3 ms·

Your facts are a misrepresentation. There have been many american expats for a long time. We usually keep our citizenship because there was no need to give it

by danssig 15y ago

Your facts are a misrepresentation. There have been many american expats for a long time. We usually keep our citizenship because there was no need to give it up. Having to file taxes to the US every year is annoying but not enough to renounce citizenship over. Lately, however, the US has been getting more and more intrusive in my foreign life. Why do I owe any taxes on money I earn in a foreign land? I'm not using any US resources (don't give me any nonsense about navy seals coming to my rescue if I get kidnapped), I'm not working there, I have no property there, nothing. Now they want to know how much money is in my bank account! I have a hard time finding banks that will do business with me because I happen to be in a "tax haven" country so doing business with americans means you have to have infra to send information about my banking activity back to the US. The cost of rejecting a handful of american customers is minuscule compared to the cost of setting up such infra. I don't want to give up my citizenship but I'm not putting up with this mafia-style protection racket anymore.

Gormo 15y ago
Why do banks in other countries have to obey US disclosure laws at all? If US authorities make demands of them, why can't they just say no?
- danssig 15y ago
  Well, the country could just say no but once the country has said yes (probably after some very one-sided negotiation) the bank no longer has a choice. That is the case here: have American customers? Then you have to comply with the US rules. The US is making a lot of trouble in banking. For example, if two non-US parties trade some US-based stock, then the whole thing has to be reported to the US specially independent from the normal reporting they have to do. I wish the US were a small enough player that everyone could just ignore this kind of nonsense but that's not the case at the moment.

by danssig 15y ago

Gormo 15y ago

Why do banks in other countries have to obey US disclosure laws at all? If US authorities make demands of them, why can't they just say no?

danssig 15y ago
Well, the country could just say no but once the country has said yes (probably after some very one-sided negotiation) the bank no longer has a choice. That is the case here: have American customers? Then you have to comply with the US rules. The US is making a lot of trouble in banking. For example, if two non-US parties trade some US-based stock, then the whole thing has to be reported to the US specially independent from the normal reporting they have to do. I wish the US were a small enough player that everyone could just ignore this kind of nonsense but that's not the case at the moment.