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.
I read a comment on another blog (can’t remember who wrote it) that Schumer, Levin, Baucus et al will be afraid to attack Tina Turner because they don’t want to be seen as a bunch of white males from the establishment beating up on an iconic black lady from a poor town in Tennessee who made it big on her own. Attacking her will be attacking the heart of America and can cost the democrats a lot of votes.
Tina Turner’s renunciation coupled with another sharp increase in renunciations of ex-pat common folk may just be the crack that breaks open the dam and brings the abuses levied upon Americans abroad out in the open.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Nutbush_tennessee.jpg/800px-Nutbush_tennessee.jpg
the Mayor wants to understand why. Explain it to her at the email address above
Tina divorced an abusive husband in 1978. Now she is divorcing an abusive government.
Good for her and good for all the other ex-pats on the Federal Register CLN roll of honor.
What’s love got to do with it? Nothing. It’s not about love of country but about protecting yourself from an abusive relationship. This is the money quote:
In any case, here is my favorite song from Tina: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqWkFF-TbMU
International Man: “Tina Turner Dumps US Passport, Becomes Swiss”
https://www.internationalman.com/global-perspectives/tina-turner-dumps-us-passport-becomes-swiss
This article is probably a lot closer to the truth than what most of the media has been reporting.
From the article:
“Turner has not explicitly explained why she is renouncing her US citizenship – nor would she be wise to, which would only attract even more scrutiny. She probably weighed the pros and cons of keeping her US passport, which offered her limited benefits and immense liabilities.”
“It probably was not tax related, Switzerland itself is a high tax environment for its citizens.”
“Perhaps an important feature of Switzerland for her is its respect for privacy.”
“Contrast that to the US government’s blatant disdain for privacy. Under the pretexts of the various never-ending “wars” (drugs, terrorism, organized crime, tax evasion, etc.) the US government has essentially destroyed privacy and often treats its citizens as if they were prison inmates.”
“Turner will no doubt appreciate not having to go through the annual financial colonoscopy that filing with the IRS is. By dumping her US passport she will liberate herself from the IRS, worldwide taxation, FATCA, FBAR, double taxation issues, and countless other reporting and tax obligations.”
Investing In Citizenship: For The Rich, A Road To The U.S.
Another chance to educate a US NPR audience about the cost of Citizenship too…
I posted a recycled comment specific to this barrister Anthony Korda that wants a Florida tan instead of UK fog and rain. It is in moderation.
In response to the following:
I wrote:
*Michael, you wrote:
Fresh from the press:
@SwissPinoy
Good retorts! Especially in the Seattle PI. I tried to support you, but I don’t have a Face Book account. Keep it up!
The press releases state that her hometown Mayor wants to understand why and wants to address those reasons.
I wrote her a letter, but more letters from people with good Writing skills would sway her more than my one.
MAYOR
http://www.haywoodcountybrownsville.com/Contacts.aspx
Jo Matherne, Mayor
111 N. Washington Avenue
Brownsville, TN 38012
731-772-1212
E-mail: jmatherne@brownsvilletn.gov
*Mark, I emailed the following:
Dear Jo Matherne,
I am writing to you because I’ve learned that you are interested in
learning why someone like Tina Turner would renounce US citizenship.
I live about 30 minutes away from Tina Turner. Like Tina Turner, I’ve
lived in Switzerland for about 20 years. Like Tina Turner, I was born and
raised in the US. Like Tina Turner, I did not always have it easy in the US.
Yet, unlike Tina Turner, I moved to Switzerland to find work, have limited
savings and limited US income and renounced US citizenship last year.
If you would like to learn why Americans in Switzerland are renouncing
their US citizenship, then feel free to contact me.
*@SwissPony
I wrote too, and included Allison Christians blog post..
What’s FBAR got to do, got to do with it
Links to a few other stories around…
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2013/01/whats-fatca.html
fantastic. This is one person who wants to understand and has access to the media. I don’t know of any others
Sometime, somehow, a media outlet will connect to the plight of 7 million US Citizens overseas
*
Normal
0
I have not seen any reference to the practicalities of living in Switzerland
as an US citizen.
I expect that, like me, Tina would have had her bank accounts in Switzerland
closed or severely limited, investment opportunities cancelled and she
would have been spurned by forex (currency exchange) companies. Furthermore,
because of FATCA any account or assets that her partner shares with her will be
fodder for the IRS. Her US
citizenship has become a liability so, like thousands of other US citizens
living abroad, she has decided to renounce. I have been informed that the US embassy
in Bern now have 1300 on their waiting list.
I have also written to Jo Matherne. see below.
Dear Jo Matherne
I believe that you are puzzled about Tina Turner’s reasons for
renouncing her American citizenship; I hope that I can enlighten you.
I have not seen any reference in the press to the practicalities of living in Switzerland
as an US citizen.
I expect that, like me, Tina would have had her bank accounts in
Switzerland closed or severely limited, investment opportunities
cancelled and she would have been spurned by forex (currency exchange) companies.
Financial institutions now describe US customers as TOXIC. They
variously cite the problems caused by The Patriot Act, FATCA, FBAR, SEC
regulations, the
extraterritorial application of US estate taxes, and more. Swiss banks
have created a climate where Swiss bankers will not
expose themselves to the potential jeopardy of a US 30% witholding tax,
criminal indictment
or worse.
Her US citizenship has become a liability so, like
thousands of other US citizens living abroad, she has decided to
renounce. I have been informed that the US embassy in Bern now have 1300 on their waiting list.
I am sure that like
me and many others, Tina was driven to renounce her US citizenship to enable
her to live and function normally anywhere she chooses to live.
Sincerely
Heidi Bear
Very nice comment, Heidi! Hopefully this and the others will get her attention.
*ABC News is by far the worst on this topic. From the looks of it, they have censured all 3 of my comments, including my comment correcting their heavily flawed Good Morning America video which accuses Tina of “ditching”:
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/tina-turner-ditch-american-citizenship-citizen-switzerland-18322590
I sent notes to talk@npr.org again about TIna Turner. I sent it from 2 addresses, as I guess they probably filtered the one I sent previously.
They likely would do nothing that would deter from the Barack is God line.
What would motivate someone to say that they want to “clarify the situation” by renouncing?Imagine a Canadian living in Switzerland, would they find it necessary to clarify their relationship with Canada in choosing one citizenship over the other? Perhaps she’d like to make it clear to the US government that it doesn’t own her any more, and to the Swiss that she no longer poses a threat to Switzerland and its people. She’s clearly shown where her allegiances lie, and it aint with the USA!
My neighbor works and is influential in Swedish National TV. I got her interest up and have mailed all the background info. Tina Turner and Depardieux make for good news. ANd Sweden is doing the Dirty work for USA. And many Swedes were born in USA.
Let’s say a Kenyan prayer that it gets taken up. Tina Turner is a hero.
@SwissPinoy
I tried making a comment at ABC, but get this response time after time…
Server Error in ‘/’ Application.
So, I will just email the editors.
BTW, I got shut down by Twitter without warning for too aggressive tweeting about Tina Turner . I was saying too nasty of things to too many people like this…
@RacquelBethea What’s FBAR / FATCA and US Citizenship taxation got to do, got to do with it? http://bit.ly/V9Llj5
Back up today, but all my followers and those I was following have been wiped out. Guess that is their version of FBAR penalty application without notice.. 🙂
Not sure I will climb that mountain again. Maybe I will move onto Reddit instead. You can say more there then just 140 characters that Twitter controls.
*I have also written to NPR.
The freedom of the press is the bastion one has to cling to, but the US press seems to have been muzzled.
“The only security of all is in a free press. The force of public opinion cannot
be resisted when permitted freely to be expressed. The agitation it produces must be
submitted to. It is necessary, to keep the waters pure.” –Thomas Jefferson to
Lafayette, 1823.
WC Varones (blog): “Will Chuckie Schumer demand Tina Turner pay his Reich Flight Tax?”
http://www.wcvarones.com/2013/01/will-chuckie-schumer-demand-tina-turner.html
From the blog:
“So where is Chucky’s outrage now that Tina Turner is giving up her citizenship in favor of Switzerland? Afraid to pick a fight with a pop icon?”
@SwissPinoy
I emailed the editors of ABC, within their 500 character limit.