Mani
03-11-2014, 11:08 PM
This is really a good article. It has 5 examples of regular people, just normal folks, who all of a sudden have this HUGE burden of Tax Compliance.
When they show the statistics of 3,000+ people giving up Citizenship and the number is getting higher, I see the usual comments section of people screaming nationalistic profanities, telling these TRAITORS to be good riddance, and tired of these tax cheats, and all sorts of untrue accusations. Not everyone who gives up citizenship is doing it to run away from taxes.
They are doing it because compliance is every changing and becoming a burden, banks overseas are shutting out US citizens, and USA intrusion into Assets of NON-US Citizens is just not right.
And this article highlights the lives of 5 normal people, not uber rich slick millionnaires, who's lives are being needlessly burden because of the passport they hold.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/expats-ditching-u-s--passports-151127757.html
3,000 Americans around the world renounced their citizenship last year. Meet five U.S. citizens who have given up their passports -- or are thinking about it -- to escape an overly complicated tax code.
I threw up after renouncing
Name: Donna-Lane Nelson, 71
Lives in: Geneva, Switzerland
I renounced my U.S. citizenship in 2011. After I did it, I was so emotional that I threw up outside the embassy.
During my renunciation, I broke down. It was like getting a divorce. America gave me my education, a good career path, and I came from a beautiful part of the country. This was very hard.
Before I took the last oath, I asked if I could change my mind. The embassy worker said maybe, with official permission. But I still went through with it.
My decision to renounce was triggered when my bank threatened to close my account because I was American. What would I do without a bank? Americans in Switzerland were having trouble with their investments, getting credit cards, and some weren't even getting loans.
I've been in Switzerland since 1990, and became a citizen in 2005, because I wanted the right to vote where I was living. The Swiss can tell I have an American accent, and I'm often explaining that I grew up in the U.S. and have a daughter who still lives in the Boston area.
Filing taxes from abroad had always been a real pain. I was double taxed on my full pension, but it didn't bother me so much to pay taxes -- it was the annoying paperwork. I used to do my own taxes, but I started going to a professional when I learned about the new disclosure laws. I'm glad I did, because there were a lot of forms. Tax prep costs me about 1,000 Swiss francs ($1,123) a year.
'We're ostracized for being American'
Name: Ezra Goldman, 28
Lives in: Dongguan, China
I was born a dual citizen of both the U.S. and Germany -- the U.S. through my father, and Germany through my mother.
After graduating from college in 2008, I moved for work to Dongguan, China, and I've been here ever since.
Germany doesn't require me to report, file or pay taxes on my income earned abroad, even though I am a German citizen. But as an American citizen, I am required to file taxes on my worldwide income. I always knew that even as an expat, I would have to file.
I have a tax service in the U.S. handle it for me. There's just too much for me to possibly know what's going on with tax laws and regulations -- I can't keep up with it. It costs me several hundred dollars every year, but if a tax expert can keep me in good standing and in compliance, then I see it as the single best investment I make every year.
I am increasingly conflicted about giving up my U.S. citizenship. I plan to live abroad for a while for my career, and I don't know when I'll move back. It doesn't make it any easier as there also seem to be more and more restrictions for expats -- we're ostracized for being American.
On numerous occasions, I've gone to banks to talk about investment opportunities, and they will blatantly tell me, "We do offer them to our customers, but because you're American, those opportunities are not available." I've even had health insurance companies tell me they'd prefer I sign up as a German citizen.
Ultimately, I don't know what I'm going to do as time goes on, but I do know that I will always feel and be American, regardless of my passport.
(read the whole thing at the link).
When they show the statistics of 3,000+ people giving up Citizenship and the number is getting higher, I see the usual comments section of people screaming nationalistic profanities, telling these TRAITORS to be good riddance, and tired of these tax cheats, and all sorts of untrue accusations. Not everyone who gives up citizenship is doing it to run away from taxes.
They are doing it because compliance is every changing and becoming a burden, banks overseas are shutting out US citizens, and USA intrusion into Assets of NON-US Citizens is just not right.
And this article highlights the lives of 5 normal people, not uber rich slick millionnaires, who's lives are being needlessly burden because of the passport they hold.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/expats-ditching-u-s--passports-151127757.html
3,000 Americans around the world renounced their citizenship last year. Meet five U.S. citizens who have given up their passports -- or are thinking about it -- to escape an overly complicated tax code.
I threw up after renouncing
Name: Donna-Lane Nelson, 71
Lives in: Geneva, Switzerland
I renounced my U.S. citizenship in 2011. After I did it, I was so emotional that I threw up outside the embassy.
During my renunciation, I broke down. It was like getting a divorce. America gave me my education, a good career path, and I came from a beautiful part of the country. This was very hard.
Before I took the last oath, I asked if I could change my mind. The embassy worker said maybe, with official permission. But I still went through with it.
My decision to renounce was triggered when my bank threatened to close my account because I was American. What would I do without a bank? Americans in Switzerland were having trouble with their investments, getting credit cards, and some weren't even getting loans.
I've been in Switzerland since 1990, and became a citizen in 2005, because I wanted the right to vote where I was living. The Swiss can tell I have an American accent, and I'm often explaining that I grew up in the U.S. and have a daughter who still lives in the Boston area.
Filing taxes from abroad had always been a real pain. I was double taxed on my full pension, but it didn't bother me so much to pay taxes -- it was the annoying paperwork. I used to do my own taxes, but I started going to a professional when I learned about the new disclosure laws. I'm glad I did, because there were a lot of forms. Tax prep costs me about 1,000 Swiss francs ($1,123) a year.
'We're ostracized for being American'
Name: Ezra Goldman, 28
Lives in: Dongguan, China
I was born a dual citizen of both the U.S. and Germany -- the U.S. through my father, and Germany through my mother.
After graduating from college in 2008, I moved for work to Dongguan, China, and I've been here ever since.
Germany doesn't require me to report, file or pay taxes on my income earned abroad, even though I am a German citizen. But as an American citizen, I am required to file taxes on my worldwide income. I always knew that even as an expat, I would have to file.
I have a tax service in the U.S. handle it for me. There's just too much for me to possibly know what's going on with tax laws and regulations -- I can't keep up with it. It costs me several hundred dollars every year, but if a tax expert can keep me in good standing and in compliance, then I see it as the single best investment I make every year.
I am increasingly conflicted about giving up my U.S. citizenship. I plan to live abroad for a while for my career, and I don't know when I'll move back. It doesn't make it any easier as there also seem to be more and more restrictions for expats -- we're ostracized for being American.
On numerous occasions, I've gone to banks to talk about investment opportunities, and they will blatantly tell me, "We do offer them to our customers, but because you're American, those opportunities are not available." I've even had health insurance companies tell me they'd prefer I sign up as a German citizen.
Ultimately, I don't know what I'm going to do as time goes on, but I do know that I will always feel and be American, regardless of my passport.
(read the whole thing at the link).