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I'm selfishly happy that tax year 2017 is the last year I'll probably be filing a personal US tax return (at least a substantial one) for a long time. Maybe in
by rdl 9y ago
I'm selfishly happy that tax year 2017 is the last year I'll probably be filing a personal US tax return (at least a substantial one) for a long time. Maybe in 2036 they will have solved this.
- geomark 9y agoDid you renounce US citizenship? I think that's the only way to remove the requirement to file a US tax return.
- rdl 9y agoNo. There are lots of other ways. (Renouncing is bad for many reasons; I'm patriotic, although the US has a lot of problems, and there's essentially a 10y tax on unrealized gains at exit, plus lifetime visa problems.) 1) Make <threshold income. (Admittedly, that sucks.) I think it is around $3k/yr. 2) Move to a place which under Section 933 of the IRC can make its own tax laws for bona fide residents. I'm doing Act 22 (and Act 20 for business, and some other things) and taking advantage of the opportunities in the Isle of Enchantment, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. There are some similar opportunities for US citizens in the other US territories, but PR is the best one I think, and is certainly the biggest and most developed. Essentially, until 2035, you pay 0% short term, long term capital gains or dividends. Under Act 20, businesses pay 0-5% on exported services revenue (i.e. anything sold outside PR: SaaS, consulting, etc.). It's pretty nice. Infrastructure is an issue (although gigabit internet is $60/mo), and some costs are higher, but overall it's a good deal. It's hugely popular with cryptocurrency people after crypto to crypto trades started getting taxed fully as st cg. (Actually I have to file 2018 too, although it will be for <$100, since I think I have some US bank accounts which earn interest.)
- enraged_camel 9y ago>>There are some similar opportunities for US citizens in the other US territories, but PR is the best one I think, and is certainly the biggest and most developed. Maybe it was, but Hurricane Maria fucked it hard and it is unlikely to recover anytime soon. Just the other day a tree fell on a repaired power line and 640,000 people in San Juan (the capital!) lost power. That’s just crazy to me.
- rdl 9y agoMaria was honestly insignificant compared to the 2006-2017 economic problems. Maybe 10%? (It was a big short term problem, especially due to the deferred maintenance and lack of resources/capabilities, but wouldn't have been a lingering crisis without the economic problems.) Savings from 0% tax pays for a pretty amazing generator/solar/lithium ion battery system. The electrical grid is being privatized and turned into a bunch of microgrids (already happening; upscale condo buildings have generators, and the homes of rich people have generators/solar.) The biggest problem is traffic lights, which don't work even in the areas with power, but outside of SJ and first-ring suburbs traffic volumes are fairly light.
- geomark 9y agoThat's interesting. But you still have to file a US tax return, right?
- rdl 9y agoOnly year-of-move (and year-of-return, but I an uncertain if the US will exist in 2036.) If you have no US liability, because all of your income is PR-source, no need to file US returns in the intervening years. It's possible I'll have some US source income, though, but obviously the goal is to minimize that in favor of PR source income. There are a bunch of complex sourcing rules. This is different than the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE), where you get a $100500 (indexed) deduction, but have to file to claim it.