Here is the link to an article in the Christian Science Monitor which talks about how polarized the Congress is becoming. If the author is correct then I don’t think that expats can really expect much relief from Washington’s war against them. This is an example of why the argument that we have no representation is a valid one. Where will there be any voices that will listen to reason? Our only representation is through the legislative assemblies of the countries in which we reside and the fact that the governments of other countries are willing to stand up for people that the U.S. believes belong exculsively to them is what makes them even more angry.
“Our only representation is through the legislative assemblies of the countries in which we reside…”
Yes, which means that more and more Americans abroad have every interest in acquiring nationality in their country of residence.
However, this is not necessarily perceived to be in the interest of the host country. To the extent a government attempts to use its diaspora within another country of citizenship, the country of residence can have some legitimate concerns. In some cases, there is an attempt by the “other’ government to use its citizens to further political objectives. We just saw this with Armenians in France. The diaspora can also be used to the economic benefit of the home country through remittances or (in the case of the U.S.) through tax policies that attempt to capture some of the productive power of its citizens abroad. None of these things is useful to the host country. In the first case we are talking about the distortion or manipulation of internal politics. In the latter, it means money leaving the host country and then either being injected directly into the home country economy or collected by the government to fund services or repay debt in the home country.
I realized the other day that the taxes I paid last year to the US government and the taxes I pay this year represent a direct transfer from the French economy to the American one. It is money that I no longer have to buy goods and services in my local community, Versailles, and money that cannot be re-invested in the French or European economy. As a U.S. citizen, I am the conduit that makes this kind of transfer possible. That seems like a very bad deal for the French and a VERY good deal for the Americans since the U.S. government provides me with no services and none of the money I have originally came out of the American economy.
Another reason, I think, that I am leaning toward relinquishment of my U.S. citizenship. It just seems unreasonable to hold onto a citizenship that is detrimental to my host country.
One of the reasons I became a Cdn citizen was to have a say on how my local taxes were spent.
Have never filed US returns since.
My second appointment is in six hours, it will take about a year to fully be free of the US tax regime.
@rivka88 – Good luck and I hope it all goes smoothly for you!
@Victoria
Renounced this morning, very informal, without any ceremony
@rivka88 – Congratulations! I’m very happy for you. So glad that it went well and sounds like it was easy and painless. Good to know. All the best.
rivka88 Which consulate may I ask?
@ rivka: Congratulations! Felicitations!
Success — good for you. My congratulations, rivka!!
@KalC
It was in Montréal
@rivka88- congratulations
@rivka: Sweet Land of Liberty!
thanks to all who replied to my morning in Montréal
Now for the challenging part, in a world of financial whales and minnows, I, a self-defined plankton, will
prepare my tax returns for the IRS.
“No man’s life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session.”
– Mark Twain