Why I知 Giving Up My Passport
LONDON THE mayor of London, Boris Johnson, who was born in New York and holds both American and British passports, recently said that he would not pay a tax bill from the United States on capital gains from the sale of his home in the London borough of Islington. Mr. Johnson pointed out that he hasnt lived in America since he was 5. Hed like to renounce his citizenship, but said the process was very difficult.
It is, but I am doing it. My in-person final loss of citizenship appointment is scheduled for Jan. 14 at the United States Consulate here. My British passport, acquired in 2012, will be my only one.
Some 3,000 Americans gave up their citizenship last year, a tiny number thats nevertheless been soaring. Yes, a few expatriates may be trying to avoid future taxes, as Senator Charles E. Schumer accused the Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin of doing two years ago, when Mr. Saverin, who lives in Singapore, surrendered his passport ahead of the companys initial public offering.
But most, like me, are not tycoons. Were responding to the burden and cost of onerous financial reporting and tax filing requirements that are neither fair nor just. (Living and working in London, I pay higher taxes, to Britain, than I would in New York.)
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/08/opinion/why-im-giving-up-my-american-citizenship-passport.html
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)bemildred
(90,061 posts)still_one
(92,192 posts)stone space
(6,498 posts)And my wife is keeping both of hers.
Hopefully, some day, I'll have two of them, also.
DonCoquixote
(13,616 posts)how would you keep companies from doing the sort of shell games that the law was meant to fight against? You can call it a hateful relic, but the fatc is the rich to indeed abuse said tax laws.
KT2000
(20,581 posts)on selling your residence was exempted from tax during the Clinton administration.
FBaggins
(26,740 posts)Since he makes more than that annually in salary (much of which would also be taxable)... there's reason to believe that his home-sale profits exceed that amount.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)riverbendviewgal
(4,252 posts)did not read the article.... LOL.
I never had an US passport. I am no longer a US citizen.... and happy, very very happy.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)I have mine, and I keep it current, but if I lived overseas ...
I think this is a very stupid policy, for what it's worth. One wonders why it is necessary to resort to these grasping measures when we have all those billionaires handy here.
riverbendviewgal
(4,252 posts)In Delaware and Nevada. That domestic and foreign criminals and fraudsters can hide their money on US soil.
I left when the leaving was good, decades ago. no regrets. I have one payer health care. Living a good retired life.
Travel around the world and love to see different cultures.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)It's a big world, isn't it?
nilesobek
(1,423 posts)Some people know how to travel without passports and some don't. Its not taxes that would motivate me, however. Its the violent state of affairs here in America that would send me abroad. It would be nice to live one day not in fear of police or a government that can torture and assassinate people at will.
riverbendviewgal
(4,252 posts)And thankful I have my CLN and no longer have US CITIZENSHIP. SHUDDER!