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Yeah, but there's several ways to avoid paying US taxes in such cases. Foreign taxes are credited against US taxes, and something like 85K income and then hous

by jleyank 18y ago

Yeah, but there's several ways to avoid paying US taxes in such cases. Foreign taxes are credited against US taxes, and something like 85K income and then housing expenses are removed from one's foreign income... Unless you make gobs of bucks, this double taxation isn't a problem (other than having to give the IRS and Treasury info about one's finances).

davidw 18y ago
Sure, but still, you can go to the US from a country with really high taxes (Sweden, for example) and they won't mess with you because you are living abroad. You can earn as much or as little as you want, and you pay US taxes only.
- arjunnarayan 18y ago
  As a citizen of the United States, you still benefit enormously from the power and wealth of your country. As a non-citizen, I've seen the power that blue passport with the eagle possesses. The next time there's a disaster and you're abroad, where do you head to? Straight to the nearest consulate/embassy. Flash that passport, and you disappear behind the high walls with barbed wire and guards with submachine guns. The safety net your country provides you is incredible. If you're so detached from the US and don't want to pay for it, (and are already abroad and settled somewhere else) why don't you give up your US citizenship? You still could visit the US as much as you wanted (as long as you left within 6 months). Ponder that, and then you'll realize the enormous benefits of simply wielding the blue-eagle passport.
  - davidw 18y ago
    Even if you give up your citizenship, you still have to pay your taxes. Since I come in under the fairly high tax level where you get foreign taxes discounted, it doesn't really affect, me, I just think that it's odd that the US is one of very few countries that lays a claim to your foreign income if you live abroad. Sort of like using inches, feet and yards.
arjunnarayan 18y ago
Most developed countries tax at a higher rate than the US - so this ends up only applying to people who live and work in tax havens, and earn huge amounts of money. (If you live in a country that taxes marginally less than the US, that ~85k deduction really wipes out the surplus US-rate tax, so unless you earn a lot, this still won't affect you.)

by jleyank 18y ago

davidw 18y ago

Sure, but still, you can go to the US from a country with really high taxes (Sweden, for example) and they won't mess with you because you are living abroad. You can earn as much or as little as you want, and you pay US taxes only.

arjunnarayan 18y ago
As a citizen of the United States, you still benefit enormously from the power and wealth of your country. As a non-citizen, I've seen the power that blue passport with the eagle possesses. The next time there's a disaster and you're abroad, where do you head to? Straight to the nearest consulate/embassy. Flash that passport, and you disappear behind the high walls with barbed wire and guards with submachine guns. The safety net your country provides you is incredible. If you're so detached from the US and don't want to pay for it, (and are already abroad and settled somewhere else) why don't you give up your US citizenship? You still could visit the US as much as you wanted (as long as you left within 6 months). Ponder that, and then you'll realize the enormous benefits of simply wielding the blue-eagle passport.
- davidw 18y ago
  Even if you give up your citizenship, you still have to pay your taxes. Since I come in under the fairly high tax level where you get foreign taxes discounted, it doesn't really affect, me, I just think that it's odd that the US is one of very few countries that lays a claim to your foreign income if you live abroad. Sort of like using inches, feet and yards.

arjunnarayan 18y ago

Most developed countries tax at a higher rate than the US - so this ends up only applying to people who live and work in tax havens, and earn huge amounts of money. (If you live in a country that taxes marginally less than the US, that ~85k deduction really wipes out the surplus US-rate tax, so unless you earn a lot, this still won't affect you.)