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Passport Index – How much power does your passport have?

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Re: Passport Index – How much power does your passport have?

#61

Post by chiph »

maxerickson wrote: post #32
kudu wrote: post #12

There are some important considerations here that haven't been taken into account. For example, the United States is the only major country in the world that taxes non-resident citizens on their worldwide income, which makes it one of the most inconvenient passports to hold. Additionally, holding an EU passport allows one to work, study, etc. in any EU country, rather than simply visit it.

Once you factor in the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion and Foreign Tax Credit, it is the filing requirement that is onerous, not the taxation. The first $100,000 of income can be excluded. On income above that, the US demands the difference if the taxes in the foreign country are less than US taxes. I think you acknowledge all this quite well when you call it inconvenient, but I think people don't need to be horribly…

If you're an American expat, having a foreign bank account (you know, because you live there..) means your chances of getting audited go up.

Re: Passport Index – How much power does your passport have?

#62

Post by bradleyjg »

kudu wrote: post #12

There are some important considerations here that haven't been taken into account. For example, the United States is the only major country in the world that taxes non-resident citizens on their worldwide income, which makes it one of the most inconvenient passports to hold. Additionally, holding an EU passport allows one to work, study, etc. in any EU country, rather than simply visit it.

I believe China also taxes on worldwide income, albeit until recently more in theory than practice.

Re: Passport Index – How much power does your passport have?

#63

Post by kyriakos »

masklinn wrote: post #56
kudu wrote: post #12

There are some important considerations here that haven't been taken into account. For example, the United States is the only major country in the world that taxes non-resident citizens on their worldwide income, which makes it one of the most inconvenient passports to hold. Additionally, holding an EU passport allows one to work, study, etc. in any EU country, rather than simply visit it.

> Additionally, holding an EU passport allows one to work, study, etc. in any EU country, rather than simply visit it. I don't think you even need a passport, just a proof of nationality (e.g. a national ID card from your country of origin, that's usually free or much cheaper than a passport)

That's true. You can travel around Europe and stay, work, study with just your Id card

Re: Passport Index – How much power does your passport have?

#64

Post by maxerickson »

siberianbear wrote: post #60
maxerickson wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Once you factor in the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion and Foreign Tax Credit, it is the filing requirement that is onerous, not the taxation. The first $100,000 of income can be excluded. On income above that, the US demands the difference if the taxes in the foreign country are less than US taxes. I think you acknowledge all this quite well when you call it inconvenient, but I think people don't need to be horribly…

The Earned Income Exclusion, as its name applies, only applies to "earned" income. It doesn't apply to capital gains or dividends. Having reviewed the form in detail, I also believe that self-employed US citizens working abroad with US-sourced self-employment income (i.e., digital nomads) also need to play the ~15% self-employment tax, even if you're able to get out of the "normal" income tax with the Foreign Income…

I think it is much more likely that digital nomads are operating unlicensed businesses in foreign countries than it is that they are earning "US sourced self-employment income".

It could well be easy to import the earnings into some country while characterizing it as US sourced self employment income. That doesn't mean it is actually compliant with the regulations of that country.

Re: Passport Index – How much power does your passport have?

#66

Post by madamepsychosis »

More interesting would be to rank citizenship by price. For example, you can directly get Maltese citizenship for $150k. Indirectly you can get a green card for $500k. Maybe someone could sort through all these direct and indirect rules to classify citizenships by value.

Re: Passport Index – How much power does your passport have?

#67

Post by pinaceae »

snitko wrote: post #26
pinaceae wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

visa restrictions into the US and EU exist to protect their own population, as voted and decided upon by their democratic systems. the world is a bit more complicated than your comment implies.

I will tell you exactly how the world works. You have poor people in poor countries working crazy hours in slave-like conditions. Then the rich countries and businesses come out and say "oh, but they are better off because at least thanks to our money they have jobs". And western consumers get cheap products and then get to bitch about minimum wage and equality. If you really cared for equality, you'd open borders fo…

FUCK a truly open and free market.

all it leads to is catastrophe, as witnessed over and over. a well regulated market, taking into account externalities like the environment, population density, cultural barriers, etc. is in the best interest of humanity.

it was the capitalists that brought in massive immigration into europe, without asking the native population. with no plan for integration, balance. super results.

Re: Passport Index – How much power does your passport have?

#68

Post by learnstats2 »

reinhardt wrote: post #51
learnstats2 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a clear example of tyrrany of the majority. The majority of people might not want to move state, which is fine, but they prevent other people from exercising their right to freedom of movement. But this ends up being bad for everyone - if we are agreed that competition is good, this prevents competition between sovereign states for labour and population. As an individual, I am stuck with whatever citizenship…

Like it or not, human relationships and trust are related to distance, geographical and cultural. Broadly speaking, family > neighborhood > city > state > country > continent > rest of the world. So yes, as an individual you are "stuck" with whatever citizenship you are born into just like you are stuck with whatever parents you are born from. If you think that a country giving privileges to its own citizens compared…

> If you think that a country giving privileges to its own citizens

My argument is the opposite: countries take away privileges from their citizens by restricting movement. The fact that this is done by states' mutual agreement does not mean people are gaining privilege.

Human beings are supposed to migrate - that's why we are all over the world.

Re: Passport Index – How much power does your passport have?

#70

Post by gervase »

golergka wrote: post #5

What if you have two passports, what's your cumulative passport power? Or a passport from one country and lassiez passer from another?

Additionally, it would be helpful if you could select your passports, and then it would suggest on a per-country which passport to use for entry, based on visa restrictions, costs, etc. There are a number of websites that offer the information listed in the post, but nothing that provides the details I just described.
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