Record number of Americans renounce citizenship

Johnny · Post by **Johnny** » November 15th, 2013, 10:45 am

http://www.dailyfinance.com/on/more-ame ... d%3D406378

This was the main page in the front news cover when you log on into aol.

HouseMD · Post by **HouseMD** » November 15th, 2013, 1:37 pm

What they don't tell you is that a great number of supposed expatriations are actually people that have never lived in the United States but were born to parents with US citizenship. If anyone here were to, say, move to China, get married, and have kids, if you had your child subsequently registered as a US citizen, they would be held to the draconian reporting requirements of US citizens banking abroad (making them ineligible for many smaller banks around the globe) and would be required to pay US taxes. This is even if they never set foot in the US in their entire life. They could even be extradited to the US for tax evasion if they didn't file their taxes! So many people are renouncing their US citizenship because it was conferred upon them by their well meaning parents who thought it might one day provide them an advantage, when in fact it has become nothing but a curse.

Teal Lantern · Post by **Teal Lantern** » November 15th, 2013, 4:03 pm

This article all but calls these people traitors & tax cheats for daring to turn in their Land of the Freeâ„¢ passports.
They don't want any remaining slaves to get any ideas about exiting the plantation.
Looking at many of the comments, it worked.

Tsar · Post by **Tsar** » November 15th, 2013, 4:52 pm

HouseMD wrote:US citizen, they would be held to the draconian reporting requirements of US citizens banking abroad (making them ineligible for many smaller banks around the globe) and would be required to pay US taxes. This is even if they never set foot in the US in their entire life. They could even be extradited to the US for tax evasion if they didn't file their taxes! So many people are renouncing their US citizenship because it was conferred upon them by their well meaning parents who thought it might one day provide them an advantage, when in fact it has become nothing but a curse.

If I ever have dual citizenship I wouldn't mention I am an American. I would only disclose the second citizenship to the foreign bank. There isn't anything forcing dual citizens to disclose all their citizenships

HouseMD · Post by **HouseMD** » November 15th, 2013, 5:11 pm

Tsar wrote:
HouseMD wrote:US citizen, they would be held to the draconian reporting requirements of US citizens banking abroad (making them ineligible for many smaller banks around the globe) and would be required to pay US taxes. This is even if they never set foot in the US in their entire life. They could even be extradited to the US for tax evasion if they didn't file their taxes! So many people are renouncing their US citizenship because it was conferred upon them by their well meaning parents who thought it might one day provide them an advantage, when in fact it has become nothing but a curse.
If I ever have dual citizenship I wouldn't mention I am an American. I would only disclose the second citizenship to the foreign bank. There isn't anything forcing dual citizens to disclose all their citizenships

That is unwise. People can generally spot an American. If they even suspect, they'll put a call in to the IRS with the name on your passport to ensure you are not a dual citizenship possessing individual because if they are audited and found to have been harboring unreported american assets, they can be stripped of their ability to do business in the U.S. markets. If you are found to have not been disclosing your assets, you can be penalized, your assets can be frozen, and you can be extradited and imprisoned. You're better off just filing your taxes kiddo, its way better than worrying that the IRS might take you from your life and family out of nowhere somedat. Either that or just renounce your citizenship.

FATCA is an evil bitch that I hope is one day repealed.

HouseMD · Post by **HouseMD** » November 15th, 2013, 5:31 pm

http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/ ... osive-now/

Here is an article of what you are looking at dealing with if you were ever to be found out. Simply failing to file an FBAR is a $100,000 fine per willful violation per year (or galf of your account value, whichever is greater) and additional penalties include many years in prison and loss of your passport.

skateboardstephen · November 17th, 2013, 10:33 am

HouseMD wrote:
Tsar wrote:
HouseMD wrote:US citizen, they would be held to the draconian reporting requirements of US citizens banking abroad (making them ineligible for many smaller banks around the globe) and would be required to pay US taxes. This is even if they never set foot in the US in their entire life. They could even be extradited to the US for tax evasion if they didn't file their taxes! So many people are renouncing their US citizenship because it was conferred upon them by their well meaning parents who thought it might one day provide them an advantage, when in fact it has become nothing but a curse.
If I ever have dual citizenship I wouldn't mention I am an American. I would only disclose the second citizenship to the foreign bank. There isn't anything forcing dual citizens to disclose all their citizenships
That is unwise. People can generally spot an American. If they even suspect, they'll put a call in to the IRS with the name on your passport to ensure you are not a dual citizenship possessing individual because if they are audited and found to have been harboring unreported American assets, they can be stripped of their ability to do business in the U.S. markets. If you are found to have not been disclosing your assets, you can be penalized, your assets can be frozen, and you can be extradited and imprisoned. You're better off just filing your taxes kiddo, its way better than worrying that the IRS might take you from your life and family out of nowhere somedat. Either that or just renounce your citizenship.

FATCA is an evil bitch that I hope is one day repealed.

How the f**k do you even file taxes abroad?And what if you don't make any income at all in your host country and your home country?I'm am so uneducated on this topic.

Teal Lantern · Post by **Teal Lantern** » November 17th, 2013, 10:47 am

skateboardstephen wrote: How the f**k do you even file taxes abroad?

All of the forms and instructions are available on the irs website.

skateboardstephen wrote:And what if you don't make any income at all in your host country and your home country?

Then the form(s) you mail in (or file online) will indicate that you have no income a/o owe no taxes.
They still want the forms filed, though.

HouseMD · Post by **HouseMD** » November 17th, 2013, 10:47 am

There are a few forms- the FBAR, form 1116, and form 8938. These declare your income, time spent abroad in a calendar year, your foreign property and account holdings, and foreign taxes paid. Form 1116 gives you a tax exemption on the first 95,000 dollars or so on foreign income if you qualify, which most people do. Failure to do all of this will eventually result in the IRS poking around at the Department of State asking who had been abroad for a substantial period of time. They then cross match this data with the SSN of the individuals in the IRS database to determine if you have filled your taxes. If you have not, they want their 100k per year penalty. They can have your passport revoked, have you extradited, etc.

While the vast majority of US citizens do not end up owing taxes, all are required to file regardless of income. I was reading a story yesterday about a woman living as a stay at home mother in Sweden who finally just renounced her citizenship over the hassle of filling taxes on her income of nothing.