Tina Turner ‘to become Swiss, give up US passport’
25 January 2013 – 10H41
US singer Tina Turner arrives for the Emporio Armani fashion show in Milan, on February 26, 2011. Turner — who has been living in Switzerland since 1995 — will soon receive Swiss citizenship and will give up her US passport, according to Swiss media reports.AFP – US pop legend Tina Turner, who has been living in Switzerland since 1995, will soon receive Swiss citizenship and will give up her US passport, Swiss media reported Friday.
“I’m very happy in Switzerland and I feel at home here. … I cannot imagine a better place to live,” Turner told German language daily Blick….
Makes sense. She’s lived in Switzerland for the past 20 years, so she might as well continue doing so under the same conditions as any other Swiss citizen. Switzerland is a great place for celebrities, since they can go about their normal lives without people making a big deal out of such.
Mark Zuckerschmuck donates to the Demonicratic party. Ike Turner does not.
Veterans Today: “American Patriots Escape and Renounce Citizenship”
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2013/01/26/american-patriots-escape-and-renounce-citizenship/
From the article:
“Should you leave the U.S. and renounce your citizenship? Many Americans ponder this question as the benefits begin to outweigh the costs. Some of the those benefits are lower taxes, lower administrative costs, and even getting away from bad governance and cultural stresses.”
Atlanta Black Star: “Tina Turner Renounces U.S. Citizenship for Swiss”
http://atlantablackstar.com/2013/01/26/tina-turner-renounces-u-s-citizenship-for-swiss/
It appears that Ms. Tina has every intention to travel back to the US, therefore, she will most likely submit to the gag order (never speak about taxes) imposed by the Reed Amendment.
From the article:
“Tina Turner – as she has gotten worldwide fame – has never forgotten her roots,” said Brownsville, Tennessee Mayor Jo Matherne. “We’ve been in recent contact with some of her people talking about some projects we have in Brownsville.”
“Renouncing her citizenships doesn’t suggest that she won’t still be making her way to the U.S to visit her hometown and help out with projects; it just simply means she would rather be a citizen in the place she has lived in for over a decade.”
Just Me, sorry to hear about twitter. That really stinks.
I didn’t get any errors with my ABC comment on “Tina Turner to Ditch American Citizenship, to Become Citizen of Switzerland”, and the comment appeared after posting it. Yet, when I looked again an hour or two later, it was gone. One can still see that “one comment” (my comment) was posted, but the comment itself does not appear. My comment was polite and professional, but it showed that the video was very poorly done.
Edit: The comment is now appearing again:
@John Brown
Did you see the name of the author? by Johnny Punish
How appropriate! LOL Punish indeed.
An interesting comment by Mustela_Nivalis
We actually need personalities like Tina to come forward and publicly tell the world that the main reason she is renouncing is because she can’t have a nornal financial life in Switzerland, because of the negative consequences of FATCA.
I wish it was easier to get in touch with her. Even though it’s nobody’s business, she would do Americans Abroad a big favor by doing that.
I found her Twitter page:
https://twitter.com/Official_Tina1
Like Just Me suggested, I guess at some point, I need to get a Twitter account.
She cannot speak. If she does, her renunciation won’t be recognized.
It also appears that her Brownsville Mayor got the answer she wanted from her. I hope our letters were not for naught.
I too hoped against hope that Tina Turner could be a Rosa Parks-like figure for Americans abroad. Where on earth do you find someone who is still considered “American” by homelanders without living there, is willing to subject themselves to the Reed Amendment if enforced, is willing to open themselves up to personal attacks by Shumer et al, is wealthy enough not to care, can clearly communicate the complexities faced by Americans abroad, isn’t financially reliant on 300 million homelanders but is also considered sympathetic by homelanders? Unicorns would appear to be more plentiful.
*@Edelweiss, exactly! I suspect that they’re frightened to speak out. In fact, I can’t help but wonder if the IRS or DHS could actively try to to trace bloggers and Brockers who’ve openly admitted to renouncing because they’ll surmise it’s largely for tax reasons.
IP addresses can be traced, especially as they’re aren’t that many of us actively posting, plus certain names keep popping up all over the place…. I’m really frightened that some people here, especially those actively advocating expatriation, could wind up in DEEP trouble…
Believe me, we are going to see more and more high-profile expats dumping their US passports, and the media isn’t even asking the right and difficult questions. The unbelievably poor coverage is laughable.
Regarding Tina Turner, the tough question isn’t even why she is claiming Swiss citizenship, but why is she renouncing her US citizenship? The media’s focus on Mrs. Turner’s desire to receive Swiss citizenship and subsequently renounce her US citizenship implicitly suggests that Switzerland doesn’t allow dual-citizenship, which is in fact false. It seems there is a gag order on having a fruitful and intelligent debate here. The 800 pound gorilla (FATCA and Citizenship-based Taxation) is in the room farting like crazy, but homelanders have no sense of smell ))))
This is what happens when you treat your diaspora like dog doodoo, and only narcissists don’t realize it.
“The 800 pound gorilla (FATCA and Citizenship-based Taxation) is in the room farting like crazy, but homelanders have no sense of smell.” — Too funny! 🙂
*@CHF, I agree that the press are being muzzled for whatever reason. So much for a free press…I also believe that there will inevitably be a surge in expatriations once Godzilla ecomes widely known about.
While I believe that the longterm result will be tax reform, I still fear that initially Congress will have a self-righteous reaction and try to pass laws to make life even more difficult for expatriates and expats. I’d guess we could be looking at at least eight to ten years before things improve
Let’s hope for the best.
Maybe this was the final straw, for anyone like Tina who has been, and intends to be a permanent resident outside the US, and who will have another citizenship, the newest tax to apply to those ‘abroad’, along with FATCA’s toxic effect on those living abroad being able to hold a non-US bank account, and FBAR intrusiveness:
“…………But for those U.S. persons making more than $200,000 in 2013, a
separate piece of legislation, the Patient Protection and Affordable
Care Act, known informally as “Obamacare,” could prove to be a real cost
to some Canadians. The PPACA included a new measure, effective for
2013, called the net investment income tax (NIIT), which imposes a 3.8%
surtax on net investment income, including interest, dividends and
capital gains.
“………. “foreign taxes most likely will not be creditable against the 3.8%
Obamacare tax on net investment income.”……. http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2013/01/obamacare-tax-will-hit-us-citizens-working-abroad.html
“
*Ah, but will she still be considered a “US Person” even after having renounced?
*@Dax, I believe that Congress are going to become so enraged if expatriations (especially renunciations) surge that they will indeed try to pass laws that would make U.S. Personhood impossible to shed for tax purposes. It would be a stealthy way to still allow Americans to give up their citizenship while still keeping them fenced in.
However, I doubt if they could get away with it for long because then it definitely would be a humsn rights abuse and taxation without any representation or privileges of U.S. citizenship. Sooner or later, they’d be taken to court and probably back down. But in some ways this would be the best thing that could ever happen because it would finally make people affected aware of the outragious injustices of such a law.
However, things are getting truly weird over there so wouldn’t put it past them to try passing such a law even retroactively. It’s why I’m still not convinced that renouncing will always be an escape route.
*monalisa1776, a renunciation is the best escape route. With such, one becomes legally detached, from an international perspective, and no nation is going to extradict a law-abiding citizen to the US. So, in the absolute worst case scenario, an ex-American would have to avoid travel to America or maybe even avoid leaving their homeland to reduce the possibility of kidnappings. America would pretty much have to declare war to hunt after former Americans (which, I suppose, could be very possible given previous US activities).
*@Swiss, this is just the thing: that America could increasingly look upon a renunciation as a DENUNCIATION and seek reprisals. I don’t think any renunciant who still has to continue travelling to the U.S. will ever be completely safe.
I realise that some will consider me a coward but am starting to question what I might do. I fear that it would raise red flags and possibly only create more problems, at least while my parents are still alive. It would be different if I never had any further need to go back or for those who can relinquish.
At least I have found a less expensive tax preparer so could stay compliant for $1200-1500 rather than $2500-$3500. Call me paranoid but my tax situation was more complicated than most so am still at greater than average risk for audit while my SOL’s are still open.
From what I understand, to renounce is more confrontational than to relinquish. It all scares me sh**less. One thing I don’t want to do is piss off the U.S. government because when they get a bee in their bonnet…
*monalisa1776, most Americans are good people who don’t want to cause you any harm. The problem in America is that people generally don’t know anything about the situation. With a little bit of explanation, they can learn to see the situation and understand your position. I’ve been posting in the comments for various papers, stating that I renounced, and usually the feedback is friendly and positive. I’ve made almost no effort to hide my identity and have had no problems. The general rule is to not fear and to not hide. Hiding or fear may suggest criminal intent.
If you continue being an American citizen, then I suggest that you fire your tax preparer. Skip the fear, don’t hide and do your taxes to the best of your ability while communicating directly with from IRS. The purpose of a tax preparer, in my view, is to find tax loop holes, that you were unaware of, so that you can pay less in taxes. If the US wants to justify citizenship-based taxation, then all Americans abroad must be able to file without needing a tax preparer and without needing to spend a penny. Do it yourself. Ask your questions directly with the IRS and blog everything. Tell the world how it is done. America wants transparency, so give the world transparency. Explain how citizenship-based taxation works. Then, if the IRS bugs you for doing your taxes on your own, the world will see citizenship-based taxation in action and condemn it for being criminal. It is a sin and a crime, in my view, to be required to hire a tax preparer to file taxes for a nation that one does not live in. If America wants to quickly self-destruct, then it will give Americans abroad hell for filing taxes without hiring a tax preparer. I’ve always filed the taxes on my own and never had any problems. It would be horrible publicity for the US government to give Americans abroad hell simply because they tried to be compliant. Just look at how OVDI is being criticized by everyone except for those politicians and tax preparers who are greedily counting the dollars they’ve collected.
As for renouncing, don’t worry about it and have no fear. It is highly unlikely that the US will seek reprisals, and if it does, then you will not be alone and America will be hated and condemned by the world, while suffering economically. The more that U.S. government harms foreign nationals and its citizens abroad, the more that the American people will seek political change.
So, challenge your fears instead of being an obedient slave, and citizenship-based taxation will self-destruct unless the tax preparer industry collapses.
*@Swiss, you make some valid points. I am a natural worrier so will consider the worst possible scenarios. I will see if I can arrange s meeting then play it by ear. If I can get out, I just might.
As for fear, I have filed everything honestly so have nothing to hide; it’s just that the possibility of an audit still hanging over me for the next three years is daunting. Such is life.
Yes, part of me would rather keep it so I can ensure I can always easily visit or go back to live there if I so chose. It’s cruel that many of us face a life of exile due to not being able to afford burdensome compliance, though I suspect that many could indeed self-prepare, except that many may have unwittingly opened up foreign grantor trusts whose 3520 forms would necessitate a professional preparer due to complexity.
@swisspinoy
Those are wise words.
monalisa1776, Glad you found a cheaper tax preparer, but unfortunately my wife can’t even afford $1500 a tax return let alone $450.00 a tax return. Given that financial situation, my wife has no choice but to try to comply as “cheaply as possible” – meaning do the return ourselves and hope to hell we don’t get dinged but with the obsessive vindictiveness of “form-nation”; our only choice in the end…is for her to “get out” decisively and finally once and for all. Renunciation is the only way for her to go and we do have family (on her side) still in the United States.
@SwissPinoy…
I think you are right. I refuse to pay a professional tax preparer. My one experience is that they charged a hellva a lot, and still got it wrong. I do mine myself, and while it does cost me LCUs, I rather that then money in their pockets. In fact, I almost think rather than regulate preparers like Shulman tried to do,
http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2013/01/20/irs-should-not-be-able-to-license-tax-preparers/
they should be banned. All Tax Payers should be forbidden to use them. They should be required to file out the stupid forms themselves without any assistance. You want a real revolt, require that, and then more will see and experience the pain of what our Tax Complexity has created.
*@Swiss, @Animal and @Just Me, I admire your fortitude but am too frightened that I’d make a serious mistake or leave out a required form. Before all this mess erupted, I used to think just like you because I’d assumed it was sufficient that I was at least filing; I’d been a self-filer and DIY investor.
But I’d been oblivious that I still had to declare all my local investment income because had believed that it was only necessary to declare this to my country’s tax authority and US-sourced income to the IRS. Misunderstood the treaty’s savings clause so had naively assumed I was completely safe from double taxation…had assumed America were completely benevolent!
Hadn’t had a clue about FBAR and had been completely oblivious to PFIC taxation of local mutual funds. I concluded to my chagrin that I had no option but to use a specialized tax preparer and hire a certified financial planner. I thus think it could be dangerous to not use a professional except in the most simple of situations and had assumed till 2011 that my situation was fairly straightforward.
At least my accountant believed I had reasonable cause and thus kept me out of OVDI which would have bankrupted me.
I am admittedly neurotic and I’m sure my fear isn’t helping the atmosphere here at Brock but am being honest that I’m finding all this so frightening. I am very vocal about my feelings but would imagine that others also feel very scared.
It’s all been quite an eye-opener. I have sent my papers off and if I can arrange a date, am probably going to go for it, though with trepidation. But agree if I can become free from all these burdens that it would give me a new lease on life, which I’ve largely had to put on hold since early 2011. I’m convinced that all the stress has caused me to enter menopause earlier than I would have done.