This post ends with the following question:
Are Americans really “so beaten down, so subservient, so fearful of authority that it complies with the most horrific and undemocratic “laws” and is unable to unite and simply say NO, collectively.”
I invite you to express your answer in this poll:
Perhaps you could consider this question while reading the following post.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Re: US Tyranny and Terrorany "People are developing resistance and figuring out there is not much the U.S. can do." https://t.co/Vakr3uya4g
— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) December 3, 2015
The above tweet references the following comment from @Homelander_NOT on Robert Wood’s blog.
Yet another punitive measure that will further the creation of a US Berlin wall plus make life more complicated for Americans/”U.S. Persons” abroad. Other recent moves which demonstrate the tendency of the U.S. government to repeatedly “do the wrong thing:” ” Is US considering not publishing #USExpatriation list anymore? If yes, efficiency or embarrassment?” https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2015/12/01/2015-30366/proposed-collection-comment-request-for-information-collection … (not at all sure that is what implied by this tweet I received) and Executor liability for U.S. income tax and penalties, interest, etc., may extend to you if you were aware that the decedent owed the U.S. treasury for say tax from unfiled tax returns.http://www.taxconnections.com/taxblog/good-to-know-part-3-from-larry-stolberg-cpa-ca/#.Vl79_PmrTIV . For such an “ advanced” nation, the U.S. seems not to understand basic psychology. The more one tries to restrict somebody, the more they are likely to be resisted. If it is true the Name & Shame List’s days are numbered, it won’t be of any consequence. Who reads the Federal Register anyway? Personally, I could care less if they kept an ongoing list published in the NYT and like many, consider it a badge of honor. Proof of being a ‘real’ American if you will. And more nonsense/confusion for an executor (really? even an “alien one? Just how would they enforce that?). Or is it more along the lines that no one can even imagine someone having the gall to not obey the exceptionalistic conditioning that can only be dumped by experiencing the rest of the world? It is a well-documented problem that the IRS does not have records for expats; even with FATCA there are likely to be many pieces of undeliverable mail. Yes the IRS cares not and will continue to follow their own procedures. I expect thousands upon thousands to simply ignore those letters. People are developing resistance and figuring out there is not much the U.S. can do. Other than count on the fact that such folks will surely want to come to the U.S. so “we’ll get them at the border.” Lots of people are figuring out the better choice is simply to go elsewhere for vacations and have family visits where the expat families are. All of this is pathetically sad. All this grief for insistence on filing forms to show there is likely no tax owed-when everyone KNOWS its the big fish living in the U.S.that all this effort should be expended toward. Again, such a very basic, basic thing that eludes those running the most dominant, most fortunate country on earth. I remain puzzled that this is what has happened to the country I grew up in and in spite of awareness of its many flaws, still loved until FBAR.
It’s interesting that the recent linking of passport restrictions to tax compliance has received little discussion at the Isaac Brock Society. To me, this suggests that Brock is largely populated by those who:
1. Do NOT consider themselves to be U.S. citizens (meaning they don’t care about a U.S. passport anyway); and
2. Are primarily concerned with the effects of U.S. extraterritorial tyranny and U.S. terrorany on Canadian citizens.
It’s the opposite in Europe where the Facebook groups (at least here and here) have included much discussion about the upcoming passport restrictions. The usual lobby groups, have done their usual letter writing, with the usual response (nothing) from the USA.
U.S. citizenship and the U.S. passport …
The State Department takes the position that a U.S. passport is proof of U.S. citizenship. It is an “incident of U.S. citizenship”. What is the meaning of U.S. citizenship? What does it mean when one holds a U.S. passport?
Bubblebustin recently asked the following question:
@USCitizenAbroad
Isn’t the current Congressional enforcement of CBT in fact resulting in the destruction of US citizenship we are seeing today, the justification for these laws derived from the notion that citizenship is based in taxation, or, “Taxation-Based Citizenship”?
Congress has turned what it means to be a citizen on its head, the result of which is that the citizen becomes the servant of the government, as opposed to the reverse. CBT is like a splinter that until now one could ignore, but because of irritating acts of Congress is now festering to the point of becoming life threatening. Unfortunately because citizenship and taxation are intertwined as such (Cook v Tait) the citizen must remove him/herself from the splinter instead.
Are we dealing with “citizenship-based taxation” or with “taxation-based citizenship”?
Since the 2004 creation of the “Tax Citizen” (as described by Virgina La Torre Jeker), U.S. citizenship and taxation have become one and the same. Taxation = citizenship and citizenship = taxation (without specifying the “incidents of taxation”).
The new meaning of U.S. citizenship – Taxation isn’t everything, it’s the only thing
In 2013, U.S. tax lawyer, Stephen Mopsick opined (while acknowledging the problems of FATCA) on the meaning of U.S. citizenship. On June 30, 2014 (largely in response to his post) I wrote the following post on Brock.
July 4 Reflection: Meaning of "Being an American" vs. "Being one of those #Americansabroad" https://t.co/d3tAQemx0N via @@IsaacBrockSoc
— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) December 3, 2015
It included:
As we approach the 4th of July – Independence Day – one must ask whether the there is a difference between “Being an American” and “Being an American Abroad”. Another year has passed.
– the formal relinquishments of U.S. citizenship continue to grow
– the informal relinquishments of U.S. citizenship (run and hide) are going through the roof
– the rollout of “FATCA Hunt” is forcing Americans abroad to hide their “USness”
– the U.S. Congress has shown no interest in freeing Americans abroad from the “prison of citizenship-based taxation” – AKA taxation based on place of birth
Tomorrow July 1, 2014 marks the Official start of FATCA Hunt.
As Americans abroad contemplating the arrival of Independence Day:
What are your thoughts on the MEANING of being an American abroad?
What message would you like to send to America this Independence Day?
I encourage you to go and reread the comments to this post.
Leading to: The role of the passport in “facilitating” “taxation-based citizenship” …
A. History of the control of movement through the passport
U.S. Passport as Instrument of Control https://t.co/d0iP8nvkRS – History of the use of the passport as an instrument to prevent travel
— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) December 3, 2015
The above tweet references a Brock post from USXCanada. It includes:
The extraordinary Mrs. Shipley: how the United States controlled international travel before the age of terrorism
Connecticut Law Review 43:3 (Feb 2011) 819-888http://uconn.lawreviewnetwork.com/files/documents/JeffreyKahn43Conn.L.Rev.819.pdf
[389 footnotes] Career civil servant Ruth B. Shipley acted as chief of the Passport Division of the U.S. State Department from 1928 to 1955. Shipley personally reviewed every passport application, and prior to 1958 Supreme Court decision, her actions were subject to no judicial review. Shipley denied passports to Paul Robeson, Arthur Miller, Linus Pauling, and “many other” Americans during the 1950s. Kahn’s article explores how Shipley acquired such power and how the US passport became an instrument to prevent rather than permit travel. A backgrounder opening (825-842) provides a history of travel controls from 1789 to the Shipley era. Originally the passport was “a document [issued by the country that the traveler sought to enter] that granted a foreigner permission to pass into or out of a country’s ports” (825) — the opposite of what the passport came to be. Kahn concludes that current administration of U.S. citizens has achieved the Shipley effect through authority “diffused among intelligence analysts in multiple agencies who now compile watchlists of people deemed too dangerous to travel.” In this environment, judicial review is crippled by “the traditional deference accorded to national security and the sometimes secret processes by which that government interest is secured” (887).
B. The passport application as a means to notify U.S. Treasury of the existence of Americans abroad
There is NO DOUBT that that passports are now linked to tax compliance. For the past several years it has been common knowledge that passport applications and renewals were being used to notify U.S. treasury of the existence of Americans Abroad (as discussed in this post by MopsickTaxLaw). Until now, the passport application has been used to notify U.S. Treasury of your existence. That was then. Now as discussed by Rober Wood and others , the IRS can “in effect” deny you a U.S. passport.
C. The denial of a U.S. passport to those (including Americans abroad) who “owe” U.S. taxes
Americans abroad are the most likely to be affected by these incredibly punitive measures. Most Americans abroad are in a position where they:
1. Don’t know they are required to pay U.S. taxes; or
2. Can’t understand the rules they are asked to comply with.
Because the Internal Revenue Code penalized all things “foreign”, Americans abroad are particularly susceptible to penalties and IRS tax debts. The effect of this measure is that eventually (we all know how things get worse and worse) many Americans abroad will be denied U.S. passports. This means that they can’t travel to the USA (as is required by law) on a U.S. passport. Perhaps they can risk travel on another passport.
At a bare minimum, it is very risky for a U.S. citizen to live outside the United States if he/she has ONLY a U.S. passport.
Conclusion: The future of U.S. citizenship abroad …
It’s over. U.S. citizenship citizenship is now synonymous with taxation. Taxation is a code of taxes, reporting requirements and rules of life control that:
1. Cannot be understood by the average person (except with the assistance of “tax professionals” of questionable competence); or
2. Is of a level of complexity that compliance is almost impossible; or
3. Is such those who can comply will find that U.S. tax compliance makes living life outside the United States impossible.
And now, the Government of the United States – that “Great Citadel of Freedom and Justice” claims the right to deny you the right to travel from or to the United States. Seems to me that you can either (1) realize that compliance is impossible or (2) take whatever steps are necessary to renounce.
The true Obama Legacy is the destruction of “U.S. citizenship abroad”. Of course, that’s change you can believe in!
The teaching of Cook v. Tait is that the U.S. Government somehow benefits its citizens wherever they may be. That was in the era of “citizenship-based taxation”. In new era of “taxation-based citizenship”, it has become clear that the sole purpose of the citizen is to benefit the government.
The question is: why have Americans allowed this to happen? Why has there been no resistance?
"What astonishes all of my “foreign” friends is how passive, obedient and fearful US people are of their government" https://t.co/1Lfa7lI5fu
— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) December 3, 2015
The above tweet references the following comment from the Maplesandbox blog.
As a former U.S. citizen, who renounced just in order to survive, as my four non-U.S. business partners gave me an ultimatum, either get rid of your U.S. citizenship, which was contaminating our totally German business and subjecting our company’s accounts to U.S. Treasury and IRS scrutiny, or you must sell your shares and leave. This all started upon the advice of our German bank, who said that they wouldn’t deal with our accounts if there was any American/’U.S. Person’ involvement? Not to mention the personal impact on my mortgage, on my bank closing all of my investment accounts and everything else that every reader here knows all too well.
What amazes me most, and also amazes all of my personal and professional friends, all of them non U.S. persons, is how obedient and conforming the organizations supposedly representing the interests of U.S. citizens abroad are. With all that has happened, and especially now, subsequent to the Senate Finance Committee’s “report” on tax reform, paying nothing but contemptuous lip service to the plight of US citizens abroad, it should be more than obvious that U.S. Citizens abroad are of absolutely no relevance for lawmakers and legislators in Washington. Yet, the attitude of all of the organizations supposedly looking out for and fighting for the rights of US citizens abroad has been to follow a very respectful path of presenting the case for change, as if they were dealing with a fair democratic system, that respects equal representation and justice. They look ridiculous, all of them! When I read that Democrats Abroad have been trying to push the “bandage” fix of ‘Same Country Exception’ for more than four years, with no result, I say that this is absolutely pathetic. When I see American Citizens Abroad sending endless delegations to Washington, year after year, and even opening an office there, only to see the interests of overseas Americans relegated to a footnote, with no action proposed n the recent Senate Financial Committee report, I would think that they should be embarrassed and ashamed, as they should be. It has taken the group Republicans Overseas over one year to formulate an intended lawsuit, which has been postponed endless times, with a “promise” to file it next week, I say that they too have not approached this in the right way. Too much damage has been done in the interim.
What astonishes all of my “foreign” friends is how passive, obedient and fearful U.S. people are of their government, especially when confronted with such outright injustice, literal extortion and destruction of their financial well being and that of their families and business partners. Even the ever law abiding Germans wouldn’t put up with any of this and they would probably, en masse, as one lawyer friend told me, simply refuse to cooperate with any of this Byzantine filing of forms and endless intrusions into their privacy and that of their families and business partners. They would collectively refuse and file class action suits against the authorities behind these injustices worthy of a fascist totalitarian regime. Perhaps the Germans understand better than the Americans what this sort of thing leads to, when a society becomes so beaten down, so subservient, so fearful of authority that it complies with the most horrific and undemocratic “laws” and is unable to unite and simply say NO, collectively. Until Americans fight to recover some form of democracy and fairness, the ravages of FATCA will be but one in a coming litany of similar such abuses. To continue believing that they are dealing with democratic institutions and that reason and fairness will prevail is nothing but a naive attitude that will lead them nowhere, as we can now see with the recent Senate Finance Committee report.
I have bolded the last paragraph of this comment. Are Americans really “so beaten down, so subservient, so fearful of authority that it complies with the most horrific and undemocratic “laws” and is unable to unite and simply say NO, collectively.”
@Norman
I’m glad you caught the irony.
@Neill,
My wife DOES NOT need to comply. They CAN NOT take all her stuff, nor will they.
Why is everyone so complacent about our fourth amendment rights, and others, being violated?
Ever have your identify stolen? I have. The U.S. Gov, via the VA has twice leaked all my info and it did cause considerable hardship while I was still Stateside. All bills are paid through automatic withdrawal in Japan. Someone gets our joint account info and they know where our children go to school, when we take vacations, where we work, pretty much everything. Giving them that info and they or others can take all our stuff.
If they need this info, then they must follow the law and get a warrant.
@Publius
We now have separate accounts and I have never had enough on my own to trigger the FBAR reporting requirement. My wife has a much better job than I do and she not having to pay off school loans, brought a lot more financial worth to the marriage and the joint account put me over the reporting threshold. It was a difficult three month process to separate accounts. But it has been done.
Problem is, that I would have to back file FBARs and those would include her assets.
@Pukekonz
No need to extradite. Just revoke the passport and it’s done.
In my case, renouncing would not offer any relief as I would be a “covered” expat and need to file back returns that would include my spouse’s assets and then pay the exit tax based upon her assets included with mine. My getting a CLN would impoverish my family. I will not rob from my family for Uncle Sam.
Although the very idea disgusts me, if expatriating and obtaining a CLN was the only or best way to protect my family from my country, I would do so. I have in fact looked into it and until learning of the exit tax and the requirement of reporting of my wife’s assets set my mind to do so. But that route is a long one that even with out wiping out my wife’s assets could not be completed in time. Additionally, difficulties on this end mean that this route is not presently opened to me.
@Duality
Which is why I am worried. As long as there was no communication with that tax mafia it was only a hypothetical situation to me. But through my passport renewal application, there has been communication between the State and Treasury departments. For those who do not have or need a U.S. Passport, the passport revocation/denial provision has little effect.
They will probably dream up some other way to smoke you out though. Worldwide automatic financial reporting between countries is being implemented. Why not a world wide birth and death data base? Would think that would take a while, but look how fast they got FATCA and other things up and running.
@Duke of Devon
“Most expats, duals, accidental so whatever who live offshore need do nothing after obtaining their CLN.”
And yet, not all that long ago, the same needed not to do anything after obtaining a passport other than a U.S. Passport.
The US keeps moving the goal posts.
And as Duality says, what if you lose your CLN? Imagine if you lived in Sendai, Japan on March 11, 2011 and had everything you owed swept away, your CLN included. Then what? At the very least, you would be unable to travel safely to any U.S. Territory.
@Norman Diamond
That is exactly why I would be losing my family. Why would I want to uproot my Japanese family members who are established in theirs careers or schools to bring them back to live on welfare in the U.S.? I know that that is not what you were suggesting, but I see that as what their goal is and I have yet to see any suggestion usable by myself that might foil their plans.
The only thing that comes to mind on your other points, and I think you agree is lawless, lawless, lawless. It is a very scary thing to realize that you are not protected by the rule of law. AND, as if that weren’t enough, that the gov IS after you.
I do not envy you, but am happy that at least you were able to escape the worst. I wish you success in your continued fight.
@Norman ‘If they are never setting foot on US soil again what next, is Japan going to extradite him?’
“If the person isn’t Japanese, Japan can deport him.”
What if he is Japanese, has a CLN and never intends to set foot on US soil again?
@Japan you can still get a CLN without back filing. You have a right to CLN first and it’s up to you to backfile. So if you are a dual citizen then get CLN and never look back, never set foot on US soil. Do not comply as a form of civil disobedience.. I got a CLN and could not work out the compliance nightmare, never setting foot in the US again, have no money or assets. I never heard anything for nearly a year and a half after my CLN, now some say even if you can afford to work out the compliance nightmare and back file everything that might put you on the radar and cause MORE harm. None of my accounts in NZ have an indication they are of a former US Person (I checked). If they do decide to come after me one day for not back filing they’ll waste more money than they could ever get out of me. I’m not even a minnow, I’m an amoeba. Any way, point is you can get CLN any time you want.
@Bubblebustin
Do you know if the passport provision survived conference and if it did, what it looks like now?
“My wife DOES NOT need to comply.”
The US government does not agree. Thanks to a link someone posted in another thread here, I learned that a US Treasury publication agrees with you that your non resident alien wife doesn’t have to comply with FBAR, but at other times the US government has disagreed.
The IRS has taken some stuff from my non resident alien wife and occasionally threatens to take more. I warned her not to wear her wedding ring if she ever visits the US again.
“Why is everyone so complacent about our fourth amendment rights, and others, being violated?”
Here? I don’t think so. Among homelanders? Maybe because they don’t understand, don’t care, and think we’re getting what we deserve because we’re all tax evaders? That’s why we don’t have fifth, sixth, or eighth amendment rights either.
‘In my case, renouncing would not offer any relief as I would be a “covered” expat and need to file back returns that would include my spouse’s assets and then pay the exit tax based upon her assets included with mine.’
That might not happen. On Form 8854 you have to declare that you’re compliant with the last five years of US taxes, which you can do by filing back returns. You don’t have to declare that you’re complaint with the last five years of FBARs, which are Title 31 USC not Title 26 USC. You might still be subject to FBAR fines but those will not make you a covered expat.
@pukekonz
I am not a dual citizen and I am on their radar after renewing my passport three years ago. I, like you, am not even a minnow. My monthly bills are sometimes slightly larger than my monthly income. Usually equal to or less. The would not be making money on taking me down either. But are they even making money on the few whales they did catch. One of the points that has been brought up from time to time is that they are spending way way way more on this program than even the widely absurd amount they hope to recover with this program.
I believe, that for them it is not about the money. It is about control. If it is all about the money for them, then they are extremely foolish in spending so much to gain so little.
“Why would I want to uproot my Japanese family members who are established in theirs careers or schools to bring them back to live on welfare in the U.S.?”
There’s no reason for YOU to want to do that. It’s what the US GOVERNMENT wants you to do.
@Norman Diamond
Hmmm… That gives me something to look into. Then again, that need to sort through the 7000 plus pages of tax return material each year raises its head and causes me to research more closely before turning over my life to filing forms to prove I owe no taxes.
At any rate, as the law has passed, probably too late for me anyway.
As far as people being complacent about having our rights violated, I do not believe that you are, but in this thread and with dealing with homelanders and homelanders abroad there is a widespread belief that, “you just gotta do what they say, you just gotta do it man, just got to!” Reminds me so much of the Japanese “shoganai” that I am tempted to call such people Japanese.
Your reasoning for why many homelanders are that way seems to be right on the button, sadly. It is hard to get a fair hearing by the mob when you have already been labled a “tax cheat”.
@Norman Diamond
“There is no reason for YOU…”
Yeah, I know that is what you meant, it was a rhetorical question I used to show others why, if this happens, I would be losing my family.
Norman Diamond –
John Hancock was a patriot, and supported human rights.
John Hancock was a fatcat extraordinaire who favored a “revolt” that would advance his own economic interests. Elite of the elite. Just the sort to love FATCA today.
The unwitting American mythologies that anchor the cornerstones of Brock are cause for nausea.
He entered Harvard in the autumn of 1750 at the age of thirteen and a half — the second youngest in his class of twenty, but ranked fifth because of his uncle’s wealth, power, and social standing and John’s own heritage as the son and grandson of Harvard alumni. The prospect of a generous legacy from his wealthy uncle did not hurt his ranking. … No sooner had he graduated than his uncle put him to work in the House of Hancock, learning every aspect of merchant-banking in preparation for his ascendancy to full partnership with his uncle and eventual inheritance of their vast enterprise.
— p. 61, Harlow Giles Unger. American tempest: how the Boston Tea Party sparked a revolution (2011)
@Japan T, The passport provision was indeed included and it is now law. The final bill, as passed by Congress, is here. The passport section is 32101.
@JapanT
If you were to back file 5 yrs of returns after obtaining a Japenese passport (if this is possible). Then your net worth would be calculated on the day BEFORE your renunciation. It would not matter that you shared an account with your wife in the past. The 8854 calculation is made on what your networth is on that day. Even if they deemed you to be ‘covered’ because of the lack of fbars, you would only be assessed an exit tax on any unrealised gains above $650,000 that are in YOUR name.
That is my understanding.
@Neill
“They will probably dream up some other way to smoke you out though.”
Yes, but international law would have to be (once again) violated by the US Government. In my mind at least, there is a point of diminishing returns. Such arduous superadministration becomes prohibitively expensive, no matter how much technology improves. This is one of the many reasons why residence-based taxation works.
“Worldwide automatic financial reporting between countries is being implemented.”
Yes, GATCA. Wait until that goes terribly wrong when the Isis jihadists get their hands on that information. Any American living overseas should be really afraid. Of course, all of this is necessary for the purposes of tax administration (usual OECD bulls**t).
“For those who do not have or need a U.S. Passport, the passport revocation/denial provision has little effect.”
… which is a sigh of relief, so we can carry on feeding ourselves as well as our families. Unfortunately, Obama is too stupid to get this through his head.
Because of Fatca, many Europeans with some sort of American attribute are not able to relocate nor transfer their savings within the European Union; therefore, two pillars of the European Project have been violated. Meanwhile, Junker has been keeping very quiet about Fatca. Much can be said about feeble Brussels protecting our fundamental rights.
Apologies, above to Japan T!
After several years of reading countless articles on this website, it must be said that citizenship-based taxation is utterly pointless.
@Duality “Yes, GATCA. Wait until that goes terribly wrong when the Isis jihadists get their hands on that information.”
This is absolutely going to happen. I read an article on how the IRS is still running Windows XP systems and their IT is in shambles. I would imagine they have countless infected systems and the data will be sold on the black market.
Microsoft is still providing Windows XP security patches to institutions that pay for it. That includes banks because most ATMs run Windows XP.
The IRS has problems with IT because the IRS has problems with everything.
Anyone notice the ironies in the highway bill?
1.) They had a $16 billion gas tax revenue shortfall due the effects of federally mandated improved fuel mileage for their auto fleet. Talk about unintended consequences! Increasing the gas tax rate would have amounted to punishing people for designing, buying, and driving more fuel efficient cars, so they had to come up with other ways to raise the money. Pulling passports and squeezing expats was one of those ways. (“Who cares if we are effectively creating a few stateless people; they don’t vote anyway.”)
2.) Another of those ways is to start contracting out tax collection to private companies. Apparently the IRS isn’t doing a good enough job. (The unions representing IRS employees are hopping mad over this.) Who knows in whose hands taxpayers’ private information will eventually wind up? (This a perfect new opportunity for the compliance condors. Threaten and scare people, charge them to prepare the returns, then charge the IRS for collecting the money.)
3.) Save billions on the proposed IRS IT upgrade by cancelling it and committing to Windows XP for another fifty years. Nobody at the IRS knows how to use a computer anyway.
4.) (Just kidding on number 3!)
Those of us living in Europe are not worried so much about the security of all this information in the hands of the IRS—it is the security of the information when collected by the employees of the financial institutions, before it is passed to the local tax authority and/or the IRS. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that there is enough information there, as Japan T says, to enable a determined person (e.g., an employee, or relative of an employee) to identify and specifically target American clients of the financial institutions.
“Those of us living in Europe are not worried so much about the security of all this information in the hands of the IRS”
It sounds like European newspapers haven’t reported events that you should know about.
Some hackers of the IRS don’t work for the IRS.
Some hackers of the IRS do work for the IRS. They’re more dangerous than the ones who don’t.
@qm
“Those of us living in Europe are not worried so much about the security of all this information in the hands of the IRS”
Say what…? The goal is to keep that data out of the hands of the IRS. We Europeans are already paying high taxes and social welfare contributions to our national tax authorities, who duly possess all our data. An IRS agent enjoying his supersized lifestyle in his supersized country is not entitled to European data. So tell them to live lean and to tax within their borders.
As if we don’t have enough to worry about, being a victim of ID theft I can easily imagine a completely inocent and fully compliant (if this is in fact possible) expat having their passport yanked for taxes incured in their name by someone else using their ID. I have not been so troubled by the theft of my ID as I do not live in the States but have often wondered what adventures await if I were to return home. How many house loans have been issued to someone else under my name, for example?
If the US just followed the law, no one need worry about any of this.