Why do some Canadians prefer not to change planes in the USA when travelling to overseas destinations?
There are about a million Canadian residents and citizens that also have US citizenship.They are born to US parents in Canada, they were born in the US because that is where their Canadian parents were at the time, and for many years when the border was far more porous than it is now, many were born in the US simply because the nearest hospital was in the US.Uniquely, the US government considers these Canadian citizens and full time residents to be US tax payers and requires them to live to the US tax code and other laws, damaging tax code and damaging laws.Most do not comply with these laws, many have no idea there are any laws to comply with and the idea they would be US tax payers would be laughable to them. Many do not even know they are US citizens according to the US.The USA passed a law and told Canada to enforce it or they would apply devastating financial sanctions to the Canadian financial sector and by default, to Canada itself.The law is The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and it requires that Canadian financial institutions find these people and report them to the US IRS.FATCA has hugely raised awareness that….1: People could be US citizens in the first place.2: That the USA requires them to live to the US tax code and US laws in Canada.3: That the US penalty regime for failure to comply with the reporting and tax regime on finances foreign to the USA are absolutely devastating.I know people (not just Canadians) that will not even take a flight that might be diverted to a US airport, let alone transit or visit the place.They are terrified of getting picked up for failure to comply with US tax and reporting demands because of FATCA.