project. Particularly for her insights, thoughtful comments, and encouragement throughout the writing process. She helped make writing this thesis a positive experience. I am incredibly grateful to Paula Whissell for her advice and kindness in moments of stress. Whenever I had a question, she had the answer. Thanks to Kim Mitchell for her encouragement during my time as an undergraduate and graduate student. I would also like to thank the excellent faculty in the Sociology Department, at Carleton University; particularly, Dr. Xiaobei Chen, Dr. Neil Gerlach, and Dr. Augustine Park. I would not be a graduate student without their assistance, time, and energies. I would like to acknowledge Carleton University for providing me with an opportunity to learn, to work in a professional setting as a teaching assistant, and for financial assistance. I would also like to gratefully acknowledge all the participants of this study, who willingly offered their time and shared their experiences, as well as, Max Reed and Steve Katz, at SKL Tax, for volunteering their time and for offering their expertise. My thanks to Anne Bartlett for helping me stay on the pathway to life as a University student, and to Bill and Lynn Morrison for all their help; particularly, when I first arrived in Ottawa to begin my University studies. I am grateful to my colleagues, Victoria Spofford and Steven Ang, for the great conversations—both academic and personal—for the laughs, and friendship. I am also grateful to Nico Church, Josh Lanthier, and Chris Zettel for the fellowship. Thanks as well, to André Morrill for being a great roommate and friend over the years. I cannot thank enough Arianna Di Giacomo-Maika for calling me out on my overuse of parentheses, for the coffee breaks, but most of all for being a continual source of positivity and support. I am thankful to all my extended family dispersed across Canada. Lastly, I owe my deepest thanks to my family: Kate, Alex, Lauren, and to my mother, Deborah. Their continual support, encouragement, and love—whether in person or from a distance—has led me to where I am today. I cherish everything they have done for me. I am humbled by all the support from those mentioned and those who remain unmentioned, but of course, I take full responsibility for any shortcomings of this work. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 1 Situating the Study .................................................................................................................................... 2 Taxing Away Citizenship: Thesis Outline ................................................................................................ 5 Self-reflexivity: ‘Locating Myself’ ........................................................................................................... 7 I A HISTORY OF AMERICANS IN CANADA .................................................................................... 11 1.1 U.S./Canada Comparisons ................................................................................................................ 12 1.2 A History of American Migration to Canada .................................................................................... 15 1.3 What is Dual Citizenship? ................................................................................................................. 18 1.4 Canadian Nationality Laws: Implications for Dual Citizens ............................................................ 20 1.5 American Nationality Laws: Implications for Dual Citizens ............................................................ 22 II CONSENTING TO CITIZENSHIP: REVOCATION V. RENUNCATION/RELINQUISHMENT .................................................................................................................................................................... 30 2.1 Citizenship Loss: Revocation, Renunciation, and Relinquishment .................................................. 32 2.2 Citizenship Obtainment: Birthright, and Naturalization ................................................................... 40 2.3 Being Designed out of Citizenship: Theoretical Framework ............................................................ 42 2.4 Who are ‘Accidental Americans?’ .................................................................................................... 50 III THE FOREIGN ACCOUNTS TAX COMPLIANCE ACT (FATCA) AND TAX OBLIGATIONS FOR NON-RESIDENT U.S. CITIZENS ................................................................... 55 3.1 Citizenship-based Taxation v. Residence-based Taxation ................................................................ 57 3.2 Penalties for Inadequately Filing the FBAR ..................................................................................... 62 3.3 ‘Amnesty Programs’ ......................................................................................................................... 63 3.4 The Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act and the Intergovernmental Agreement ....................... 64 3.5 Inconveniences for Americans Living Abroad ................................................................................. 67 IV ‘I’M A MINNOW’: NARRATIVES OF INCONVENIENCE ........................................................ 73 4.1 ‘Affective’ State(s)/Citizen Relations ............................................................................................... 74 4.2 Narrative Analysis: What is it, and Why Analyze Narratives? ......................................................... 76 4.2.1 Narrative analysis: further theoretical musings..................................................................... 79 4.3 Data Collection: Participants ............................................................................................................ 81 4.3.1 Data collection: procedure .................................................................................................... 88 4.3.2 Data collection: ethics ........................................................................................................... 91 4.4 The Listening Guide: Analytical Framework ................................................................................... 92 4.5 Michael—Current ‘American-Canadian’ Dual Citizen .................................................................... 96 iii 4.6 Richard—Former ‘American-Canadian’ Dual Citizen .................................................................... 98 4.7 John—Former ‘American-Canadian’ Dual Citizen ........................................................................ 101 4.8 Sandra—Currently Holds Multiple Citizenships (i.e., American, British, and Canadian) ............. 102 4.9 Distancing Narratives ...................................................................................................................... 104 4.9.1 Narratives of the state ‘chasing whales’ and ‘catching minnows’ ...................................... 107 4.9.2 Narratives of parents and their U.S. citizen children .......................................................... 110 4.9.3 Narratives of inconvenience: the ‘affects’ of U.S. citizenship-based tax policy ................ 113 V ACTIVE CITIZENS, REMAKING CITIZENSHIP ....................................................................... 121 5.1 Activist and Dissident Citizenship .................................................................................................. 123 5.2 Remaking Citizenship ....................................................................................................................