6 ms·

America is one of the few countries that could get away with this, as being American has such a premium. It'd be nice to see them use their clout to force throu

America is one of the few countries that could get away with this, as being American has such a premium. It'd be nice to see them use their clout to force through legislation that stopped companies from playing silly beggars with their offshore profits if they wanted access to US markets.

k-mcgrady 11y ago
>> "America is one of the few countries that could get away with this" There are actually only two countries that do it - the US and Eritrea.
- wolfgke 11y ago
  I think China, too.
  - seanmcdirmid 11y ago
    That is a bit ambiguous, but it seems to be more of a reporting requirement and not the same thing. Anyways, even us expats are effected by it if we stay for more than 5 years without a 1 month break.
  - girzel 11y ago
    I've been in China for fifteen years, and haven't filed taxes for the past twelve, I think. I'm moving back to the States at the end of this year, and am deeply worried about integrating myself back into the good graces of the IRS. Luckily I'm poor as rocks!
  - analyst74 11y ago
    I never thought about this, but shit it's true, because they learnt from IRS when drafting the tax code back in the day. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/08/business/international/china-starts-enforcing-tax-law-for-citizens-working-abroad.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/08/business/international/chi...
Swizec 11y ago
Does it have such a premium? Having an EU passport works preeeetty well too.
- arto 11y ago
  Indeed: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/top-10-most-powerful-passports-world-2015-stephen-palmer https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/top-10-most-powerful-passport...
  - jacquesm 11y ago
    And many countries have collaboration efforts going where one countries consular services will aid the citizens of another (usually neighbouring) country if they have no representation themselves. For instance many EU countries embassies will give aid to the members of other EU states that do not have local representation. One of the most important things embassies do is to give aid to citizens of their countries charged with crimes abroad.
    - masklinn 11y ago
      > For instance many EU countries embassies will give aid to the members of other EU states that do not have local representation. That's actually part of EU law. As an EU citizen, if you have no national diplomatic or consular representation in the country you're in you're entitled to help from any other EU member's embassy or consulate. So let's say you're a Slovakian citizen in Sierra Leone, the EU consular protection site will direct you towards the British High Commission in Freetown: http://ec.europa.eu/consularprotection/representations_en?f%5B0%5D=im_field_country_of_origin%3A%5B%2A%20TO%20%2A%5D&f%5B1%5D=im_field_target_country%3A197&iE=1&fr=80&solrsort=ss_ms_country%20asc http://ec.europa.eu/consularprotection/representations_en?f%...
  - cheatdeath 11y ago
    That list is out of date - there's an updated version on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_(document)#Visa_restrictions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_(document)#Visa_restricti... Not sure if "powerful" is the right word either. It's more of a list of the best passports to have if you want to go on holidays. "Doesn't require a visa" usually means those countries don't require visas for short non-business trips (anything from 14 days to 6 months). E.g. you can visit the US with a German passport for 3 months for a holiday but it's extremely difficult to get a visa to move there indefinitely.
jacquesm 11y ago
What premium is that over say being the holder of passport from the UK, NL, DE, FR, ES, IT, CH, SE, DK, NO, FI, BE or any one of a host of other countries that don't have such crazy tax rules?
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- mbesto 11y ago
  The US economy and quality of life commands that premium. Note - My fiancee is British and I've lived for 4 years overseas in the EU (UK 3 years, DE for 1). As the tax code as an American begins to squeeze more and more, I've become more reluctant to "pay" that premium, but there are indeed aspects of American life and opportunity that don't currently exist in the EU.
  - maxerize 11y ago
    I constantly have to remind myself that people who browse HN learn strongly libertarian and are mostly well-off white males. Otherwise, saying that the US quality of life exceeds that of the UK, Germany or Switzerland is just blatantly false.
    - magicGLASSman 11y ago
      saying "blatantly false" does not make something factual. Please provide and argument with evidence instead of blanket racist remarks.
      - oscardelben 11y ago
        Healthcare.
      - maxerize 11y ago
        For an example, this site doesn't have very comprehensive indicators but it's a good start: https://www.ifitweremyhome.com/compare/DE/US https://www.ifitweremyhome.com/compare/DE/US
khgvljhkb 11y ago
What's the premium of having a US passport? Canadian, UK, Scandinavian, Dutch, HK, Japanese, really whatever developed nations passport seems to be a better deal.
- xtracto 11y ago
  > What's the premium of having a US passport? Canadian, UK, Scandinavian, Dutch, HK, Japanese, really whatever developed nations passport seems to be a better deal. Exactly! I would be so happy to have a EU passport, that way I would have free travel/work access to the whole Euro zone and easier access to the UK.

k-mcgrady 11y ago

>> "America is one of the few countries that could get away with this" There are actually only two countries that do it - the US and Eritrea.

wolfgke 11y ago
I think China, too.
- seanmcdirmid 11y ago
  That is a bit ambiguous, but it seems to be more of a reporting requirement and not the same thing. Anyways, even us expats are effected by it if we stay for more than 5 years without a 1 month break.
- girzel 11y ago
  I've been in China for fifteen years, and haven't filed taxes for the past twelve, I think. I'm moving back to the States at the end of this year, and am deeply worried about integrating myself back into the good graces of the IRS. Luckily I'm poor as rocks!
- analyst74 11y ago
  I never thought about this, but shit it's true, because they learnt from IRS when drafting the tax code back in the day. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/08/business/international/china-starts-enforcing-tax-law-for-citizens-working-abroad.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/08/business/international/chi...

Swizec 11y ago

Does it have such a premium? Having an EU passport works preeeetty well too.

arto 11y ago
Indeed: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/top-10-most-powerful-passports-world-2015-stephen-palmer https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/top-10-most-powerful-passport...
- jacquesm 11y ago
  And many countries have collaboration efforts going where one countries consular services will aid the citizens of another (usually neighbouring) country if they have no representation themselves. For instance many EU countries embassies will give aid to the members of other EU states that do not have local representation. One of the most important things embassies do is to give aid to citizens of their countries charged with crimes abroad.
  - masklinn 11y ago
    > For instance many EU countries embassies will give aid to the members of other EU states that do not have local representation. That's actually part of EU law. As an EU citizen, if you have no national diplomatic or consular representation in the country you're in you're entitled to help from any other EU member's embassy or consulate. So let's say you're a Slovakian citizen in Sierra Leone, the EU consular protection site will direct you towards the British High Commission in Freetown: http://ec.europa.eu/consularprotection/representations_en?f%5B0%5D=im_field_country_of_origin%3A%5B%2A%20TO%20%2A%5D&f%5B1%5D=im_field_target_country%3A197&iE=1&fr=80&solrsort=ss_ms_country%20asc http://ec.europa.eu/consularprotection/representations_en?f%...
- cheatdeath 11y ago
  That list is out of date - there's an updated version on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_(document)#Visa_restrictions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_(document)#Visa_restricti... Not sure if "powerful" is the right word either. It's more of a list of the best passports to have if you want to go on holidays. "Doesn't require a visa" usually means those countries don't require visas for short non-business trips (anything from 14 days to 6 months). E.g. you can visit the US with a German passport for 3 months for a holiday but it's extremely difficult to get a visa to move there indefinitely.

jacquesm 11y ago

What premium is that over say being the holder of passport from the UK, NL, DE, FR, ES, IT, CH, SE, DK, NO, FI, BE or any one of a host of other countries that don't have such crazy tax rules?

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
mbesto 11y ago
The US economy and quality of life commands that premium. Note - My fiancee is British and I've lived for 4 years overseas in the EU (UK 3 years, DE for 1). As the tax code as an American begins to squeeze more and more, I've become more reluctant to "pay" that premium, but there are indeed aspects of American life and opportunity that don't currently exist in the EU.
- maxerize 11y ago
  I constantly have to remind myself that people who browse HN learn strongly libertarian and are mostly well-off white males. Otherwise, saying that the US quality of life exceeds that of the UK, Germany or Switzerland is just blatantly false.
  - magicGLASSman 11y ago
    saying "blatantly false" does not make something factual. Please provide and argument with evidence instead of blanket racist remarks.
    - oscardelben 11y ago
      Healthcare.
    - maxerize 11y ago
      For an example, this site doesn't have very comprehensive indicators but it's a good start: https://www.ifitweremyhome.com/compare/DE/US https://www.ifitweremyhome.com/compare/DE/US

khgvljhkb 11y ago

What's the premium of having a US passport? Canadian, UK, Scandinavian, Dutch, HK, Japanese, really whatever developed nations passport seems to be a better deal.

xtracto 11y ago
> What's the premium of having a US passport? Canadian, UK, Scandinavian, Dutch, HK, Japanese, really whatever developed nations passport seems to be a better deal. Exactly! I would be so happy to have a EU passport, that way I would have free travel/work access to the whole Euro zone and easier access to the UK.