IPFS News Link • TAXES: Federal
More Rich Americans Renounce U.S. Citizenship for Lower Taxes
• Jonathan Berr via LewRockwell.comPart of the reason for the rising interest in renunciation is burdensome rules like the one about foreign accounts designed to catch people who use quitting their citizenship as a way to illegally duck their tax obligations, says Bruno, who is based in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. The Irish resident, whom she declined to name, was slapped with a penalty of several thousand dollars.
"These penalties that they came up with are oversized when compared to the misdeeds that were committed," Bruno says.
Triple the Number in a Year
As many as 743 people with American citizenship or legal resident status renounced their U.S. citizenship in 2009 – three times as many as in 2008 – which resulted in a waiting list for people to say farewell to the red, white and blue at the U.S. Embassy in London, according to the Financial Times. That represents a tiny fraction of the 7 million or so Americans living abroad, but does underscore the growing unease about the Obama administration's taxation policies among the wealthy, according to experts.
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2 Comments in Response to More Rich Americans Renounce U.S. Citizenship for Lower Taxes
It is clear Obama intends to strip U.S. Citizens of their assets; their children of their inheritance, taxing anything and anybody to pay for his Socialist programs. I have already heard at least a hundred Americans say in the last two months...if only I had enough money to leave the U.S. Obama is doing to America what Hitler did to Germany; scaring off Citizens with money, causing skilled and educated people to leave America for other countries. So many people with money left Germany, before Hitler started arresting millions, Hitler had to close the gate. Could Obama do that? Obama might say you can leave but not with your money.
When one consideres that according to the IRS, the top 400 paid only about 15% of their income in taxes, perhaps a more appropriate course of action would be for these very wealthy to hire better accountants and lawyers. Oh, and that 15% is on taxable income. So, where exactly are they going? Tax rates are a lot higher in "socialist" Europe. Maybe they can move to some kleptocracy where only the poor pay taxes