Apparently rich people say they want to leave the USA because of taxes

[davidn3600]

Would you renounce your U.S. citizenship if it meant you’d be sending less of your hard-earned dollars to Uncle Sam?

As Americans face higher taxes and stricter enforcement, a growing number of them are, indeed, deciding to turn in their US passports. As of 2013, 77% of Americans will pay higher federal tax rates because the cuts in Social Security payroll taxes expired when Congress passed its tax package on New Year’s Day.

But the wealthiest households face the highest tax increases. From 2009 to 2011, the number of expatriates, or those who renounced their U.S. citizenship, doubled to 1,781.

Nigel Green, CEO of deVere Group, which provides financial services for expatriates, said that since the start of this year, 48% more of his clients in January than in a typical month inquired about moving funds abroad and the possible tax implications of changing citizenship.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/should-you-renounce-your-citizenship-144048875.html


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[YoungDemCA]

1. My response to rich people complaining about taxes:

[Taverner]

2. Seize their assets!

Seriously

That's what the UK would do

[Scuba]

10. +1,000

[Nye Bevan]

11. The UK does not do that. Nobody even has to renounce their citizenship to avoid UK taxes.

All a UK citizen has to do to avoid UK taxes is to live abroad. Most countries follow this system; the US is unusual in this respect.

[Taverner]

16. I thought you still had to pay a nominal tax?

Weren't the Stones hit with some huge tax bill when they returned from "exile" (from running from another tax bill)?

[kelliekat44]

18. +++1,000,000 what they are doing is a national security threat.

Many were born here anyway.

[2pooped2pop]

3. weren't taxes lower in 2010 and 2011?

So did they leave because of taxes or because of the audacity of the black guy, I wonder?

and to them I say Good Day. I said good day!

They don't deserve to live here.

[BlueCaliDem]

30. + 1000! These tax-evaders are UN-American and UN-patriotic.

If they choose to leave the country in order not to have to support it (either because they're cheap-scrooges or because they don't like that black guy in the Elitists' White House), then they should be banned from selling their goods or doing business here, too. Let's see how they'll fair when they no longer have access to the biggest consumer market in the world.

They should not have their cake and eat it, too.

[JHB]

33. I think it's mainly them as a group rebreathing their own hot air and backwind...

...though the racial angle is a definite component of it. Teabaggers with a lot of money, but still teabaggers, with ever-expanding definitions of what counts as "socialism".

[FSogol]

4. Good riddance. n/t

[Agnosticsherbet]

5. Don't letthe screen door hit ya where the good lord split ya.

Don't let the screen door hit you in the ass on the way out.
Hasta la vista, baby!
So long, asshole!

[HughBeaumont]

6. So . . . like . . .. where are they going to go?

China, Belize or Somalia?

Europe and Scandanavia would kill them in taxes and costs (not saying that's a bad thing: just look at how their tax monies are put to use compared to this lame wealth/war-happy country). Of course, costs don't really matter much when you're at that level of income.

[Nye Bevan]

12. My guess would be Bermuda, Hong Kong, Singapore, or the Caymans (nt)

[pampango]

36. I hear that Somalia is nice this time of year. And the taxes are extremely low.

[OldDem2012]

7. Fine. Hope they take the Tea-Nazis with them. I highly recommend the Carnival Triumph. nt.

[marions ghost]

9. great idea!

[LiberalFighter]

8. They are not going to be paying that much more than before. What a bunch of jerks.

This is where ex-patriots need to pay extra when they are in the USA. Extra for flying. Extra when they deal with Wall Street. Extra when they receive medical services.

[leftynyc]

13. Strip them of the citizenship

Pull their passports and never grand them a visa. Fuck them.

[galileoreloaded]

14. Not a bad deal considering..

no matter where they live they will most likely get the protection and security of the American military.

It's really not a threat as we continue to devolve.

[leftynyc]

20. I would not be happy

knowing I could never step foot in the US again....especially if I had children and grandchildren here. Others may feel differently.

[galileoreloaded]

25. Meh, there really aren't any rules anymore.

They keep pretending to make laws, and we keep pretending to follow them.

Just gotta adapt.

[Bandit]

32. Why do you believe they could never visit the USA?

Many people from other countries visit here every single year. Just because a person chooses to live in another country does not mean they can never return or even just visit....They now live in a country where goods are far cheaper and they have abundant resources to last them the rest of their lives.....Why bother themselves with the morons that live in the USA. I'm talking mostly about the Tea Bagger types but also those that live in complete oblivion and know only who might become the next American Idol. Those people find it difficult to name the Vice-President of the USA or any Cabinet member or Supreme Court Justice. Hell most don't even know who their Representative is......If I had the money I would find it very attractive to find another country to live. Especially if it was one based on Progressive Government and had the right climate..

[leftynyc]

40. Could you leave all your family

and friends behind? I don't really think the same people who can't name the VP are the same people who are leaving because of taxes. If there is a way to keep them out (and I'm sure there must be), I would never let them set foot on US soil again.

[Bluenorthwest]

31. In order to not be taxed, an American has to give up their citizenship. Those who do this are

doing exactly that. They already have no US passports, if they did, they'd owe US taxes.
Other nationals simply reside elsewhere, Americans have to cease being American to cease paying American taxes.

[Art_from_Ark]

48. Well, yes and no

If you are an American living overseas, you have to file a US income tax return if you have income above a certain threshold. However, if you are a resident of a foreign country for an entire tax year, the first $94,000 or so of your income that is earned in your country of residence is generally exempt from US taxation. Above that, your US tax on foreign-earned income is based on what you would be paying in the US, minus what you have paid to your country of residence (assuming that the US has a tax treaty with that country). Income that is earned in the US is generally treated the same way it would be for a US resident.

[Marrah_G]

15. Greedy, selfish people

They lack empathy, compassion and any sense of community.

[aquart]

17. They'll love Russia. Smug, greedy bastards.

[raouldukelives]

19. Please go already.

We have a limited amount of forests, wildlife & unspoiled water left. Much more limited than your increased exploitation of nature for stock returns can handle. Please leave, take your companies with you and let us get about to the business of a creating a country that feels it has an obligation to the future instead of the next profitability chart. One that places more awe & admiration in a Redwood tree than a skyscraper.

[stevenleser]

29. There is nothing stopping a foreign national from continuing to do business here as before

I'm not sure what the answer is but we have to find some way to penalize these folks.

[Progressive dog]

21. Good Riddance

If they keep leaving at this rate, it'll only take 20 centuries or so to get to the 1% mark.

[frylock]

22. and stay the fuck out

[Autumn]

23. Don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

24. And yet someone at Fox will inevitably call these people "patriots."

Mark my words on that.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

26. Ah, the mark of a true patriot...surrendering your citizenship. n/t

[Dpm12]

27. Here.

Let's play them "a song on the world's smallest violin!"
[image][/image]

[bowens43]

28. good. the sooned they leave the better.......

for the most part they are truly horrible people.

[bullwinkle428]

34. I hear Somalia is BEAUTIFUL this time of year!

[kentauros]

38. So is Beijing!

They could live with the rest of the choking billionaires

[Control-Z]

35. Lol. Greedy idiots.

They won't be happy until they take ownership of the US,. They've gotten so big for their britches they have no sense of fair play or democracy. We're better off without them.

[KansDem]

37. They're not going to leave...they need the US military to "spread democracy."

However, having said that, Citizens' United has made it possible for foreign rich folks to funnel money into the US, assuring they can always buy Congress to do their bidding. This would include rich American expatriates.

I often wonder how much Saudi money, or Russian money, or Chinese money (etc), is coming into the US to influence the US legislative process. And to "rent" the US military.

After all, "War is a Racket" (Gen. Smedley Butler)

[Spider Jerusalem]

39. I don't blame them.

And no, this isn't "leaving the USA because of taxes". This is renouncing American citizenship because the US government demands taxes on income regardless of residence. Sorry, but I don't see any logical or rational reason why an American citizen who lives and works in London or Berlin or Sao Paulo should have to pay a penny in US income tax, on income entirely earned outside the US.

This creates situations of double taxation and much inconvenience, and the United States is one of only two countries in the world to tax on the basis of citizenship and not residence (the other is Eritrea).

[riverbendviewgal]

42. very true

America is the only country in the world that wants all those born in America and those who are born to Americans even they were not born in America to pay taxes until they die...even if they do not earn a penny in america.. I know a woman in her 80s
who came to Canada in 64...with her 4 kids...and husband and had two more here in Canada.

She has never filed an American income tax since she came up here. She still does not have Cdn citizenship. She has an American passport only...She has two kids living in America now, and 3 living in Canada, one died in Texas from a gun accident.
2 living in Canada are born here. One living here was born in the states but he has no american passport nor canadian papers, not even landed papers. Wow.....That is such a big dilemma because the two kids up here have kids and those kids are on the wanted list now. It is extremely expensive to sort this out and to have to pay penalties to boot...It could be in the thousands to 20k to sort it out. I also would like to add she is far from rich...lives on only about 1200 a month.

She is quite worried because she is a little fish...and they are easier to catch than the big fish like Romney. She is not the only one.
Another senior club member married a Canadian about 15 years ago. She is not Canadian and only has an American passport and never paid America taxes since she came up here.. She came up to me and said she didn't get her pension from her employer where she worked since she turned 65 last June...guess what....her employer is Georgia Pacific...the Koch brother.

I wished her luck..

[riverbendviewgal]

41. There money has already left them.

My friend's daughter works in a bank in Cayman islands.....

They are there already.

[Bake]

43. Fine. Don't let them come back to visit either.

You leave, you're GONE. For good. Go live in Beijing.

Bake

[lunasun]

44. The less greedy the better around here imo

[AnnieBW]

45. A Couple I know Is moving to Costa Rica

My friends that won the Powerball a few years ago are now moving to Costa Rica. Yes, they still have the money - less a few million from bad business ventures. But true to form, the husband turned into a right-wing douche who thinks that Obama is a "socialist". Ironically, they're fleeing to Costa Rica that has.... universal health care!

Good riddance, I say.

[Art_from_Ark]

46. An expatriate is not necessarily someone who has renounced their citizenship

An expatriate (or expat) can merely be someone who is living in a country that is not the country of their citizenship.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

49. As you are an expatriate, Art

but there are some Japanese-English translators who are married to Japanese, have lived in Japan since forever, and have become Japanese citizens. Some of them are fairly old and highly unlikely to move back here.

[Art_from_Ark]

51. No doubt there are some Americans who've decided they want to become Japanese citizens

I think there's even someone in this forum who may be traveling that path. But as you noted, they already have strong ties to Japan through marriage, etc., so it's not really like they would be giving up their US citizenship to keep from having to pay US taxes. The foreign-earned income exemption this year is around $94,000, and given that the Japanese tax rates are generally higher than US rates at that point, there would be no benefit in renouncing their US citizenship just for tax purposes. They would have to be making boatloads of money to actually be liable for US as well as Japanese taxes, and I have a feeling that most translators aren't reaching that income level. Of course, it would be different if somehow they are making big bucks off US-based investments. But then again, they would still have to file a tax return to declare their profits, regardless of their citizenship.

However, there is also a matter of reporting foreign bank accounts. US citizens living abroad have to report all bank accounts they hold in foreign countries, if the cumulative amount in all accounts together reaches $10,000 at any time during the tax year. Of course, if one lives in Japan, one must have at least one Japanese bank account. For the past tax year, the $10,000 threshold would be equivalent to roughly 800,000 yen, which in Japan is not a whole lot of money. The information that must be provided about said bank accounts has been getting more and more, how shall I say, kibishii. I don't think any other advanced country demands this of its citizens living in other countries.

[Glassunion]

47. Fuck'em.

Can I have their parking space when they leave?

[DearHeart]

50. So long, farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, GOODBYE!!

I would NEVER renounce my citizenship! I'm poor as a churchmouse, but if I had money, I wouldn't have a problem with paying more taxes. Why do these people? If you're already a multi-millionaire...how much money do you need?? You, your children, and your children's children probably would never spend it all.


Such aholes!

[burrowowl]

52. May they be arrested for tax evasion first

serve their sentence, pay up and then they may leave or be sent to Sri Lanka with no money.

[quaker bill]

53. They should go if they want to

but we should keep a slice of their wealth as they head out the door. (This is probably not constitutional, but still a commendable idea).

[hobbit709]

54. don't let the doorknob hit ya.

And if you want to come back, you have to go through the same process anyone else does that wants to come here.

[Dirty Socialist]

55. Buh Bye!

Don't let the door hit you on your AAAAASSSS on the way out!