Did the Burger King surrender his passport?
Via The Telegraph
Americans who are abandoning their citizenship in droves are due to be charged five times more to surrender their passport under government plans announced yesterday.
The number of US citizens renouncing their nationality has been increasing dramatically in recent years.
In 2012, 933 Americans gave up their citizenship. In 2013 this more than trebled to 3014 and in the first six months of this year 1,579 people have surrendered their nationality.
But now the situation has become so acute that the government has introduced a fivefold hike in the service fee charged to renounce American citizenship – with the price going up from $450 (£271) to $2,350 (£1,415).
Anyone born in the US or with an American parent is automatically regarded as an American citizen – regardless of how little time they have spent in their mother country.
It means that even those who have lived in the UK or any other country their whole lives – but have one American parent and therefore a US passport – face a lifelong tax obligation. This includes filling out a complex tax return form which normally costs hundreds of pounds in accountancy fees.
They will also have to pay tax on the profit they make when they sell their home, even if it is in the UK or any other foreign country. And those who are well paid can face a tax bill on their salary, even though they have already paid tax to the country in which they live.
One famous example is Boris Johnson, who was born in New York while his father was working for the UN.
He once wrote in the Spectator that he was renouncing his US nationality after being denied permission to board a US bound plane on his UK passport – though ultimately he did not follow through on his threat.
The latest twist in the tax saga is the requirement for all Americans to declare all their savings to the Inland Revenue Service.
Diane Gelon, a London based US attorney, said clients were renouncing their American citizenship to simplify their lives by being involved in only one tax system.
HT Indy1826