Tag Archives: International Living

Voluntary Tax Disclosure Programs Correlated With U.S. Citizenship Renunciations

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“‘It’s quite clear from the data that the number of people renouncing their citizenship shoots up at the same time that the IRS began the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Programs. Then, the number of people renouncing citizenship decreases at the same time that the Streamlined program is announced – which gives US citizens living abroad a less cumbersome way to catch up on back taxes, but then it shoots up again when the FATCA rules start to kick in and people find that the bank they have worked with for 20 years is closing their account because they are a US citizen’ said David McKeegan of Greenback Expat Tax Services, a tax preparation company.”

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/8/prweb11034228.htm

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Citizenship, identity, mourning loss of identity and moving on …

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220px-GenIsaacBrock6

“Imagine having to reinvent your sense of who you are, where you came from, and (in some cases) where you are going.  Second, the loss of their cherished belief that American was a just nation, a free nation, a democratic nation. America has demonstrated that is is the opposite. Americans abroad live with the pain of betrayal. Imagine spending years defending the United States against anti-Americanism, only to learn that the critics were right.  You can tell a country by the company it keeps. Only the United States and Eritrea stalk its citizens around the world. But, Eritrea demands only 2 percent. Therefore to compare Ertitrea to the United States is an insult to Eritrea.”

http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2013/08/27/citizenship-identity-mourning-loss-of-identity-and-moving-on/

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U.S. Green Card Holders Making Choice to Halt at Door of Citizenship

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“In Washington, the partisan debate over immigration has become mired, in part, over whether to provide a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. But even as legions here and abroad pin their hopes on becoming American, and the country wrestles with emotionally fraught questions over who should have that right, there is a seemingly contradictory truth: that millions of people who are in the country legally, and stand on the threshold of citizenship, never take that next step. According to some estimates, about 40 percent of all people who hold green cards, the gateway to citizenship, do not naturalize.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/26/nyregion/making-choice-to-halt-at-door-of-citizenship.html?_r=1&&pagewanted=all

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US expats flee taxman’s reach by giving up citizenship

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“While still a small part of the seven million US citizens living overseas, experts are certain the rise is driven by the new tax and account reporting rules. ‘Fatca is an aggravator to the renunciation figures. It’s making it very difficult for Americans to live overseas,’ said Marylouise Serrato, executive director of American Citizens Abroad, which lobbies the government on expatriate issues. Some banks around the world have already stopped taking new accounts from US citizens, to avoid having to report them or falling into the sights of US regulators, as happened to the Swiss bank UBS in 2009.”

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hdJlTlT4a-CyFbXyISsgP2Bhq47w?docId=CNG.a038ed12ef2ca38af3b999b0273ab251.41

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Why So Many Swiss Binationals Are Giving Up U.S. Citizenship

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“Fiscal motives alone aren’t the cause for the dramatic rise in citizens renouncing their U.S. citizenship, argues Anne Hornung-Soukup, a board member for American Citizens Abroad. She is also the wife of Genevan lawyer Douglas Hornung, who defends Swiss bank employees targeted by the American tax authorities.  ‘It’s more the combination of administrative costs, the logistics and the threat of fines that push my compatriots into action,’ she says. Indeed, failing to declare to the IRS is punishable even in the case where there would be no taxation.  ‘An American passport has become toxic’ for binationals, she says, in large part because banks have not reacted well to the new requirements.”

http://www.worldcrunch.com/culture-society/why-so-many-swiss-binationals-are-giving-up-u.s.-citizenship/switzerland-binationals-nationality-fatca-u.s./c3s13134/

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The Worst Law Most Americans Have Never Heard Of

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“While there is still an opportunity for you to avoid getting boxed in by a desperate and out-of-control government, nobody knows exactly how much time is left. And once official capital controls are implemented (#3), your wealth is trapped and things tend to unravel pretty quickly. Developing your internationalization game plan does not mean you have to leave your home country. It is possible to achieve a certain level of international diversification without needing to leave your living room, for example, by opening a foreign bank or brokerage account remotely. The idea is to create your own personal insurance policy to immunize yourself from the common destructive measures of a desperate government.”

https://www.internationalman.com/78-global-perspectives/995-the-worst-law-most-americans-have-never-heard-of

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Jeffrey Tucker: Canada: Land of the Freer?

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“With QuickBt, consumers are buying bitcoins and then transferring them to merchants. No harm, no real money exchange as traditionally defined, no sneaky financial trickery. It’s just business, and the Canadian regulators have said: it’s not our business. Meanwhile, just south of the border, regulators are putting the fear of government into every conceivable crypto-currency merchant. Congress is issuing warnings. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is exacting fees. The feds are driving services out of existence. It’s so bad that Bitcoin advocates are reduced to Stockholm-like begging: ‘Please regulate us as soon as possible.'”

http://www.caseyresearch.com/cdd/bitcoin-is-the-new-napster-and-thats-a-good-thing

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IRS makes useless paperwork less onerous for U.S. Persons in one country

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“You do the math: 190-odd other countries & territories, each with their own unique kinds of purpose savings accounts, most speaking languages other than English, and fewer than a million affected filers in each to lobby for change. How long will it be before U.S. Persons finally have the freedom to move to any country on Earth without incurring unreasonable paperwork requirements, and the folks in the District of Columbia can start figuring out what to do with all those non-filers who moved to Mars in the intervening centuries?”

http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2013/08/22/irs-makes-useless-paperwork-less-onerous-for-u-s-persons-in-one-country/

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Needy EU Nations Woo Chinese Home Buyers to Ease Slump

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“Cyprus, Greece and Portugal are providing resident permits to foreign buyers, while Spain is about to adopt a similar measure. The chance to purchase a home at depressed prices in southern Europe and gain what’s known as a golden visa is mostly being sold to Chinese investors, according to brokers. Southern Europe is the latest target for rich Chinese homebuyers, who have been snapping up properties from Vancouver to London since 2010 as their wealth swells and China’s government steps up a three-year campaign to cool home prices there.  The number of millionaires in China rose 4 percent from the previous 12 months to 2.8 million.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-21/needy-eu-nations-woo-chinese-home-buyers-to-ease-slump.html

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Cuba 2012 (BBC Documentary)

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Cuba 2012 (BBC Documentary)

“In this hour-long documentary for the BBC’s award-winning This World strand, Simon gets under the skin of a colourful and vibrant country famous for its hospitality and humour and asks if this new economic openness could lead to political liberalisation in a totalitarian country with a poor human rights record. Will Cuba be able to maintain the positive aspects of its long isolation under socialism – low crime, top-notch education and one of the best health systems in the world – while embracing what certainly looks like capitalism? Is this the last chance to see Cuba before it becomes just like any other country?”

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