Dreams of Compliance Condors or the “Wonderful World of Forms, Threats and Penalties”

Form People (also known as "compliance condors" or "compliance vultures") are mostly honest and hardworking, but they live in a special world -- a world in which forms are sacred. This is completely normal from the perspective of the Compliance Condor unfortunately they lack perspective. In fact, for most of them, the completion of forms or the act of formication is the fundamental obligation of citizenship (or at least U.S. citizenship). Furthermore, very few of them see the system of taxes, forms as penalties as being immoral. They just see it as normal.
One could say that the Compliance Condors work “within the system”. But, the truth is that the Compliance Condors “Are The System”. They make it work. They shape the law. They shape the expectation of the law. Once one Condor begins filing a specific form (example 3520 for the TFSA) the other Condors are sure to follow. Because Condors are “Inside The Form” looking only at the Form, they can’t imagine what it means to be “Outside The Form” looking in. They can’t see the immorality, the injustice, the waste of human resource and the dehumanizing of the individual. In fact the Compliance Condors “aid and abet” each of these things – they take pride in doing it. But, there’s much more.
In the “Form Industry” there is a hierarchy of forms. Those who are most experienced assist with the most complex forms. Imagine the day in the life of a Compliance Condor when he/she reaches the point where he is assigned a 5471 or an 8621. After all, those who are most junior would start with an FBAR or perhaps a schedule B. The value of a Compliance Condor is a function of the forms to which he is entrusted. His sense of “self worth” is defined by the form that he is assigned.
A Compliance Condor would start the day by looking in the mirror and saying:
“In forms we trust”.
The most dedicated Condors dream of Forms. But, they do more than dream about Forms. Because their identity is a function of their forms, many of them go further than dreaming about forms. Those who are most dedicated actually dream about being specific line numbers on different forms . In social settings they confide about their dreams to other Condors. In the industry, these are known as “Form Dreams” .
So, yes when the Compliance Condors write about FATCA, FBAR and other sacred instruments of confiscation, they are being sincere. They believe they are being helpful. They are NOT being dishonest and above all else, they are simply writing about the world they way they see it and the way they experience it.
And that Dr. Reader is exactly the problem!
P.S. Avoid “Form Crime” – The Compliance Condors will love you!