Just posted by Innocente here. It needs to be called out for special attention.
Bloomberg: “Cost of Dropping Citizenship Keeps U.S. Earners From Exit”
In the past most clients who renounced citizenship were green-card holders, dual citizens or those who had been living abroad for many years, Christensen said.
Comment section is open!
Taxes were a very minor consideration in my own renunciation. The taxes I paid as a US citizen abroad were always small, although reporting requirements were generally onerous and expensive (I had to pay my US CPA over USD 5K a year).
The tipping point for me was a) the increasing “life restrictions” as USCitizenAbroad puts it (for example, many Swiss banks won’t take me as a client any more), and b) the general trend of silly rules the US is putting in place. I live and work in Switzerland, and cannot countenance a distant US telling me what I can and cannot invest in, or penalizing me for this and that through ridiculous cost of living tax rules and caps that should only apply to the US, yet they make them apply to me living in Switzerland as a US person. Here I’m talking about possible deductions, etc. For example, housing where I live is ridiculously expensive compared to inside the US.
If anyone asks me if I renounced for tax purposes, then of course my answer is no, and I’m being completely honest. Although one should bear in mind that ALL of this silliness from the US ultimately derives from taxes.