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How the hell do you accidentally get U.S. Citizenship? It's hard enough just getting a visa!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchor_baby but on accident.
So, these people chose to keep their US citizenship, but chose to not follow the rules ? The woman was brought over as a baby, but chose to keep the citizenship into adulthood, presumably acquiring a passport or other citizenship documents. Otherwise how are the banks finding out ? Why should she be surprised if the IRS eventually comes for her ? Seems like giving up citizenship is the right solution for these people…
I have already made up my mind to renounce, due to the immense stress and uncertainty. But you can’t even do that because all embassies are closed until further notice. Top that with the hefty fees to file the exit taxes and the renunciation fee and it’s a giant shit sandwich.
I advise never living abroad if you are an American. And think very carefully before getting permanent residence or US citizenship as a foreigner. You are becoming an inmate of the IRS for life.
So, these people chose to keep their US citizenship, but chose to not follow the rules ? The woman was brought over as a baby, but chose to keep the citizenship into adulthood, presumably acquiring a passport or other citizenship documents. Otherwise how are the banks finding out ? Why should she be surprised if the IRS eventually comes for her ? Seems like giving up citizenship is the right solution for these people…
That is ... not how citizenship works. Once you are a citizen, it can be very difficult to get rid of that status (souce: born in the US, will end up paying an arm and a leg to get rid of mine). Failing to get a passport, file returns with the IRS, etc. can lead to you getting ignored, but it can also lead you to getting into serious hot water in the future.
Example: most passports list the place of birth of the holder. If you are an American citizen, you must enter the US on a US passport. Because of American citizenship law, someone trying to enter the US on a Dutch passport with a place of birth listed as being in the US is going to have to do some explaining, and possibly provide documentation of renouncing their US citizenship. "I never applied for my American passport" is probably not going to cut it. It's a huge pain!
> Also as far as owing onerous back taxes go, aren't taxes you paid in your country of residence deductible ? For most EU countries wouldn't that result in net zero US taxes ?
It depends! But you still have to file, and there are still penalties for filing late, and even if you do, IRS reporting requirements to other banks mean that many European financial institutions won't touch you with a 10-foot pole no matter if you are also a European citizen.
Ones that will (like my bank), still won't offer you much beyond current account services and a basic savings account. If you want to do any kind of real saving for the future or basic investing (ETFs, for example), you are going to have trouble. The supposed disruptors in the market for this kind of thing (Trade Republic etc.) certainly don't have the resources or the interest in dealing with you either.
Why it must cost over $2,000 to give up something that others spend much more trying to acquire is a total mystery. Surely it does not cost $2,000 to make a note of someone’s ex-citizenship.
Yeah it's stupid. But many countries have similar weird rules about this. In the UK the fee is about £400 so not too bad, but for instance in Poland the only way to do this is to write a letter addressed to the current President of Poland and only they can grant it(my understanding is that they always do, it's pretty much an automated process, but you do actually have to send a letter to the president).
How the hell do you accidentally get U.S. Citizenship? It's hard enough just getting a visa!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchor_baby but on accident.
[0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birthright_citizenship_in_the_...
So, these people chose to keep their US citizenship, but chose to not follow the rules ? The woman was brought over as a baby, but chose to keep the citizenship into adulthood, presumably acquiring a passport or other citizenship documents. Otherwise how are the banks finding out ? Why should she be surprised if the IRS eventually comes for her ? Seems like giving up citizenship is the right solution for these people…
It's not surprising that banks would cotton on. The US has been very aggressive about enforcing reporting requirements on citizens abroad, and they do it via the banks.
Why it must cost over $2,000 to give up something that others spend much more trying to acquire is a total mystery. Surely it does not cost $2,000 to make a note of someone’s ex-citizenship.
Of course. Still, doesn’t renunciation of US citizenship actually require an act of Congress annually, under which all recent applicants are included? That the price was jacked up to $2000 is outright exploitation of desperate people, but certainly there would be some administrative fee (like the earlier one, which was generally considered reasonable) to cover the chain of people from your local US consulate to those congressional staff.
So, these people chose to keep their US citizenship, but chose to not follow the rules ? The woman was brought over as a baby, but chose to keep the citizenship into adulthood, presumably acquiring a passport or other citizenship documents. Otherwise how are the banks finding out ? Why should she be surprised if the IRS eventually comes for her ? Seems like giving up citizenship is the right solution for these people…
No, the USA has treaties with only some other countries that result in net-zero taxation of self-employed people. If you live in a country with which a tax treaty has not been concluded, and you are self-employed, you are liable to both your local country for income taxes etc., and to the USA for Social Security and Medicare.
Why it must cost over $2,000 to give up something that others spend much more trying to acquire is a total mystery. Surely it does not cost $2,000 to make a note of someone’s ex-citizenship.