The Wall Street Journal reports that 2013 has already set a new record for "expatriations," defined as citizens renouncing their citizenship or permanent residents giving back their green cards. The Journal quotes tax lawyer Andrew Mitchel, who found that there have been 2,369 expatriations as of the end of the third quarter; that's an increase of 33 percent over all of 2011, the previous record-holder.
Friday, November 15, 2013
More Americans Than Ever Are Renouncing Their Citizenship
More of the wealthy are giving up their citizenship rather than pay more taxes. This appears to be an ongoing pattern which is becoming even more popular after Facebook's Eduardo Saverine, the Brazilian Internet entrepreneur who help start Facebook and Denise Rich, the ex-wife of billionaire investor, Marc Rich to name a couple. The founder of Carnival Cruise Line, Ted Arison who died in 1999, was an Israeli businessman who gave up his U.S. citizenship after buying the Miami Heat and becoming one of the wealthiest men in America.
More Americans are deciding that they'd rather give up their citizenship than pay more taxes.
The Wall Street Journal reports that 2013 has already set a new record for "expatriations," defined as citizens renouncing their citizenship or permanent residents giving back their green cards. The Journal quotes tax lawyer Andrew Mitchel, who found that there have been 2,369 expatriations as of the end of the third quarter; that's an increase of 33 percent over all of 2011, the previous record-holder.
Expatriations are typically motivated by a desire to escape taxes, and the move is usually undertaken by Americans already living abroad. There was an uptick in expatriation at the beginning of President Obama's first term, which has been attributed both to anticipation of more burdensome taxation policies and to increased tax enforcement against expatriates. Indeed, the Journal notes that those who renounced last year may have done so to avoid a higher capital gains tax, and also points to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, which makes it tougher for Americans to hide assets in offshore accounts.
The Wall Street Journal reports that 2013 has already set a new record for "expatriations," defined as citizens renouncing their citizenship or permanent residents giving back their green cards. The Journal quotes tax lawyer Andrew Mitchel, who found that there have been 2,369 expatriations as of the end of the third quarter; that's an increase of 33 percent over all of 2011, the previous record-holder.
