Liberty and justice for all United States persons abroad

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Tag Archives: Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson: proud double-taxpaying supporter of the Anglo-American imperium

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Other British commentators may not be so happy, but Boris Johnson heartily endorses Washington’s “extraordinary doctrine” (his words) of jurisdiction over actions undertaken in other countries which use the U.S. financial system:

While other countries turned a blind eye, the Americans have stepped in. The US has an extraordinary doctrine – that if you commit a crime by using an American banking network then you have committed a crime under American law and must answer to America; and if it brings the kleptocrats of Fifa to justice, then I am all for it.

Johnson also warns of evil anti-British and anti-American forces who aren’t so happy at the U.S.’ imperial triumphs with FIFA and FATCA:

And then there is a further geopolitical problem. You and I may rejoice at the notion of Britain and America triumphing in the final reel of the movie – James Bond and Felix Leiter coming together to winkle Blofeld from his lair. Not everyone sees it that way; not everyone likes the idea of an Anglo-American imperium.

This is a remarkable change of heart from seven months ago, when he was much angrier about U.S. extraterritoriality:

No is the answer. I think it’s absolutely outrageous. Why should I? I haven’t lived in the United States since I was five-years-old. I pay my taxes in full in the United Kingdom, where I live and work.

As you may remember, Johnson paid higher UK taxes during his entire period of homeownership in that country because of the UK’s lack of a mortgage interest deduction, and then — despite his early cries of resistance — gave in and paid US capital gains taxes on the sale of that same property because it went “untaxed” by the UK. This is just one example of how different countries’ incompatible tax breaks on housing result in double taxation for American emigrants and citizens of other countries who are deemed to be Americans. (And that’s not even getting into the issues with “foreign”-currency mortgages.)

Both Johnson’s Facebook post and the version at The Telegraph are open for comments (the latter using Disqus). There’s also a Reddit thread at /r/soccer.

Boris Johnson @MayorOfLondon acceptance of “U.S. jurisdiction” means he must now resign

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Prologue – November 2014:

Boris Bows  – January 2015:

 

The article from the Financial Times includes:

 

Mr Johnson has previously said he wanted to renounce his American citizenship but that it was “very difficult to give up”.

The clearance of his debt to the US government should remove the major obstacle to him renouncing his American passport, but his spokesman refused to comment on whether he would now do it.

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About @MayorOfLondon Boris Johnson by Laura Saunders @Saunderswsj features familiar names

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This article is behind a paywall – perhaps somebody can provide a direct link. It apparently will be in the print edition tomorrow so it would be good to get comments up today. The text of the article is here.

The article includes:

Now he has a new claim to fame: as a poster boy for millions of U.S. “tax cheats” living abroad.

Recently, the 50-year-old Mr. Johnson, who holds dual U.S./U.K. citizenship, complained that the U.S. is “trying to hit” him for taxes on the sale of his London home, even though he hasn’t lived in the States since he was five.

In an interview with NPR about Churchill, Mr. Johnson called his U.S. tax bill “absolutely outrageous,” after a listener asked about his citizenship status. When pressed as to whether he would pay, Mr. Johnson said, “No is the answer…why should I?…I pay my taxes to the full in the United Kingdom, where I live and work.” These taxes are often at higher rates than in the U.S., he added.

Mr. Johnson’s spokesman says he has no further comment on the matter. The Telegraph, a British newspaper, has reported that he and his wife bought a London house for GBP470,000 (about $750,000) in 1999 and sold it for GBP1.2 million (about $1.9 million) in 2009. The Internal Revenue Service is prohibited by law from commenting on issues involving individual taxpayers.

Mr. Johnson’s case is a perfect illustration of the dilemmas faced by many of the 7.6 million U.S. citizens living abroad as a result of U.S. authorities’ five-year campaign against secret offshore accounts. It began after disclosures that Americans were being encouraged to hide money in Switzerland.

Most of these expats have never had a numbered Swiss account, but many of them, like Mr. Johnson, are finding they haven’t complied with U.S. tax laws that seem to them highly unfair. “It’s a clear example of the harm befalling citizens caught in the maw of multiple tax systems–a status imposed on every American citizen abroad,” says Jackie Bugnion, a director of American Citizens Abroad, an expat group.

The root cause, experts say, is that both the U.S.’s definition of citizenship and its tax system are broad.

Read more: http://www.nasdaq.com/article/london-mayor-is-poster-boy-for-expat-tax-woes-20141204-00782#ixzz3KxFIzjmS

That @MayorOfLondon is a good man but he still suffers from the U.S. taint which is “very difficult to give up.”

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Read the complete article here.

It includes:

Boris Johnson has revealed that he is refusing to pay a tax demand issued to him by US authorities – despite previously lambasting the US embassy in London over its failure to pay the congestion charge.

The mayor of London, who was born in New York and holds a US passport as well as a British one, visited the country last week to promote his book and said during an interview with NPR (National Public Radio) that he had been hit with a demand for capital gains tax.

He said the US demand related to his first home in the UK, which was not subject to capital gains tax in England.

And for the absolute and total U.S. hypocrisy:

Johnson has continually pressed the US embassy to pay unpaid fines it has incurred for the congestion charge. The embassy has refused to do so, claiming the charge is a tax and therefore its diplomats are immune. During a visit to the UK by Barack Obama in 2011, Johnson reportedly asked him for a £5m cheque for unpaid congestion charges but the US ambassador intervened before the president could answer. By last year the amount the US embassy owed in congestion charge fines had risen to more than £7m, the most of any diplomatic mission in the capital.

Meet Accidental American Boris Johnson, Mayor of London

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Cross-posted from the Flophouse.  Just can’t get over some of the strange results of U.S. citizenship law.  The more I think about it neither jus soli or jus sanguinis are good fits in a globalized world.  So I had some fun writing this post and pointing out two rather famous Accidental Americans:  Boris Johnson and Anne Sinclair.  If you have a chance go read Boris Johnson’s 2006 post – as one of the Flophouse readers said, “I didn’t know Mr Johnson’s prose could be so entertaining to read.”

The United States of America allows for two methods for acquiring U.S. citizenship at birth:  jus sanguinis (through an American citizen parent) and jus soli (through being born on U.S. soil).  For the latter the U.S. has one of the most open-ended and generous terms around – the mere fact of being born on U.S. soil makes someone a U.S. citizen under almost all circumstances. (The only exceptions appear to be children of diplomats.)

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