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Thousands of Americans Will Be Denied a Passport Because of Unpaid Taxes

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11–20 of 110 posts

Re: Thousands of Americans Will Be Denied a Passport Because of Unpaid Taxes

#11

Seems like it only further hinders people from paying back debt. Stupid.

I'm not sure I see how. Seems like a great incentive, actually. Your passport is about to expire, but you're not going to get a new one unless you settle your debts.

I doubt people with more than $50k in tax debt are the kind of people who can't come up with the money, they're just the people who don't want to.

Re: Thousands of Americans Will Be Denied a Passport Because of Unpaid Taxes

#12
post #7
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Technically the US doesn't prevent you from leaving the country for not having an American passport - it's other countries that are likely not to let you in.

The airline is unlikely to let you board, so there's that.

But that's between you and this private company :)

Plus, I think at least part of the reason why airlines would be reluctant to board you is exactly that - knowing that the destination country wouldn't be happy with them dropping you at their doorstep with no passport in hand. What would they care otherwise?

Re: Thousands of Americans Will Be Denied a Passport Because of Unpaid Taxes

#13
post #6

Another (non-paywalled) article [0] on this says they're only denying/not renewing passports for people with at least $51,000 in tax debt. As such, this isn't exactly "picking on the little guy", and should probably be considered in that light. If you have an outstanding tax bill on the order of 1.5x (or more ) than the median per capita income — if you owe more in taxes than most people make — that's kinda on you, a…

America is one of I believe only 2 countries that demand tax on income from its citizens who live and earn abroad (and who have almost certainly already paid tax on that income to the country in which they are living).

My understanding is that they won't always even accept a renunciation of citizenship if they believe you're doing it to avoid paying them taxes.

It's no surprise to me that there are significant numbers of expats with large unpaid tax bills, possibly from years of working, paying taxes in the country in which they live but never paying US taxes.

Point being that this is probably not primarily targetting rich people who aren't paying their share, but people who are paying their share in the country in which they live and work, but are failing to pay an extra portion of tax to a country they left years ago.

Re: Thousands of Americans Will Be Denied a Passport Because of Unpaid Taxes

#14
post #6

Another (non-paywalled) article [0] on this says they're only denying/not renewing passports for people with at least $51,000 in tax debt. As such, this isn't exactly "picking on the little guy", and should probably be considered in that light. If you have an outstanding tax bill on the order of 1.5x (or more ) than the median per capita income — if you owe more in taxes than most people make — that's kinda on you, a…

Please let's not forget that text debt in the US is calculated with penalties and interest retroactively, upon discovery. I absolutely know people that had unknown tax debts (from assets they unknowingly "owned" and got in divorces) pop up, and loom large because of accumulated penalties and interest. (Penalties cannot exceed 25% of the original tax debt, to my knowledge, but I don't believe that interest carries the same cap, and is calculated at the federal short term carry rate + 3%).

Re: Thousands of Americans Will Be Denied a Passport Because of Unpaid Taxes

#15
For everyone freaking out about this consider that half the country doesn’t owe the irs any money because they make too little. So poor people are by definition unaffected. In addition, not paying taxes is literally illegal so not sure why you should be able to blow money on vacations to europe when you are breaking the law and owe the people of the united states money.

Re: Thousands of Americans Will Be Denied a Passport Because of Unpaid Taxes

#16

Seems like it only further hinders people from paying back debt. Stupid.

I'm not sure I see how. Seems like a great incentive, actually. Your passport is about to expire, but you're not going to get a new one unless you settle your debts. I doubt people with more than $50k in tax debt are the kind of people who can't come up with the money, they're just the people who don't want to.

If you live and work overseas, the IRS commonly miscalculates money owed. This can leave one stranded through no fault of their own and/or seriously interrupt a career. This law doesn't only sweep up tax evaders...

Re: Thousands of Americans Will Be Denied a Passport Because of Unpaid Taxes

#17
post #6

Another (non-paywalled) article [0] on this says they're only denying/not renewing passports for people with at least $51,000 in tax debt. As such, this isn't exactly "picking on the little guy", and should probably be considered in that light. If you have an outstanding tax bill on the order of 1.5x (or more ) than the median per capita income — if you owe more in taxes than most people make — that's kinda on you, a…

America is one of I believe only 2 countries that demand tax on income from its citizens who live and earn abroad (and who have almost certainly already paid tax on that income to the country in which they are living). My understanding is that they won't always even accept a renunciation of citizenship if they believe you're doing it to avoid paying them taxes. It's no surprise to me that there are significant number…

And? If you're that invested in another country, give up your US passport and get one with the new country. Alternatively, work to get the tax laws in the US changed. It's not like this stuff is a secret - if you want to work abroad you're going to get double taxed. Not paying the US portion of taxes is illegal. I don't understand the issue here, maybe you can explain it to me?

Re: Thousands of Americans Will Be Denied a Passport Because of Unpaid Taxes

#18
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure I see how. Seems like a great incentive, actually. Your passport is about to expire, but you're not going to get a new one unless you settle your debts. I doubt people with more than $50k in tax debt are the kind of people who can't come up with the money, they're just the people who don't want to.

If you live and work overseas, the IRS commonly miscalculates money owed. This can leave one stranded through no fault of their own and/or seriously interrupt a career. This law doesn't only sweep up tax evaders...

How much are you making that a miscalculation leads to an erroneous $51,000 tax bill beyond what you supposedly already paid?

Re: Thousands of Americans Will Be Denied a Passport Because of Unpaid Taxes

#20

For everyone freaking out about this consider that half the country doesn’t owe the irs any money because they make too little. So poor people are by definition unaffected. In addition, not paying taxes is literally illegal so not sure why you should be able to blow money on vacations to europe when you are breaking the law and owe the people of the united states money.

First locking kids in cages. Then denying citizenship to those who chose to serve their country. Then denaturalising citizens. Then this, just in last month.

Little by little the march to fascism continues: http://press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/511928.html

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