Why expat Americans are giving up their passports

It means that your fate is not decided by the law, but by arbitrary decisions of random officials. It is the opposite of rule of law.

The OECD is adopting CRS which is a wider-reaching version of FACTA. 51 countries are adopting it in September 2017. Another 34 (including Hong Kong, Switzerland, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates) will adopt it a year later, in 2018.

I have (some) hope that what we're seeing now is the teething pains and they'll go away in a few years. But (as a fellow expat) I agree it is not a great time right now :(

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-04-22/americans-t...

Have a look at this evacuation application:

http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/211837.pdf

Here's the key wording:

"3. I understand that: (a) I will be billed for the cost of my/our transportation no greater than the amount of a full-fare economy flight, or comparable alternate transportation, to the designated destination(s) that would have been charged immediately prior to the events giving rise to the evacuation. (b) My obligation to repay my loan will not be considered paid in full until it clears through the account of the Treasurer of the United States. (c) Until I have paid my loan in full, I and all listed U.S. citizen family members will only be eligible for a limited validity U.S. passport. (d) If my loan is in default, I and all listed U.S. citizen family members will not be eligible for a limited validity U.S. passports. (e) My loan will be subject to interest, penalties, and other charges for late payment as directed by law and regulation. (f) I will be liable to pay any costs for collection."

If you're interested in reading the State Department Budget:

http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/100033.pdf

You'll notice that US Citizens Services is self-funded from fees collected from Americans using their services. I'm not saying that's wrong or right, but by comparison, the Social Security Administration doesn't charge fees for services.

The US is the ONLY country besides Eritrea that taxes non-resident Americans. Interestingly, Eritrea's tax warrants "investigation" by Swiss authorities: http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/controversial-levy_swiss-prosecu...

And from the British: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/jun/09/er...

Yet, the US does the exact same thing.

Here's an economist article discussing the situation in more detail: http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21605907-americas-new-...

In the Facebook group Citizenship Taxation, FATCA and Citizenship Based taxation are the key topics. There are countless stories of double taxation (despite normalization agreements, as those agreements don't cover certain taxes like French Social Charges.)

My primary complaint about Citizenship Based Taxation is that Americans abroad have no representation. You register to vote in your "state of residence" -- so while you can just pick a state at random if you want, the fact is that we do not have representation because the representatives from a state represent residents of that state. It is illegal to register to vote in a state in which you aren't resident. To register to vote as an overseas American, you effectively have to commit fraud.

There's also the related issue of "Accidental Americans" -- these are Americans who became Americans by virtue of birth to American parents even if they have never set foot in the US. Many of them don't even realize that they are Americans -- however, they have FULL tax liability to the United States on all their income for their entire life. When they open overseas bank accounts, banks often discover they are a "US Person" and thus their accounts are subject to either not being opened or subject to seizure by the US treasury department for failing to report the account per FATCA. Violations start at $10,000 per incident. Here's an article about those penalties: http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/01/pf/taxes/irs-penalties/

My opposition to Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders is based exclusively on their support for FATCA (Bernie voted for it) and Citizenship Based Taxation. Clinton was the one who introduced the $450 citizenship renunciation fee (now raised to $2300.) Democrats Abroad is on record opposing Rand Paul's repeated bills to repeal FATCA. They also oppose the lawsuit challenging both FATCA and the constitutionality of citizenship based taxation.

I know this was a long rant, but this issue is one I face continually and it has harmed a large number of people for minimal benefit.

The myth that American citizenship has "value" to an overseas American is just that.. a myth.

The UK embeds the cost of consular protection and embassy services into the renewal cost of a passport - approximately £15 in 2010, probably more now. It's an insurance payment that most people will never use, so it doesn't need to cost very much per person.

Citizens of a number of countries can enter the US without a visa. They don't also have to fill out tax returns in the US.