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Interesting, but it's been a growing trend. US is one of the few countries that taxes its citizens who move abroad. This leads many to give up their US passport

Interesting, but it's been a growing trend. US is one of the few countries that taxes its citizens who move abroad. This leads many to give up their US passport/citizenship. You may also know that US citizens who open bank accounts here in UK have to declare, specifically that they are US citizens. It's basically a checkbox you clear (or not). That is then flagged back to some 'entity' in the US presumably... One thing I did notice that was interesting. If you click the 'raw data' from the Federal Register and scroll down the list of those who have given up citizenship there is one 'Steven Ballmer' listed..I had to chuckle at that one...

cr1895 9y ago
>US is one of the few countries that taxes its citizens who move abroad. More precisely it is taxation by citizenship, not residence. For example, the Netherlands will happily tax everyone on their assets worldwide, but you're not going to be paying Dutch income taxes if you're not living and working in the Netherlands.
- UnoriginalGuy 9y ago
  > More precisely it is taxation by citizenship, not residence. Both. Non-citizens (inc. illegal immigrants) are required to pay US taxes just for residing in the United States. The US will actually give non-citizens a unique tax ID (TIN) for this express purpose. So the US will tax both based on residential status AND citizenship status.
  - seanmcdirmid 9y ago
    You can also get an ITIN for non resident aliens, as I found out when I married my wife abroad and needed to put her on my taxes so I could "married filing jointly" and not get screwed on taxes. In at case, the US is effectively taxing a non-resident non-citizen, which is another level of bizarre (but the foreign tax deduction makes it OK in the end).
  - tormeh 9y ago
    To paraphrase: "Illegal immigrants to the US are required to pay US taxes" That's... Slightly insane?
    - marcoperaza 9y ago
      You are also required to pay taxes on profits from illegal activity. Breaking one law doesn't exempt you from following another.
      - tormeh 9y ago
        Well, if an illegal immigrant files taxes, then they're registered in the system and will be thrown out, right? If you're illegally in a country you presumably have to stay hidden in order to not be thrown out, and if you pay taxes you're not hidden anymore.
        marcoperaza 9y ago
        Yes, and you can make the same argument about having to pay taxes on illegal activity and it basically being self-incrimination, an actual constitution right (which staying here illegally is not). The courts have considered the argument and they don't agree. They don't really deport people that way, though. It could certainly happen in the future, but currently they're focusing on criminals and suspected gang members for deportation.
        jwhitlark 9y ago
        No. The There are laws against the IRS reporting illegal income to other agencies. If you pay your taxes, the IRS has no problem with you, and any violation you have with another agency is not their problem.
        deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]

cr1895 9y ago

>US is one of the few countries that taxes its citizens who move abroad. More precisely it is taxation by citizenship, not residence. For example, the Netherlands will happily tax everyone on their assets worldwide, but you're not going to be paying Dutch income taxes if you're not living and working in the Netherlands.

UnoriginalGuy 9y ago
> More precisely it is taxation by citizenship, not residence. Both. Non-citizens (inc. illegal immigrants) are required to pay US taxes just for residing in the United States. The US will actually give non-citizens a unique tax ID (TIN) for this express purpose. So the US will tax both based on residential status AND citizenship status.
- seanmcdirmid 9y ago
  You can also get an ITIN for non resident aliens, as I found out when I married my wife abroad and needed to put her on my taxes so I could "married filing jointly" and not get screwed on taxes. In at case, the US is effectively taxing a non-resident non-citizen, which is another level of bizarre (but the foreign tax deduction makes it OK in the end).
- tormeh 9y ago
  To paraphrase: "Illegal immigrants to the US are required to pay US taxes" That's... Slightly insane?
  - marcoperaza 9y ago
    You are also required to pay taxes on profits from illegal activity. Breaking one law doesn't exempt you from following another.
    - tormeh 9y ago
      Well, if an illegal immigrant files taxes, then they're registered in the system and will be thrown out, right? If you're illegally in a country you presumably have to stay hidden in order to not be thrown out, and if you pay taxes you're not hidden anymore.
      - marcoperaza 9y ago
        Yes, and you can make the same argument about having to pay taxes on illegal activity and it basically being self-incrimination, an actual constitution right (which staying here illegally is not). The courts have considered the argument and they don't agree. They don't really deport people that way, though. It could certainly happen in the future, but currently they're focusing on criminals and suspected gang members for deportation.
      - jwhitlark 9y ago
        No. The There are laws against the IRS reporting illegal income to other agencies. If you pay your taxes, the IRS has no problem with you, and any violation you have with another agency is not their problem.
      - deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]