A record 3,415 Americans renounce US citizenship in 2014.
The number of Americans choosing to give up their passports hit a record 3,415 last year, up 14% from 2013, and 15 times more than in 2008, when only 231 people renounced their citizenship.
Experts say the recent surge is coming from expats who no longer want to deal with complicated tax paperwork, a burden that has only gotten worse in recent years.
Unlike most countries, the U.S. taxes all citizens on income, no matter where it is earned or where they live. The mountain of paperwork can be so complicated that expats are often forced to fork over high fees to hire an accountant -- some say they pay as much as $1,000.
As new procedures are put in place, "the pace of U.S. citizenship relinquishments is likely to slow. People are becoming aware of the various compliant ways they can mitigate the negative effects of FATCA, without having to take the drastic and often emotional step of giving up their American citizenship." But it's going to be a few years before renunciations start to taper off.
Read more at: http://money.cnn.com/2015/02/12/pf/americans-expat-citizenship-passports/index.html
The number of Americans choosing to give up their passports hit a record 3,415 last year, up 14% from 2013, and 15 times more than in 2008, when only 231 people renounced their citizenship.
Experts say the recent surge is coming from expats who no longer want to deal with complicated tax paperwork, a burden that has only gotten worse in recent years.
Unlike most countries, the U.S. taxes all citizens on income, no matter where it is earned or where they live. The mountain of paperwork can be so complicated that expats are often forced to fork over high fees to hire an accountant -- some say they pay as much as $1,000.
As new procedures are put in place, "the pace of U.S. citizenship relinquishments is likely to slow. People are becoming aware of the various compliant ways they can mitigate the negative effects of FATCA, without having to take the drastic and often emotional step of giving up their American citizenship." But it's going to be a few years before renunciations start to taper off.
Read more at: http://money.cnn.com/2015/02/12/pf/americans-expat-citizenship-passports/index.html
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