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Wealthy people are renouncing American citizenship

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Re: Wealthy people are renouncing American citizenship

#161
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Basically the only country in the world that charges taxes on money you make and spend somewhere else I believe Eritrea does this, too. They don't have as much political power as the US though, so they resort to torturing your remaining family members in the country to get you to comply.

> They don't have as much political power They're basically the North Korea of Africa. This is a massive understatement.

So they have as much political power as the US?

Re: Wealthy people are renouncing American citizenship

#162
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Basically the only country in the world that charges taxes on money you make and spend somewhere else I believe Eritrea does this, too. They don't have as much political power as the US though, so they resort to torturing your remaining family members in the country to get you to comply.

Hmm, I seem to recall hearing Australians also have complicated rules about being an "Australian resident for tax purposes" that is not the same as an Australian resident for other purposes, especially when you don't have Permanent Residence/Green Card and are on a time-limited visa (even if it's years long). So they don't technically fall into the "America and Eritrea" bad list, but still tax many Australians abroad…

This is untrue, if you're a citizen of Australia who is a non-resident you don't have to report or pay taxes on world wide income made outside of Australia.

Re: Wealthy people are renouncing American citizenship

#163

Its really a great system we have here --- get insanely wealthy off the backs of Americans who pay tons more for basic services and then when it's time to pay back run off and keep your change. No wonder America is doing so well.

“Off the back” sounds like the wealthy took advantage of folks when, in fact, they entered voluntary contracts in a win-win scenario. Creating a company is not exploitative but rather collaborative and mutually beneficial (with workers).

It's simpler and more emotionally appealing to explain things from an exploitative marxist point of view.

Re: Wealthy people are renouncing American citizenship

#164
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Basically the only country in the world that charges taxes on money you make and spend somewhere else I believe Eritrea does this, too. They don't have as much political power as the US though, so they resort to torturing your remaining family members in the country to get you to comply.

Hmm, I seem to recall hearing Australians also have complicated rules about being an "Australian resident for tax purposes" that is not the same as an Australian resident for other purposes, especially when you don't have Permanent Residence/Green Card and are on a time-limited visa (even if it's years long). So they don't technically fall into the "America and Eritrea" bad list, but still tax many Australians abroad…

Not too bad really for us overseas Australians.

If you took out a HECS (0% interest, indexed to inflation) loan for university study you still need to file taxes when resident overseas and continue making payments if you earn over the threshold.

If you are resident in Australia more then 6mths of the year you must complete an Australian tax return, but for most people that involves logging in around september and checking that all the auto-fills match up with what they expected.

Re: Wealthy people are renouncing American citizenship

#165
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Basically the only country in the world that charges taxes on money you make and spend somewhere else I believe Eritrea does this, too. They don't have as much political power as the US though, so they resort to torturing your remaining family members in the country to get you to comply.

Hmm, I seem to recall hearing Australians also have complicated rules about being an "Australian resident for tax purposes" that is not the same as an Australian resident for other purposes, especially when you don't have Permanent Residence/Green Card and are on a time-limited visa (even if it's years long). So they don't technically fall into the "America and Eritrea" bad list, but still tax many Australians abroad…

Many countries do, and losing your tax residency in a country of which you’re a citizen and have been recently resident is a pain — check out the UK statutory residency tests for example.

That said, it _is_ possible to lose your tax residency in these countries, where American citizens are simply fucked.

Re: Wealthy people are renouncing American citizenship

#166
post #87

By most western standards my family teeters on the line between middle and upper middle clas. We sold all of our US property last year; and now we are shopping for 4-6 unit buildings within 100km of Barcelona to get our Golden Visas. Our goal is to get citizenship and access to the EU then renouncing my US citizenship. It isnt about money, I am juwt ashamed to have an American passport and know my tax dollars are bei…

> By most western standards my family teeters on the line between middle and upper middle clas. (...) we are shopping for 4-6 unit buildings within 100km of Barcelona I'm not sure this is what upper middle, much less middle, class is. A family that can pay several millions for houses abroad just to get a visa to change citizenship is way above middle class, or even upper middle class for that matter. Pew Research def…

The Spanish golden visa will require a €550k housing investment, then the normal amount of accrued in-country time for citizenship.

Maybe we’re sort of upper midde-class then. We gross about $200k consulting. Not rich, not poor.

We live in the developing world now so here we are definitely upper middle class/rich, and do not have millions in assets.

Re: Wealthy people are renouncing American citizenship

#167
post #134

It's so irritating to be an American that has moved overseas. Basically the only country in the world that charges taxes on money you make and spend somewhere else, just because of where you were born. Thanks to IRS regulations, 90% of investment firms will just reject me outright rather than deal with the paperwork. Getting someone to help file my inordinately complex taxes costs thousands of dollars more than I act…

Edit: My question wasn’t clear, but it’s not important.

The US is the top tax haven in the world.

You read that right.

The US is the top place to hide your money if you are a foreigner

Yet foreign countries are not rushing to change their laws to tax their citizens living abroad. There is no urgency to tax their expats who havent worked or lived back on foreign home for years, even decades.

So if nost countries have reason to complain about us helping hide stuff, they dont seem interested in enforcing anything

Re: Wealthy people are renouncing American citizenship

#168

It's so irritating to be an American that has moved overseas. Basically the only country in the world that charges taxes on money you make and spend somewhere else, just because of where you were born. Thanks to IRS regulations, 90% of investment firms will just reject me outright rather than deal with the paperwork. Getting someone to help file my inordinately complex taxes costs thousands of dollars more than I act…

As a former American who lived abroad for about 11 years before renouncing, “cartoonishly cruel” is a pretty accurate description of the system. It’s even worse an American entrepreneur abroad because that makes things even more complicated. I gave up jumping through the hoops in 2018 and the self-torture and renounced. I shared my story in case anyone is interested: https://larrysalibra.com/goodbye-usa/

This was a good read. It's interesting that you decided to stay in HK after the protests/hostile takeover in 2020. My partner and friends all left HK for the UK, Australia, and Canada.

Re: Wealthy people are renouncing American citizenship

#169
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No one's moving the Europe for the lower taxes.

Cyprus gives you access to the EU while being a tax haven. https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/11/9/21547055/eric-schmidt-g...

Cyprus! Hilarious.

My bank account's got robbed by European Commission. Over 700k is lost. March 28, 2013, 06:00:15 PM

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=160292

P.S. The worst thing is, that even a month ago I was suspecting that things can go wrong. In February, I several times called my banker and lawyer and asked them if money on the account is safe, mentioning that article in Financial Times. But they convinced me that there is no reason to worry, and even if country goes default, in no way current accounts may be affected. "This is European Union and banks here can't just grab your money and go" I was told. I got a hard lesson and now I know the meaning of phrase "TRUST NO ONE".

The rest of the money (100k EUR) are still subject to Capital Control and we can only transfer 5K monthly.

Today I had a conversation with a manager from Laiki Bank. He has been honest and confirmed that we may forget about anything over 100K as it's already spent to pay country's debts. Also, I was warned that the financial situation in the country is getting worse and worse and we should be ready to lose even part of insured (under 100K) money during this year (this is why they keep capital control enforced).

By the way, this style of "bank restructuring" is going to be adopted in the whole European Union. Soon, everyone's uninsured money (over 100K EUR) in EU banks will be at risk of seizure.

Re: Wealthy people are renouncing American citizenship

#170

Its really a great system we have here --- get insanely wealthy off the backs of Americans who pay tons more for basic services and then when it's time to pay back run off and keep your change. No wonder America is doing so well.

American wealth is built upon globalized workforce, you're the next on the ladder that is throat cutting capitalist for the next class.
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