I'm a digital nomad. Should I renounce my US citizenship?
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I'm a digital nomad. Should I renounce my US citizenship?
1–10 of 93 posts
Re: I'm a digital nomad. Should I renounce my US citizenship?
#2Lol this is crazy, of course not
Re: I'm a digital nomad. Should I renounce my US citizenship?
#3The one example of someone who maybe should renounce their American citizenship, Boris Johnson, and who in fact did renounce it https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/feb/08/boris-johns... was not a digital nomad.
So hey if you have a citizenship somewhere else that is among one of the cool, slightly respecting rights of citizens countries in the world, and you never want to go to the U.S because reasons (including never wanting to work there - which seems weird given your digital nomad lifestyle) go ahead, renounce it.
Re: I'm a digital nomad. Should I renounce my US citizenship?
#4The one example of someone who maybe should renounce their American citizenship, Boris Johnson, and who in fact did renounce it https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/feb/08/boris-johns... was not a digital nomad. So hey if you have a citizenship somewhere else that is among one of the cool, slightly respecting rights of citizens countries in the world, and you never want to go to the U.S because reasons (includin…
The article also talks about Eduardo Saverin, born Brazilian, become American, then renounced in favor of Singapore.
Re: I'm a digital nomad. Should I renounce my US citizenship?
#5The one example of someone who maybe should renounce their American citizenship, Boris Johnson, and who in fact did renounce it https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/feb/08/boris-johns... was not a digital nomad. So hey if you have a citizenship somewhere else that is among one of the cool, slightly respecting rights of citizens countries in the world, and you never want to go to the U.S because reasons (includin…
The article also talks about Eduardo Saverin, born Brazilian, become American, then renounced in favor of Singapore.
I'm not sure I am convinced that Saverin should have renounced, I think that decision may end up a modern example of Solon's advice to Croesus, but maybe that is just my western liberal prejudice against Singapore coming through.
Re: I'm a digital nomad. Should I renounce my US citizenship?
#6US citizens who live abroad for at least 330 days a year, or establish permanent residence abroad, may qualify for the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE). that FEIE excludes the first $112,000 of income from federal income tax, double that for a married couple. Social Security/Medicare (aka self-employment tax) are not excluded. Most states will want state income tax, so establish residence in a state with no income tax before going nomading.
https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/fore...
This is a huge tax break. You can exclude income earned from US sources too.
If you live in a foreign country and pay taxes there you may be able to deduct those from US taxes, depends on reciprocal tax agreements.
I used ustax.bz to help me figure this out, was worth it to me.
Re: I'm a digital nomad. Should I renounce my US citizenship?
#7What other passports do you have available? The US tax obligations are onerous, but being a US citizen means good no-visa access to lots of places, and somewhere to return to if you want to.
Establishing a "reason to leave" when visiting the US might mean you need to buy a house elsewhere if you do renounce.
Re: I'm a digital nomad. Should I renounce my US citizenship?
#8Don't! That passport has tremendous value.
It will be a huge Opportunity Loss. Plus the way the world is shaping up, you will be better off with the country's Economic/Financial/Military Systems behind you.
Re: I'm a digital nomad. Should I renounce my US citizenship?
#9US citizens who live abroad for at least 330 days a year, or establish permanent residence abroad, may qualify for the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE). that FEIE excludes the first $112,000 of income from federal income tax, double that for a married couple. Social Security/Medicare (aka self-employment tax) are not excluded. Most states will want state income tax, so establish residence in a state with no inc…
Yeah this article is really pointless because it doesn't mention this. I'm an American citizen living abroad (still digital, no longer nomadic). I only pay SS and Medicare tax to the US.
Do not give up your US Citizenship for tax avoidance unless you are earning > $200k per year or making a lot of unearned income outside of the US.
Or you are in some weird situation where you permanently want to be in the US more than 35 days a year, but you don't work in the US, and don't want to be a citizen for some reason.
Re: I'm a digital nomad. Should I renounce my US citizenship?
#10US citizens who live abroad for at least 330 days a year, or establish permanent residence abroad, may qualify for the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE). that FEIE excludes the first $112,000 of income from federal income tax, double that for a married couple. Social Security/Medicare (aka self-employment tax) are not excluded. Most states will want state income tax, so establish residence in a state with no inc…
> double that for a married couple
Only if your spouse also qualifies, which isn’t necessarily just because they have an ITIN (oh, and it only applies to their income, and not yours…which often won’t work out if your spouse is earning local wages). SS and Medicare aren’t collected on income earned abroad, but you also have to be careful because your credits towards benefits don’t accrue either.
I quickly dropped the FEIE in favor of the foreign tax credit. Turns out I paid more in Chinese taxes than I would have paid USA taxes, and computing the FTC on top of the FEIE was just too complex by hand.