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The underlying problem behind all of this is that the USA's policy on taxing non-resident citizens is, fundamentally, absurd. As a permanent resident, it's the
by matthewowen 12y ago
The underlying problem behind all of this is that the USA's policy on taxing non-resident citizens is, fundamentally, absurd.
As a permanent resident, it's the one thing that gives me pause about applying for citizenship (I know that the same rules apply to me whilst I'm a permanent resident, but I'm concerned about what happens in the future if I decide to leave the USA).
- philiphodgen 12y agoAs a permanent resident, you have a "do or die" date in your life. If you have the green card "in" at least 8 of the last 15 years, you have the privilege of paying the exit tax when you give up the visa status. (Well, you pay extra tax only if you are "rich" for certain definitions of "rich". You will certainly have a giant mountain of tax forms to fill in.) If you terminate your green card before that magic moment of holding the permanent resident visa "in" 8 of the last 15 years, then you can exit the United States cleanly and easily, with minimal paperwork and no risk of extra tax. That's why I tell people who want to come to the USA to avoid getting the permanent resident visa and get a different visa status instead. Disclaimer. I am a lawyer. I am an international tax lawyer. My office does a LOT of expatriation cases where we log people out of the U.S. tax system and the U.S. nationality system.
- turnip1979 12y agoCan you explain the exit tax thing or give pointers? Does it apply to people on visa's like TN or H1B?
- cylinder 12y agoNo those are nonimmigrant visas.
- sliverstorm 12y agoWhy is it absurd? Or, from the other angle, why does it exist? (real answers please, not "becuz money-grubbing gub'mint") Considering you get to deduct $100k of your foreign earnings, it's not like they are trying to rake John Doe Expat over the coals.
- waqf 12y agoYou mean to imply that being double-taxed after your first $100k is fair and reasonable?
- sliverstorm 12y agoIf you own two houses, just because you aren't living at House A right now doesn't mean you don't need to pay upkeep, and doesn't mean you aren't deriving benefit from it. Thought of differently- expats expect to be able to vote, right? Is it fair and reasonable for someone who is categorically excluded from paying taxes, to be allowed to vote?
- pdx 12y agoWhy not? Voting was implemented in the USA long before income tax was. As for the theoretical 2nd house. You would pay property tax on it.
- X-Istence 12y agoI am a tax payer in the United States, yet I am not eligible to vote ... Green Card holder! Why should someone living outside the united states, with no houses in the united states, still pay US taxes, just because they have US citizenship?
- cruisername 12y agoThis implies taxes are fair, that paying taxes is a requirement for voting, like buying your voice, and that voting would give any benefits in return. Yes, of course it is fair to vote when the vote could indirectly decide laws that make you a criminal in some way or another and no, it is not fair to be taxed, especially if you don't use the majority of infrastructure that taxes are supposedly needed for. I get where you are coming from, sure there are arguments for it, but it's not like there are none against it, either.
- matthewowen 12y agoAs a UK expat, I don't expect to be able to vote in the UK. I don't live in the UK. Why should I vote there? Why would I feel entitled to?