Navigating U.S. Expat Taxation, And The Fight To Establish A Fair Tax System || Gabriel

[00:00:22] Here comes The Fix with episode number 46. It is good to be back. I sure hope you guys are doing well and this finds you in good spirits. This is Giants Amongst Us where we share in the unique human experience and this is where you're going to hear real stories that are told by real people. People just like yourself.

[00:00:48] There is no Hollywood flicker. These are raw, authentic testaments from your peers, those that have overcome struggle, transcended challenges and setbacks and started to create new experiences and new realities for themselves. And they're meant to be examples for anyone right now who feels as if their life is hopeless, who feel as if they have no value, no drive, no reason to carry on.

[00:01:17] We've been there. I've been there. Let these stories remind you of the fact that you do have value. Your life is worth it. Remember that. So after you listen to this story, I encourage you to go back and listen to past guests talk about their own struggles, how they were able to pull themselves out, what worked for them.

[00:01:37] These are meant to encourage you to inspire, to inspire, to give you new perspective and just remind you of the fact that there's a giant within all of us. Check out the website. It's updated on a biweekly basis. That is giantsamongstus.org. Again, it's giantsamongstus.org. You'll be able to listen to past stories. People from all walks of life share. Their life's experiences would work for them.

[00:02:06] And maybe something you hear resonates with you. Something you hear might be relatable to you and your circumstance or your situation. And that could be a pivotal point. Sometimes it takes an outside perspective to put things in line or to clarify something that we're dealing with. Each one teach one. That's what the show is about. We're building together. We're growing together. We're embracing this unique human experience together.

[00:02:30] And I'd like to thank everybody who has left some warm words. Jesse, Kelly, Alicia and Gwen, Crystal, Ben Casso, Ryan. Thank you all. Appreciate you. If anybody is listening or has listened to the show and you appreciate the stories and the words that have been shared.

[00:02:52] One thing you can do to help support the show free of charge. It's not going to cost you a dime, maybe just a few minutes of your time. You can either write a review or you can leave a rating one or the other. This is going to do two things. One, it'll help these stories and these life experiences from different guests sharing their struggles, challenges, but also how they were able to change their life and to create something better for themselves.

[00:03:20] It'll help these stories fall on the ears of new listeners. And another thing it'll do is it'll help us on the back end, create a beautiful listening experience for you all. So if you're interested in sharing some love in that sense, you can find the links in the show notes. Appreciate you all. And before getting into today's conversation, I just want to take this minute to acknowledge and send a big shout out to Gabriel, who is a supporter of the show.

[00:03:49] I appreciate you, friend. Thank you so much for being a kind heart. And as a matter of fact, today's episode, Gabriel is the topic of discussion because he joins us and he's got a story to tell. So I started calling the IRS in 2023 to try and figure out, hey, what's this pin about? What's going on with my account? Why can't I eat ball? And that's whenever I first started knowing I had problems with the IRS.

[00:04:19] Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, this is Gabriel and his story. I'm here to give the whole story from straight from the I don't want to say call you a horse like that. But you know what I mean, straight from the horse's mouth. Yeah, well, I know. And like in my case, I mean, because of how unique my issues are around the IRS.

[00:04:41] I mean, there's no such thing as bad press around me right now, as far as I am concerned, because I'm I'm in I'm literally in uncharted legal territory. Or you could say, I mean, I've tried going to the local newspaper, but the story is too big for them to cover because it spans multiple locations. I tried going to some of the bigger papers up north.

[00:05:05] They wouldn't cover it. And if you ever try and reach out to one of these big news outlets like the Toronto Times or something like that, it's very hard to get a hold of a person you can talk to and explain complex stuff to. And CBC Sudbury, which is the north, which is a news station here in northern Ontario. I talked to a reporter there. They sent it over to CBC Toronto. I never heard back. So I'm like, where did I turn to actually tell my story to?

[00:05:34] Hey, Gable, you know, before we get because I really I'm looking forward to, like I said, you sharing what you're going through right now with the taxation laws, with the and even the push for tax fair policies for people that are Americans and living abroad. And some of the taxations and the legal issues that we're still we're still obligated to fulfill. Never mind. We don't live in a country anymore.

[00:06:00] So I think a lot of people that are expats, people that are no longer living in the U.S. and then even people that have nothing to do with the U.S., this is going to be like an eye opener. Just out of curiosity, because you're originally from Tennessee, what made you want to relocate and move to Canada? Well, like the link, I originally sent you one of the links on that.

[00:06:23] I originally met my wife, the one I'm currently married to, my wife Shauna, back in 2014 on Facebook and we became friends. Later on, we met in real life in 2018. And eventually I decided I wanted to live with her. So I moved to Canada to be with her. I couldn't afford to move her to the States. I didn't have the means and she has a lot of health issues. So it wasn't really possible for me to move her to the United States.

[00:06:53] So I did the next best thing and decided to move to Canada to be with my wife, which I mean, that's common. Everybody does stuff with love. And that's what I did. Yeah, no, right on. I can respect that. I can respect that. And you've been there for, it's been four years, five years? Well, I moved here as a visitor in September of 2020, right during the height of COVID.

[00:07:19] And then I became a permanent resident in January of 2021. And for anyone who doesn't know, a permanent resident is basically the equivalent of a Canadian version of the green card. Okay. Yeah. Was there any kind of process or was it fairly easy? Like you didn't have to be tested on anything. It was more just you pay some fees here and there and there you go. You're all in. Well, you had to do a few different things.

[00:07:45] You had to provide documentation showing you had a legit marriage, like pictures together, letters from family, stuff like that. It was a whole ordeal in and of itself. Yeah, I had to get blood tested. They tested me for AIDS, which obviously that came back negative. They tested me for a few other things. You had to get an x-ray done of your chest, test for tuberculosis.

[00:08:10] I mean, it wasn't exactly an easy task, but by the same token, it's easier to move to Canada than the States, at least if you're married. And needless to say, since you two are together, living together now, you're in the flesh and it's not just a distance thing. That's something that you both can appreciate and that bond you can continue to develop and strengthen. So that's great to hear.

[00:08:39] Yeah, it's been an interesting life story and stuff. I mean, that's a whole different, that'd be a podcast story in and of itself, how me and Eric met and stuff. Yeah, no, right on. Let me read up because we're going to get to the meat and potatoes because you've got a lot going on. And we've had our conversations online. You're the one that hipped me to and motivated me, persuaded me to go ahead and just make a Twitter account. So now Giants Amongst Us is finally on Twitter.

[00:09:07] I'm going to fill that out and see how it goes with that. And we spoke on Reddit, but I just wanted to read a quote that I have from you just to kind of set the stage. This is on one of the links that you had sent me. But you say, millions of Americans living abroad are taxpayers, yet we are treated as an afterthought by the system,

[00:09:30] expected to comply with complex and costly tax rules while being denied basic assistance. So with that being said, Gabriel, how did this whole thing transpire? What was the spark that set all of this aflame and ablaze? Well, do you mean like what started the whole tax system or do you mean like what started my particular story? Because I mean, they're both.

[00:09:57] Yeah, your particular issue with the taxation laws and you living abroad. And how did all this kind of unravel for you? Well, your audio is breaking up a bit there, but I'll tell you how my story started was, well, I moved. As we said earlier, I moved to Canada in 2020 and became a permanent resident in 2021. And I knew I was due a refund for wages.

[00:10:24] For wages I had earned at my previous employer in the States in 2020. Also, I had some unemployment and stuff like that. So I was due a refund for 2020. But when I filed my taxes, I never received a refund. And at the time, I didn't think much about it because I was moving to Canada. I had it set to mail my refund to Canada.

[00:10:47] And then I don't know how much you knew about international mail back in 2021, but they had a lot of COVID restrictions at the post office and stuff. So mail was delayed. So I thought nothing about it at the time because I thought my refund had gotten lost in the mail and didn't really care about it. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. I'm living my life here in Canada with my wife, enjoying it. So what's there to worry about?

[00:11:14] It's not like there's anything major going on with my 2020. Yeah, I hear that. So unbeknownst to me at the time, apparently, the IRS had flagged my 2020 return as possible identity theft refund fraud. And in addition to that, they also apparently somehow along the way lost my 2020 return with my signature stuff. So there was two problems that happened around my 2020 return.

[00:11:44] And I didn't know anything about it at the time since I thought it was lost in the mail. So fast forward to 2023. Every year I had to file a tax return. But fast forward to 2023. And I have a legal settlement with my prior employer. And I'm due a refund. And I go to H&R Block and they've updated their system. I'm thinking, oh, boy, I'll be able to e-file my taxes this year instead of having to mail it in the old-fashioned way.

[00:12:13] Because they had upgraded their system and had someone that could do that now. And when I go to e-file my return, it asks for an identity protection pin. Because it had flagged my return in the past as possible IDT refund fraud. And part of the process they do with that is they make everyone get a pin. And I didn't know anything about no pin. So I started calling the IRS in 2023 to try and figure out, hey, what's this pin about?

[00:12:42] And what's going on with my account? Why can't I e-file? Well, and that's whenever I first started knowing I had problems with the IRS. You know, Gabriel, I'm curious. When you file your taxes living in Canada, were you working for a U.S.-based company? How does that tax process work out for someone who's not living in the U.S. but filing IRS taxes while living abroad? What are you claiming or what are you filing?

[00:13:08] Well, in the United States, it's kind of an insane system. It'd be like someone in Germany having to file taxes in France, even though they never lived in France and have no ties to France. But as long as you make money and it's over a certain falling threshold, which for married couples falling separately, which is what I fall under is $5 a year.

[00:13:33] As long as you make over that dollar value, you have to file income taxes with the United States to prove that you don't owe money to the United States government. Okay. Okay. Got it. For your case, you were having issues and it was money that was owed to you, but you were having a problem receiving the money. Well, in respect to 2020, yes, and 2023 was easy to straighten out.

[00:14:01] But 2020, because it had been years later that I discovered the reason why my refund was lost, it was a bit harder for me to get that resolved. And I still have legal issues on that because they still owe me interest for several years where they thought I didn't follow my return. And obviously I did, but that's something I'll have to address down the road. I was shocked to learn that every state is different as well. And I learned because I'm from originally from California, live in Germany.

[00:14:30] I've been here for since 2000 and the end of the middle of 2018. So I learned that while I've been over here, that California has some insane laws as well. Like they want to tax people that were born in California, that had residents in California and moved abroad. They want to tax them. And also people, they wanted to, I don't know if they passed it or not, but it was a talk of them entertaining the idea of even people who have visited California,

[00:14:58] that somehow they were going to be able to collect taxes from people who visited California. Oh, I mean, I don't know all the details about California's tax system, but I do know it's became a real big mess, the tax system in the United States and in all these different states and countries and counties. Like looking at the U.S. tax system in general for Americans abroad, there's like two general big tax systems,

[00:15:26] which most people have a bit of an understanding of. But then there's tax treaties between the United States and all these different countries, like 50 different tax treaties, which treat income different from 50 different countries. And it's such a complex tax system. I could probably spend a thousand years trying to understand it and still not understand it. Huh. That's crazy how they make it that way to where, you know, the average Joe,

[00:15:53] there's no way you're going to be able to sort through all the weeds and figure it out. So, I mean, you're kind of just left at the mercy of somebody else who supposedly knows the law better than you do. But for your situation with everything that you were dealing with, is this how you, because I also read in the link that you sent me that you also, through this,

[00:16:14] you started to just uncover a lot of other things that you had no idea about prior to your issue with your return and just living abroad in general. Well, I mean, I knew I had to file my taxes as a U.S. citizen abroad, and I had no problem with that. I mean, I didn't owe anything to the IRS because I didn't make enough money to really be taxed in the United States.

[00:16:41] But I still had to file, and I had no problem with that at the time. But after I started having issues with that 2020 refund and trying to get it from the IRS, I got involved with Americans abroad. I got involved with all these people who are trying to fight to reform the tax system because I just discovered that there's so many problems with it that it's not really possible for it to continue as is.

[00:17:08] Yeah. Something that we're kind of dealing with on my side over here is the fact that they want proof because we were trying to apply for a visa so my wife and I can live together and she wouldn't have to worry about leaving after six months but live in the U.S. She was born in Germany. She's a German citizen, and she's never lived in the U.S.

[00:17:30] But they asked more than one time, and I've showed them the documents I provided and everything, and they wanted, they asked for my wife's IRS tax papers. And I said she doesn't live abroad. She doesn't live in the U.S. She's never lived in the U.S., so she's never worked in the U.S. But it was a headache just trying to explain that part.

[00:17:54] Yeah. I mean, honestly, that's why I've started to think about the fair tax because just the tax code has become so complicated. I myself have had to weed the laws and try and figure out the laws just to try and resolve my legal issues. I have to almost become a lawyer, which you shouldn't have to be a lawyer just to do your taxes and to handle your taxes. Taxes should be simple. No, I agree 100%.

[00:18:21] So all of what you've been dealing with, the legal issues, trying to understand that, you've been doing it all alone, just looking online, connecting with different communities online and trying to learn the ins and outs of it so you can work your whole ordeal out? Basically, that's what I've had to do. I mean, in 2023, continuing my story around my taxes, in 2023, I talked to the IRS a lot on the phone.

[00:18:48] I spent hundreds of hours on the phone talking to them, it feels like. I'm pretty sure there's call logs around that, apparently, but I know I spent a lot of time on the phone with them.

[00:18:58] And I managed to resolve my tax year 2021 and 2022 and 2023, but I could not get my 2020 refund resolved, apparently because there was two issues and I only managed to resolve the identity theft refund fraud portion, not the lost return portion, which the IRS also did.

[00:19:20] So at that stage, I was coming close to 2024, so early 2024, and I started thinking, well, I'm not getting anywhere talking on the phone with the IRS. I need to figure out how to get a lawyer to deal with this because it's just ridiculous at this stage. And that's when I discovered a legal loophole, the Low Income Tax Clinic Act.

[00:19:45] And the thing with it is this law, the Low Income Tax Clinic Act, was only ever used within the United States before my case. And now that I've used it outside the United States, Congress is going to have to either extend these things outside the United States or do some other changes to address that. Okay.

[00:20:09] Just to clarify again, you're still waiting on the returns for your 2020, because if I'm not mistaken, did you say you were owed about $1,300, $1,400? Well, I've got the refund for it. It's $1,800.

[00:20:25] Now, there is still a question on the amount of interest that I'm due on that refund, because when the IRS makes a mistake and doesn't issue the refund to you, they have to add on interest to that. And I'm owed something like $300 and something worth of interest to that. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:20:45] From my understanding, I don't know if I'm correct, but isn't it every month after your due that the interest just accumulates? Is it every month or is it an annual interest rate that accumulates for the time that you're waiting whenever this refund to process and for you to receive it?

[00:21:07] Well, it's actually an interest rate that's compounded daily, but it's like right now, I think it's like something like 5%, but it changes with the federal funds rate or whatever, but it's an annual interest rate that's compounded daily. So this has been, I mean, my goodness, we're in 2025. This is something that, this is from 2020. I mean, that's a bit of a headache. Yeah, it's definitely a bit of a headache.

[00:21:33] I mean, there's a lot more legal issues besides just that low-income tax clinic I'm dealing with around the IRS. And some of them, like, it's next level. There's really three levels of legal issues I've came across dealing with the IRS. There's the normal level legal issues that lawyers can deal with. There's the legal issues that Congress can change and amend the laws to address.

[00:22:00] And then those legal issues that I've came across that I don't believe Congress can actually fix, but just manage the fallout of. And what you're currently a part of, you said that you, is that what this tax fairness for Americans abroad? Is it a movement? Is it a petition? Is it a website where resources are offered for people that are Americans and living abroad and dealing with the taxation laws?

[00:22:28] Well, it's primarily a group of people focused on passing residency-based taxation, which is basically so the U.S. tax system behaves like every other country when it comes to how they treat their citizens outside their own country. And basically it would mean that people in Canada who have U.S. citizenship, who only live and have income in Canada, won't have to follow U.S. tax return. That's their will goal.

[00:22:57] And that's what that organization was set up for. And they have a lobbying firm in Washington, D.C. trying to address that. And they're doing what they can to address it. From what you know, from your understanding out of the, we're talking worldwide, is the U.S. unique, the only unique country that is obligating citizens to abide by this? Like I know Germany, I don't think so from my understanding, probably not even in Mexico.

[00:23:23] People that are moving, that are Mexican citizens or German citizens and they're moving abroad. I don't think they're any longer subject to pay taxes or file taxes for that, for their former country. Well, right now, to the best of my knowledge, there's only one other country, Eritrea, which is some country. Oh, Africa. In Africa or wherever. There's some small country there.

[00:23:48] I think China has talked about doing a system similar to this, but I don't think they have. But again, comparing Eritrea to the United States tax system is kind of not really a good idea because Eritrea has a flat tax on people, which a 2% flat tax on my income as a Canadian living in Canada.

[00:24:12] I would actually find that extremely reasonable compared to what I've dealt with with the IRS because most Americans abroad, we have to pay a huge H&R block or something like that or have someone do our taxes because it's just such a complicated return that we have to deal with. This is referring to you filing for your taxes while living in Canada. Yeah. Yeah, you're right about that.

[00:24:37] Do you know of anybody personally or the people that you've dealt with and you've come to learn throughout all this that have actually owed money or they were, yeah, pretty much.

[00:24:52] They owed money in their tax return and they had to pay out taxes even though they weren't living in the U.S., even though they weren't using any of the U.S. resources, freeways, health care, dental care, nothing like that. Do you know of anybody who had to fork up and pay? Yeah, actually, I've heard of people having to do that. There's a thing called P-FIX. There was a big controversy around that.

[00:25:20] I know here in Canada, a big one's been the – here in Canada, they set up a thing called a tax-free savings account. And it's basically supposed to be an account where you can earn money tax-free, put your money in there, save for your retirement and stuff. And under Canada's tax system for – and for most Canadians, that's a tax-free program. It's basically similar to how they treat a 401K in the States and stuff.

[00:25:45] But for me, since I've got this U.S. citizenship, depending on which tax preparer you go to – there's a debate even amongst tax preparers on that one from what I've heard. It's taxable. Anything that I earn in that account is taxable even though that's not what Canada wants. It's what the IRS wants. And that's treated as like an investment account or something.

[00:26:10] So it's possible to be taxed and me not be able to take advantage of that program here in Canada, even though it's something every Canadian should be able to take advantage of. And you're a permanent – you've been a permanent resident now for, what, the past four years? Yeah. I mean, I'm actually eligible to apply for citizenship. I just haven't had the money and time to do that just yet, but I probably will. Yeah. God.

[00:26:39] Talk about the big man having his hand in every aspect of your life. Well, I mean – How about with the tax fairness for Americans abroad, how does it look right now? What kind of progress do you see happening or do you see it being a promising movement that there can be some changes made hopefully in the future and sooner than later?

[00:27:04] Well, what I see publicly is they're advocating for tax reform, but I don't think they really realize the serious level of legal issues I've got around my head right now. Because once my legal issues hit Congress, they're definitely going to be doing tax reform. But as for the group itself, I mean, they're currently trying to get funding, get more donations because they've got a lobbying firm, Brownstein, that they've hired that costs about $10,000 a month.

[00:27:33] And they're trying to get funding for that. And they're trying to get their version of a RBT and passed. But there's a lot of legal stuff that they don't fully understand around me right now. But – And you have a lawyer that you're dealing with? I don't have any lawyers. That's the problem. I mean, it's hard for me to find lawyers. And technically speaking, lawyers can't really resolve my legal issues anyway.

[00:28:04] Only Congress can deal with my legal problems at this stage. They're going to have to pass a law to resolve my legal issues. And also on that same webpage that I'm on, or that same link that you shared the title of it, A Tennessean in Canada Discovers a U.S. Expat Taxation Quagmire. And I see here also that there's a snippet of a letter that you wrote to members of Congress.

[00:28:29] Yeah, I mean, I sent that in because, well, I do – right now I support the Little Hood bill primarily because it's – I mean, technically I think it's going to be a lot better bill than the Little Hood bill passed. So there's that caveat. But at least for the purposes of sending a letter to a member of Congress right now, I put that in there that I supported that bill. And what does the bill entail? Just like an overview of it because I'm not familiar with it.

[00:28:58] Well, basically it allows people to opt into a residency-based taxation is what it's supposed to be. That's only fair. I mean, so, I mean, some Americans abroad actually benefit from the current tax system. That's how complicated it is. I mean, if you have a – as a U.S. citizen abroad, I don't know if you have any kids, but if you happen to have kids, you can actually get a tax credit.

[00:29:22] Even though you don't pay anything to the U.S. government, the U.S. government will send you money just for having a kid outside the United States. Uh-huh. Okay. No, I didn't know that and I don't have any kids. But now say for – now that would be you're benefiting a certain geographic or a group of people. But then say for the ones that don't have kids are the ones that are single. So you're still paying into something that you're not receiving anything in return for. I mean, most of them aren't even paying into it.

[00:29:50] They're just filing taxes, creating a huge load of tax returns for the IRS to process. But they're not actually paying money into the U.S. tax system. And for you, every year that you have to file taxes, what is that costing you? You say that you're breaking even, like you're not owing money for most of the years that you've been in Canada.

[00:30:13] But say, for instance, you filing where you're able to file your taxes because it's a bit different than you just filing taxes in Canada for Canada. But now when you have to file taxes in Canada for the IRS, what is the cost for that? You're doing it online, right? You're not – there's no H&R blocks in the area. Actually, well, for starters, there is H&R blocks in Canada. Oh, okay. I've been going through them to deal with my U.S. taxes.

[00:30:39] And usually it costs about 300 to 500 Canadian dollars roughly, depending on the complexity of the tax return. But, I mean, that's relatively cheap. I mean, there's some Americans abroad who have to pay $1,600 or more to do their taxes. Yeah, man, even 300 to me.

[00:30:58] That's – for me, it stings because of the fact, like, I guess this is some of the system that you're a part of and some of the laws and regulations that hang over you. But when you're not getting anything out of it, like, you're not seeing any of the health care benefits. You're not – say if you don't have any children, you're not receiving any money, any funding for your children abroad. And you're not being helped in any way, but you still have to file your taxes.

[00:31:28] And then filing your taxes is one thing. Okay, I'll file them, but then you have to pay for the 200, 300 if it's annually. But just, man, that's a tough thing to – that's a hard pill to swallow for me. I'm just speaking just on my end. But I really like what you mentioned about the bill where people can actually opt into a system. This is something that you opt into now.

[00:31:53] I'll abide by whatever the system is that I'm currently involved with, you in Canada, me in Germany. And that makes sense, and that seems like it's just a fair situation for people that are from the U.S., Americans, that are now living abroad. Well, I mean, the people who – I actually talked to the guy with Tax Fairness of Americans of Water, and he actually liked a bill that went further. But the bill that they're kind of pushing right now is the one that they believe they're most likely to get passed. What's that one?

[00:32:23] Well, the LaHood bill, like I talked about. But, I mean – Okay, okay. I mean, that's a podcast in and of itself if you wanted to go over that thing. But that's what they think they'll be able to get passed. Personally, I'm thinking tax reform will go a lot further once everything's said and done. I actually see the repealment of the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution being something that does happen.

[00:32:48] Were you privy to a lot of these laws and regulations prior to you moving to Canada, or this is like all the stuff that you've been learning on the job? Well, I knew I needed to file my U.S. taxes as a U.S. citizen abroad. Now, I did not have any idea how crazy the tax system actually was. I had no idea that the IRS could flag a return as possible identity theft refund fraud and delay a refund for that.

[00:33:17] But I had no idea about how bad the tax system actually was for Americans abroad until I started getting involved with these groups. I'm late to the party, but now that I'm part of the Twitter community, how does that? I know you shared one of the communities that you're active with. It seems like there's a lot of people that are also on board and pushing for reform or just what I read, the tax fair law or tax fair policy law, something to that extent.

[00:33:47] Well, I mean, my involvement was originally I got an article or that testimony published on Americans Abroad website. And then after that, I wanted to share more about my story. So I tried to do a Twitter space and managed to get John Richardson. He's a major advocate for Americans Abroad involved.

[00:34:10] And he did a Twitter space to go over some of my legal issues, which people here can look that up online and find that Twitter space or recording of it. And that was the and that Twitter space. After that Twitter space, I got connected to the tax fairness group, which is trying to get like replace the IRS with a flat or with a sales tax.

[00:34:35] Basically, I got involved with them, which if that law passes, it would also resolve the issues for Americans Abroad. So I'm supportive of their efforts as well. You mentioned a few of the legal issues, but is it safe to say you have a lot overhead right now that you're dealing with in your own situation? I mean, I've got a lot of legal issues ongoing. I mean, there's the issue around that tax clinic. Right now, most Americans Abroad don't know that they took an expat tax case.

[00:35:05] And there's millions of Americans Abroad. I mean, these tax clinics in the state handle between 20,000 to 30,000 cases a year. And there's millions of Americans Abroad. I could easily see these tax clinics being flooded with people abroad trying to get help with their income tax issues. And those tax clinics would not be able to handle that. It's just simply not enough manpower, right? Well, not enough manpower.

[00:35:29] And it's also a logistical nightmare because not everybody who's a taxpayer or U.S. citizen abroad actually knows English. A lot of these people who are dealing with this, they never even lived in the United States. They was born abroad to Americans in Canada or in another country. And some of them don't even speak English. Yeah.

[00:35:54] When you, going back to that letter that you wrote, the letter that you wrote to members of Congress, did you ever get a response that they received it or acknowledged it at least? Well, the computer system, I emailed Marsha Blackburn's office and the computer system there basically sent a, we received your letter, can't automate a response. But outside of that, I don't know of anything actually going on within the office of Marsha Blackburn.

[00:36:24] She's my senator from Tennessee. So, I mean, other than that, I haven't heard anything. I do know that Tax Fairness for Americans Broad lobbying firm is trying to get my, trying to get that notice by the senator and stuff. But that's another story as well. This is a nightmare, it sounds like, and I'm sure that there's days where you're just kept up trying to figure this thing out. And where are you at right now with it?

[00:36:51] Are you at a standstill or you feel like there's, the steps are being made in the right direction, even if they are slow or baby steps? Well, on the standpoint of the government resolving my legal issues, I feel like it's basically at a standstill. So, that's why I started trying to reach out to the media.

[00:37:13] And when that didn't work, I decided I'd just go out and reach out to various podcasters or anyone else that would listen to my story and my issues. What has been the response when you, when you have reached out? Because you told me beforehand that you reached out to some media outlets. What, they just, they pretty much wrote it off as a conspiracy? Or are they just, there was no response, just crickets? Well, I mean, some of them listened, but they don't have the coverage. Like here in, I'm in Engelhardt, Ontario.

[00:37:43] So, I reached out to the Tamiskaming Speaker, which is the newspaper that covers this area. And their response was, at first they was thinking of carrying it, but then when they realized the tax clinic that represented me was in Washington State, they're like, this isn't something we can cover because we feel, I feel like I'd hit a dead end if I tried to reach out to that tax clinic and ask them questions.

[00:38:09] So, they basically said, you should go reach out to CBC Sudbay. And CBC Sudbay, basically, they seemed really interested in the story, but they didn't have the coverage and resources to cover it. So, they sent it to CBC Toronto and nothing out of CBC Toronto. They probably just chucked it up as a conspiracy theory. Yeah, that's one way to do it.

[00:38:33] That kind of just closes the door completely and just doesn't leave any room for any type of dialogue or conversation after that. Like, what are your hopes for with getting in touch, even if it's smaller podcasts or just anybody in general?

[00:38:47] You think just the publicity or for it to be known for the public to see that this can draw attention to now maybe Congress will start have to making some actions and taking action instead of just sitting on it, you know, or sitting on their hands and doing nothing about it? Well, I'll be honest with you. I actually am pretty sure once everything's said and done, this will go viral.

[00:39:12] I just don't know the timeframe for when it goes viral because the legal issues around me are so major. It's going to go, it's going to be viral like big time. In your opinion, what's the, like, what would be the viral factor? Is it the simple fact that a lot of people do not understand just how messy the tax laws are?

[00:39:39] And once they get hip to it, it'll, you know, it'll cause a stir or a reaction to people saying, man, something's got to be done about this. This isn't right because maybe down the line I want to move out of the U.S. And I'm going to, you know, I might have to deal with something like this in the future. I mean, that might be part of it.

[00:39:57] But if you want to know what will really make it viral or will they make it a big deal is there is a certain set of government jobs Congress create or the Bush administration created called the Taxpayer Advocate Panel.

[00:40:10] And because of me using this tax clinic and a job posting error in the, in the posting for that job that I applied for, there are significant legal issues around what the Taxpayer Advocate Panel job does and is. And Congress may have to discuss, discuss legal issues around that job, which is a potential constitutional crisis.

[00:40:38] Okay. We're talking about holding them accountable for certain positions that are held. Like, is there even a reason or a purpose for this seat or this, this department to be open? Well, this department was set up in the early 2000s. The Bush administration set it up because they, they wanted to get feedback from like the average person on the street. It's a panel of 75 people.

[00:41:02] They wanted to get feedback from them on like how to improve the tax code and how to make it better for people. And that's basically the purpose of those jobs. They're supposed to be, or was originally set up as a volunteer job. But because of legal issues around that, I may be able to negotiate wages over that job. And that is really not good. That's a big problem.

[00:41:26] The auditing part of it, like they're not accountable and they, they don't really have to answer in any way where the money goes, how it's spent, how it's received, that type of thing. And that's a whole other issue. But accountability, I think is just huge in general from the top to the bottom. Well, I mean, there's no accountability for this system. And I mean, the tax system itself was developed haphazardly.

[00:41:54] I mean, the citizenship-based tax system that's currently plaguing Americans abroad, have you actually looked into how it came about or do you know how it came about? No, but if you can share some of that, I'd be, I'd be happy to learn something new today. I'm already learning a handful of things brand new, but yeah, go ahead. Well, originally, during the American Civil War, there was a lot of people fleeing the country, the rich people primarily.

[00:42:21] So Abraham Lincoln passed the citizenship tax system and started trying to tax these people. His opinion was, if you don't want to help with the war effort here in the States, you should at the very minimum pay money to help fund the war effort. And that's how the original tax system came about.

[00:42:43] It was repealed after the Civil War, but they basically revived it back in 1913 with the passage of the IRS Act. But at the time, no one really worried too much about it because, I mean, the people they were taxing was like millionaires by today's standards, the filthy rich and stuff. So at that time, the citizenship tax system wasn't a major problem.

[00:43:12] It only became a major problem back in 2008 when Obama started passing FOTCA and FBO and these other complex laws, which you can look up online. And at that stage, it started to impact basically every American abroad.

[00:43:31] I mean, it also doesn't help that even though there's 10 million Americans abroad, I mean, they're not organized in a single district or a single location in the States where they can vote. They're spread out like you said you was from California. So your vote is in California and impacts California's people.

[00:43:54] My vote is in Tennessee, even though we've got similar issues with our taxes and our legal issues. Well, my issues are a whole different level. But even though we both have our Americans abroad, our vote doesn't really matter to the average congressman because we make up maybe 2 percent of their district. So if they can gain 3 percent of the vote by passing a law that hurts 2 percent of their district and their voters, then that's OK.

[00:44:23] They come out ahead in the polls. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. And then the ones that are suffering are the people that are living abroad and living that day-to-day reality. Yeah. Like in your case, the headache that's going on and all of the legal issues that you're trying to work out and sort out on your own. You have a group of people that you've linked up with online and you guys are supporting each other and pushing for certain acts to help not just yourselves,

[00:44:52] but all Americans abroad to fight for residence-based taxation, which I think is a wonderful idea. And it's only right. And you said that you know of people that have actually, after they filed their taxes, come to find out that they owe money. Never mind they don't live in a country anymore. And you said you haven't.

[00:45:11] You've been pretty much at a zero balance, but you've had to every year pay for your, to process your taxes and whatever the cost is between 300 to 400 Canadian dollars. I guess the Canada dollar to the U.S. dollar is, it's around the same right now, wouldn't it be? It's like 70 cents or something. The Canadian dollar is a bit weaker than the U.S. dollar at the moment. But you want to know something else that's kind of insane about this system? Talk to me.

[00:45:37] Is, well, what do you think H&R Block does with the money that we spend and give to them to do our taxes? Let me have it. What is it that they do? They go to Congress and lobby to make our taxes complicated. So you have to go through them. Yep. Bingo. That's the way the system works today. Yeah. I've heard a lot of stories about that, not just with taxation, but a lot of things.

[00:46:03] When you're dealing with law, when you're sitting in front of a courtroom and you're dealing with court papers and everything, and it's made to a certain, it's made so complicated and so messy. And even the jargon, the words, the verbiage is used. It's not what the average citizen knows. And so you have a group of people, lawyers, attorneys that are versed in that, and it's giving them a job and they can go ahead and mediate.

[00:46:28] But why wouldn't it be for just the average person to be able to do it themselves rather than have to outsource their funds? It's not written, created, or formed in a way that the average person can just deal with on their own. And there you have it with H&R blocking the tax process. That makes perfect sense and it's not a surprise.

[00:46:53] It makes sense because the harder the taxes are and the more complicated it are, the more money H&R blocks make and companies like that make charging for their services and the more money they can spend on lobbying. And, you know, the funny thing is they even started to, it seems like it's something that is becoming more common with people. They said it's making it so easy now for people. You can go online and you can file your taxes yourself.

[00:47:17] Well, I mean, there is that effort by some people to get the free file going and stuff like that. But again, I mean, all of that at this stage, all it really is is Congress can use the tax code. The way it works is this.

[00:47:36] Congress passes a law and instead of saying, I'm going to give $100 billion to home builders, I'm just going to give – that's not very popular for Congress to come out and say we're going to increase spending by $100 billion. So they go – they get around that by going and passing a law saying we're going to cut taxes by $100 billion on homeowners or home builders. And that's how they get these things passed. But the problem with that is Congress is picking winners and losers there.

[00:48:06] People who don't build homes, they get screwed over by that. And also it makes it more complicated to deal with the tax code. I'm curious because you mentioned that you were able to get on the phone and contact IRS. So that wasn't an issue for you to actually speak with someone on the phone and not deal with the automated service? Well, I did have to deal with the automated system a lot.

[00:48:34] But eventually I managed to get a hold of actual people at the IRS. But again, it's not like – it's not an easy area to get a hold of. I mean, those people are overworked and there's usually long wait times like over an hour on the phone just to talk to someone. Yeah. They give you the option to where you just leave your number and they'll call you back. Yeah.

[00:48:55] And also, I mean, a big chunk of it too is I'm lucky because I'm in Canada and I can actually call a U.S. phone number and not pay long-distance charges. You – you're in – I'm guessing you're in Germany, correct? Yeah. It's a different – Well, in your case, you try and call a U.S. phone number and you'll probably have huge long-distance charges. Yeah. And my wife is always – she's real good about it. She already knows the drill.

[00:49:21] So, when we were dealing with the whole visa process, but just to find the lowest – because it changes. Every day it changes. You go online and there's websites that gives you the lowest cent amount that you'll be paying per minute. But yeah, it's something that we have to pay every time we try to reach somebody in the U.S. When it was coming down to the visa process.

[00:49:45] But for the visa process, I asked you that about being able to actually speak with somebody because for the visa application process, my goodness, forget it. I was not able ever to get in contact with anybody. It was like a rare thing getting struck by lightning when I was actually able to talk to somebody on the phone. Well, I mean, the legal loophole I used to get a lawyer was literally probably less common than getting struck by lightning.

[00:50:13] I mean, there's 20,000 to 30,000 Americans abroad, and I think it's like one in a billion chance that I would happen to be the one taxpayer to use that loophole. Wow. How did you come across that loophole again? Well, originally, I wasn't really thinking at the time about how unique my situation is. I was just thinking, okay, I need a lawyer. So I looked online.

[00:50:39] I'm like, okay, Congress passes these laws, and everybody's a taxpayer. So I'm thinking, well, most of my issues around my 2020 return happened to be in Tennessee. In Tennessee, so I called the Low-Income Tax Clinic in Tennessee, and they said they couldn't take my geographic area because I'm in Canada. But they suggested I reach out to a low-income tax clinic near the border.

[00:51:05] So I called – I thought I was calling the tax clinic in Washington, D.C., but I was actually calling the one in Washington State at the time. And they took my case on a case-by-case basis. There's nothing legislatively preventing these tax clinics from taking expat tax cases. They just – most of them don't have the expertise and resources to do so. But that's basically how I came across that.

[00:51:33] I didn't really realize how big of a deal it would be until later on, me using that tax clinic. You stumbled across it, actually. I kind of did, actually. I mean – and then once I figured out that me using that tax clinic, once I learned that I was the first American to do that outside the United States and started to realize just how many Americans abroad could benefit from that service, that's when things started getting a bit more interesting around my taxes.

[00:52:01] And it was no longer a simple tax issue. Now it's a tax issue only Congress can deal with. And using your story, your struggles, your headaches, everything that you're dealing with, the legal issues, you're using this for a better cause and a greater cause that will – we're going to speak it out into the universe – that will eventually make things better for all Americans that are living abroad. Actually, I'll go one step further.

[00:52:31] I actually believe it will make it better for all Americans in general. I believe once it's all said and done, I believe we'll get a fair tax or something similar to that passed through Congress. And people won't have to pay H&R Block money to do their taxes. Oh, man. That will be the day. I'm on board with you. I'm on board with you with that. And it takes one story at a time.

[00:52:59] It seems like there are – there's a lot of people. There's a strong community and support system behind what you're doing or part of what you're doing. And there's power in numbers. And when you start stirring it up and bringing it to the attention, it's going to get to the point where they just can't ignore it anymore. Something has to be done. Well, I mean, it's definitely bad. I mean, right now, there's a non-shareable government report.

[00:53:25] Well, my usage of that tax clinic, whenever they take clients as part of their federal grant money, they have to generate a report explaining how they help clients and their issues and just general information. It doesn't have like personal information like Social Security numbers or names attached to the report. But it just has general information. And I've been trying to get a hold of the report that tax clinic had to generate when it took me as a client. But I haven't been able to get a hold of it yet. How are you?

[00:53:54] Because you're in Canada. You're living your life in Canada. You have your wife over there. You're going about your day-to-day business. How do you fit all this into your daily, your day-to-day activities over there in Canada? Is this something that you spend a lot of time still trying to sort out to get to the bottom of and finally finalize it?

[00:54:16] Well, right now I've been, well, I'm on ODSP right now, which is a Canadian disability program for people because I do have autism and my wife has disabilities as well. So, I mean, we are on that, which helps keep us afloat and helps like pay for our food and shelter. But right now I'm currently unemployed.

[00:54:40] Because of my legal issues and the fact that it's going to eventually go viral, I'm kind of hiding out in a small town, Inglehart, Ontario, until it goes viral. And then I'll deal with whatever comes at that stage. Okay, got you. You know, you have your legal issues and everything.

[00:54:58] You have a, I don't even know if there is something that you can say, but like say, for instance, for people that are planning to already are living abroad and they're American citizens, you have any advice to them about filing taxes throughout their stay if they're living abroad permanently or something that they're going to be doing just momentarily?

[00:55:20] You have any advice for them or how, you know, just to kind of keep them from maybe dealing with some of the issues that a lot of people have found themselves dealing with? Well, I mean, each case is different. Everyone's got their own financial situation, but I will give my personal advice. Keep a close eye on your IRS transcripts and stuff and make sure the IRS is processing them and doing what it's supposed to do.

[00:55:46] And don't just trust the IRS to process your return and not have problems with it. That's the advice I would give myself if I could have a time machine and give myself advice in, say, 2021. But to be able to do that, do you have to, you're doing, you're checking all of this electronically, right? Online? Yeah, well, you set up an ID.me account and stuff and you can Google how to do that. And, I mean, it's electronic. You can download your transcripts.

[00:56:15] It will show you, like, how much you're due for a tax year, whether or not they process your return, when it was processed, things like that. But that's something you should keep a close eye on. Okay. Got you. Yeah, a lot of this, like, I'm coming into it green, even though I have lived abroad for quite some time.

[00:56:37] But a lot of the taxation laws, even as a matter of fact, you know, I'm just going to tell you, I didn't, I don't know what I was thinking. I just came into this blindly, but I had no idea I was still obligated to file my taxes with the IRS while I wasn't living in the country anymore.

[00:57:00] I had no, and I know I'm not the only one, but I'm not trying to make myself sound any better about it because whatever you're doing, if you're moving abroad or something, you should do a little bit of homework beforehand. But me, just being, you know, the person that I was, it just was, that was something that I just did not take into consideration.

[00:57:20] I mean, in your case, it's also going to, under the current law, it's also a bit of a problem for you because if I'm not mistaken, your self-employed income is a bit more complicated with the IRS and stuff. So you might have problems there. I'm not really sure all the details in your situation, but when did you first find out that you had issues and how many, and start with your tax? I'm a bit curious about your tax situation as well. Actually, you know what?

[00:57:48] I want to say three years into me living here, I reached out to the embassy, the U.S. embassy here about the taxation, but I didn't receive any response. So I kind of left it at that. The only other time that it came up was when we were trying to, when I was trying to file for my visa application or my wife's visa application.

[00:58:09] And so that was one of the documents that they were asking for, my IRS taxes and also the IRS taxes, the filing taxes for my wife. And I tried to do everything that they said you need to do if you don't have those documents. And for one, my wife, she's not from the U.S. She never worked in the U.S. So how in the hell is there any documentation or paperwork for her filing taxes in the U.S.?

[00:58:38] She doesn't live there, so it makes no sense. And I try to write that out, download it as a PDF file, because that's something that you're able to do when you go through the visa application process. And still, they were acting as if they didn't receive it. And they were asking me again to upload those documentations. So it was just recently that I was getting reminders of that. And yeah, so I kind of left it at that.

[00:59:02] So I'm pretty much in a situation where I have to contact them and try to sort that out. Do you know of anybody who's been in a situation like that that has done it five, six, seven years later after they've left the country and been living abroad? I've heard of a few people. I mean, if you've got a Facebook, you can go on a group on Facebook and ask them questions about it and stuff. There's an Expatriots for Residency-Based Taxation is the name of the group.

[00:59:31] If you want to connect with me on there. No, I don't have a Facebook. You might want to make one and stuff because, I mean, it's beneficial. Because I have a feeling you'll want to make a lot more social media accounts just because Americans Abroad are spread all over these different social media platforms. And if you want your podcast to catch off, then that's probably a smart idea. Yeah, we're going to share. I see that on this Tax Fairness for Americans Abroad that they have stories.

[00:59:58] Maybe we can share this on that website. But yeah, no, this is going to be for a lot of people that are dealing with their own issues. And this is also going to be just something brand new for people that had no idea about it. And the more people that are privy to it, the more people that are exposed to it. I think that overall is going to be better for what's being pushed for.

[01:00:20] And that's for this residence-based taxation, you know, to have a tax fair law for, you said, not just Americans Abroad, but Americans in general.

[01:01:00] Yeah. That's just me sometimes. I can't sugarcoat it. Well, you're not alone. I mean, you are just one of countless people. There's probably millions of Americans abroad who don't know about their tax obligations, which, I mean, it's common sense to think once you move from a place that you no longer have to pay taxes or deal with the tax system. Now, that's common sense. You would think.

[01:01:28] Well, you'd think, but apparently that's not common sense in Congress. Apparently, every American is a taxpayer. So that's why I can, because this is something, well, what you're dealing with, but just something personally that I'm going to have to go ahead and face the piper pretty soon and sort through all that. And hopefully there's not going to be no dire repercussions or saying, okay, you owe 20,000 U.S. dollars or something like that.

[01:01:56] No, I doubt that it's going to be that extreme. But just to have. Well, I mean, it might cost. Well, I know in order to get in compliancy with the U.S. law, you have to do like your past five years of tax falling or so. And just the cost of doing the stream I'm following and stuff, depending on who you ask, could be like a thousand plus dollars. So it's not going to be cheap for you. Okay. So that's not small peanuts. Yeah.

[01:02:25] I mean, you're talking about at least I'm guessing a thousand dollars. Yeah. Wow. Probably more, especially since you got a podcast. And depending on your income from the podcast, you may have to pay taxes on any earnings you made from a podcast and all that. This is a passion project. And who knows? In the future, maybe it turns into something more. But for now, I just really enjoy connecting with people from all over. And because I'm a fan of the underdog, I know I'm not the only one.

[01:02:53] And you're you're you're the underdog because you're going against a big machine and you're kicking, kicking up dust and making some noise. And you have a lot of people that are also a part of that, that war wagon. I mean, not myself. I mean, just having people like you to talk to and discuss my issues is kind of a hard thing to do, because therefore, while I was legally alone and I had trouble finding people to talk to. And I'm like, who do I talk to? Because no one understands my my situation.

[01:03:22] I was like that for a long time. So, I mean, even outside of the podcast, I'd probably still like to talk to you and actually stay friends with you. Yeah, no, no doubt. We definitely will. We have the Reddit. We have the Twitter. We have the email. And yeah, that's that's that's going to there's a lot of different ways that we can stay in contact. And especially because your situation isn't done. You were cool enough. You were game enough to take some time right now.

[01:03:48] We had a schedule for a little bit later, but you were like, I'm open to do it sooner. So we went ahead and set everything up so we can have this conversation and you can share some of your struggles, which you've learned along the way. Part of the movement that you you've now become a part of. And it's it's it's growing. It's getting getting momentum, getting getting some legs. But it still has it still has a way to go.

[01:04:12] But with it not being finalized yet and you still have some there's still going to be some road to travel. I would I would love to set something up maybe later. And then we could do another part to see the progress that has been made. If there's been any good news about it. And that would be a good victory lap to take once things start to, you know, work out on your end and you're able to get some answers and to kind of close that chapter in a way.

[01:04:38] Yeah, I mean, well, right now, I mean, that's definitely something I'd like to do is another future podcast around it. I know I'd also like to go on any other podcast that people want to talk to me about, show my issues and I can show proof that about my issues as well. I know I'd also like it if people could try and get a hold of the University of Washington Low Income Tax Clinic report from the IRS, which somehow I don't think they'll be able to or they're going to have a fight for it.

[01:05:08] But I'd like for people to try and get it as well. Say if there's there's people that do listen to it and they want it. They feel like, OK, well, what can I do about it? How can I help the cause if this is something that they're there for and this is something that they believe in? Is there petitions or somewhere online that they can go to? Well, I mean, my recommendation would be for them to reach out to Americans abroad, the site that I originally gave you the first link to reach out to them. Tax fairness for Americans abroad?

[01:05:38] Yeah, and maybe even donate to them if they want, because right now they're the number one people actually. Really, they're the only people helping me with my legal issues because I don't have any lawyers helping me right now because I can't find any lawyers. So, I mean. Yeah, you're right. They have a bottom at the bottom of the website. They have our campaign is 100 percent financed by individual donations. Yeah. And I mean, that's that's what I would recommend they do on that front.

[01:06:04] And if they want to help me with this government report or if any podcasters want to reach out to me, they they can go through you and you can forward their contact information to me if they want to reach out to me. If that's OK with you or you have other ones in mind, like I'll go ahead and link whatever whatever information or resources that you want me to add to the show notes once I publish the episode.

[01:06:26] Well, the two things I would recommend is to link to the Tax Wellness for Americans Abroad website and also to the Twitter space I had with John if they want to learn more about or if they want to listen to more of my story there. OK, got it. I mean, about the low income tax clinics and stuff. And I mean, I'm pretty sure I'll be sharing your once you do post this podcast like today's March the 25th.

[01:06:55] I don't know exactly when you're going to post this, but once you do post, I'll be sharing it on my Twitter and on Facebook and everywhere else that I can. OK, yeah, perfect. Yeah, we'll get we'll get the dates sort out and everything. It was it was great to to have this initial conversation with you because we talked a lot online. So it was good to finally talk not in person, but, you know, almost like we're over the phone speaking with each other.

[01:07:19] Well, I mean, if my legal issues pan out like I expect them to, Congress will probably pay for my for me to travel to Germany one day. Yeah, I was going to. Yeah. Speaking of traveling, do you make it a point every now and then to go visit visit family or whatever, just to go back to your roots a little bit and visit on a little vacay or you pretty much have been in Canada since you left? Well, I mean, I went to the States twice since I left Canada, left for Canada.

[01:07:49] I went there to visit family once and I went there with a church group the second time. I'm probably probably going to be going again in October to the States, to Tennessee. But we'll have to see what my financial situation is. I mean, I may have a unique legal issue with the IRS, but I don't have unlimited money to fight the government to do this and that. I'm not I'm not rich. How have you liked your stay in Canada since you've been over there?

[01:08:18] Well, I mean, I like the people here. I mean, it's a nice country. Overall, I'd have to say Canada is treating me pretty well, considering the fact that I haven't had tax issues with them and I haven't had and they've been pretty good about him letting me move to their country. So overall, I've had a pretty good relationship with Canada and the people here. I could do without the snow because there's a lot of snow outside. There's like five feet of snow outside right now. Oh, still. Yeah.

[01:08:46] And it probably won't be gone until like April in this town sometime early April, based on the current forecast. And I was prepared for the snow and ice. But one area I wasn't prepared for here in Canada was the dry skin. I've had eczema like out the yin yang and I just don't like eczema. And in Tennessee, do you guys also have long winters over there? Well, I mean, we have winter there or the four seasons and stuff.

[01:09:14] But the winter there, you might see one or two days where you get a couple of inches of snow and then it's gone the next day. So the snow doesn't stick around there. And overall, it's a pretty mild winter there. But we do have hot summers there too. I mean, here I'm at now. The summers are lovely here. You got long 16-hour daylight at its peak. And it's really nice summers.

[01:09:44] What are we talking about the highs during the summer? 80, 90? It depends. I mean, it can be – you might get the occasional rare day where it can get over 100. But overall, the highs range from like 70 to 80 with decent wind. It's pretty comfortable. Oh, that's ideal. Yeah, I mean, but sometimes you get – I mean, weather varies. Sometimes you get cold days where it can be like in the 50s. Other times you can get super hot days.

[01:10:14] But it also isn't usually very humid. So it's overall a pretty decent place to be in the summer. Gabriel, it was great to hear your story. Some of the wins, the small wins that you've already – you've experienced. And the big win that's just around the corner or the big wins.

[01:10:38] And I'd love to get back together with you and hear how it's going, how it's been, and to finally get that big victory that you've been long overdue and waiting for. And hopefully that's in the near future. Yeah, well, we'll stay in touch. I mean, I don't know exactly when we'll do another podcast together. But I definitely wouldn't mind like just chatting with you normally. And maybe depending on your feedback on this story, we can answer people's questions to it as well.

[01:11:08] Yeah, for sure. Gabriel, before we close shop today, you have any final words or anything you'd like to leave off with? Just never stop asking for help with your struggles. If you've got a struggle or you've got an issue, just make sure you ask for help. Sometimes asking for help from someone can change the world. Amen. Close mouths. Don't get fed. Amen.

[01:11:37] Yeah, that's a good saying. Yeah. Hope you all enjoyed today's conversation. Gabriel, thanks again for taking time out of your day, sharing your story and cluing me into some things I had no idea about. Maybe somebody else has learned something because I know I have. And if anybody is interested, the websites that were mentioned will be listed in the show notes.

[01:12:05] The Tax Fairness for Americans Abroad, Gabriel's story, and all of that information will be in the show notes. If somebody is interested in learning more about it, maybe you are a U.S. citizen now living abroad and had no idea about it. Maybe you're a U.S. citizen who is thinking about living abroad. This will be something for you as well. And hopefully, Gabriel, very soon in the near future, you're able to sort out everything on your end.

[01:12:32] I was reading a paragraph from the website, one of the links that Gabriel shared, and this will be in the show notes. So if anybody wants to check it out for themselves, but it says that today, the United States is the only major country that uses citizenship based taxation, a system that levies taxes on individuals regardless of where they live or whether they earn income in the United States. So basically, what's going on right now is double taxation of overseas Americans.

[01:13:02] And even if you're not having to pay into the taxes, you heard Gabriel and what he has to pay the cost of having to file his taxes every year, regardless of him living in the U.S. or not. So if there's anybody interested in learning more about it, the links will be in the show notes and you can go ahead and do your own due diligence. Gabriel, all the best to you, my buddy. Appreciate you.

[01:13:29] You are a giant amongst us. I'd like to give a big thank you to everybody listening. Appreciate you all each and every time inviting us into your homes, spending some of your day with us. And a reminder, if you'd like to reach out to us in any way, you can check out the website. Our email address is there and all the social media platforms you can find us at. We're going to catch up and do this again real soon. And as a matter of fact, it'll be as soon as tomorrow.

[01:13:59] But before I go, before I wrap this up, I'd like to remind you all that if you would like to be a part of the show and share your story, or even a story of someone in your life that has impacted you in a positive way, you could always reach out to us via email. We'd be happy to connect. Until next time, and very soon. Peace.

[01:14:25] To know I'm on the right road Ain't seen no signs Since Jericho But I