On March 12, 2026 the State Department announced that the fee to issue a Certificate of Loss of Nationality would be lowered from $2350 USD to $450 USD. This was extremely newsworthy and was widely discussed in the blogosphere. There has been some speculation that lowering the fee would incentivize people to renounce. One person reported that, at least one consular officer expected an increase in the number of renunciations. It is too early to tell whether this will be true.
On March 26, 2026 I hosted a podcast with U.S. tax lawyer Virginia La Torre Jeker for the purpose of discussing what the lower renunciation fee might mean. The podcast ended up becoming a discussion of the pros and cons of renouncing U.S. citizenship. It also became a discussion of the “IRS Relief Procedures For Former Citizens” (discussed here) actually worked (and why that program is so beneficial to those seeking to be in U.S. tax compliance.
Listening to the podcast today, I realized that the most valuable part of the podcast was the discussion about whether or not to renounce.
That discussion included:
– a recognition that U.S. citizenship is a depreciating asset
– the issue of renouncing citizenship and ability to access the United States
– the problem of how the U.S. estate tax applies to U.S. situs assets owned by those who are neither U.S. citizens nor domiciled in the USA
– the U.S. 877A and 2801 Exit Taxes
For those considering renouncing U.S. citizenship, I think the podcast will be helpful.
I meant to relinquish in 2007. I had to fight for it in Perth. I got out just when the US decided to change laws/charge ANYONE.
My son & daughter have both renounced (we are AU citizens).
That “fee”, which the US said was “so costly & cost so much manpower/adjudication”?
She went to Perth. Handed over 1/10 of her YEARLY wages, and had her CLN and paperwork returned the NEXT DAY.
It’s USA BS.