[FlingWingFlyer]

I’ve been thinking of becoming an illegal alien myself. We Americans get no respect anymore. As an illegal, I’d have it made in this country. No taxes and lots of handouts.

[Gay State Conservative]

The US is the only civilized country on earth that taxes its citizens on worldwide income when they're living outside the country.And our Tax Cheat-In-Chief,Geitner,fully supports that.

[Just another Joe]

If they renounce their citizenship just to avoid taxes, they weren't very good citizens to begin with.

I may end up moving out of the country when I retire but I will NOT renounce my citizenship.

[Bigun]

Fact: The top-earning 1% of US taxpayers are Leaving the USA at the highest rate in history. (Source: INS/Census Bureau & Zogby International estimates)

http://actionamerica.org/taxecon/ticktick.shtml

[STJPII]

If the antichrist wins in November, I could see that number jumping ten fold.

[headstamp 2]

Citizenship is overrated.

[Baynative]

Like many who love the sea and sailing, good friend of mine has talked of sailing around the world for a long time. He is politically astute and did a lot of research into Obama and his colleagues from Chicago. As the health care debate raged on, he and his wife began doing some work on their boat and selling their stuff. They left for a life at sea about 14 months ago. They've spent most of the last year in the Pacific and are now just north of the canal heading for the Virgin Islands and then ...wherever.

We talked last week and I asked him what they miss about 'home' now that they've been gone over a year. He said, "Absolutely NOTHING!"

[Sequoyah101]

Where is the best place to go? Belize, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore?

No place in the EU, not Brazil, mostly and probably not Eastern Europe.

I remember seeing some kind of freedom index that included taxes. We have discussed leaving the U.S. before. Citizenship here is meaning less and less to me. Family is the only thing that keeps me here now.

Before anyone ridicules about giving up... giving up what? I don’t see a win in this mess ever for anyone.

[GeronL]

Those reasons are much loftier than the formerly super man

[grumpygresh]

Questions:
If you renounce your US citizenship, are you permitted to re-enter the US?
Has anyone attempted to renounce their US citizenship while living in the US?
What are the easiest countries to obtain resident alien status? Citizen? I thought that the Caribean island nation of Dominica was pretty easy to get a passport if you had 60k.
Which foreign nations have gun rights comparable to the US? This is a pretty good indicator of individual rights.

[cynwoody]

The late Sir John Templeton comes to mind.

Born in Tennessee in 1912, he renounced in 1964, avoiding $100m in taxes.

[sickoflibs]

RE:”Last year, almost 1,800 people followed Superman's lead, renouncing their U.S. citizenship or handing in their Green Cards. That's a record number since the Internal Revenue Service began publishing a list of those who renounced in 1998. It's also almost eight times more than the number of citizens who renounced in 2008, and more than the total for 2007, 2008 and 2009 combined. “

We don't need them. For every rich guy who renounces their U.S. citizenship there are hundreds of illegals coming here to the US for the *benefits* of being American.

And it's poor people like them who create jobs by spending their welfare checks, not those greedy rich guys who refuse to pay their 'fair' share.

[LadyDoc]

The problem is that the US not only will tax your earnings in the US, but will tax what you own overseas.

So we retired to my husband’s home and only taxes on our retirement income. But theoretically, Because the family business (run by the extended family) has my husband’s name on it as joint owner, we should be double paying taxes on it too: Taxes to the Philippine government, and taxes to the USA on what the business earns here.

My husband ignores the law, because he’s in his 80’s and figures they won’t go after him for a joint owned business here that really doesn’t make a lot of profit.

But if we were really rich, it would be good business sense for him to just drop the US citizenship instead of being a dual citizen.

And being a dual citizen might be a good way to get around other problems if the US continues to go to the dogs: IF Mr. Zimmermann’s mom had registered him in the Peruvian embassy as a kid, he could have been eligible as a dual citizen, and could flee to Peru for political asylum.

[twister881]

Maybe one day Obama will renounce his U.S. citizen...oops, never mind.

[douginthearmy]

I have a legal immigrant friend who is quite dismayed at how unfree the US has become. The conversation started when he read that there was a new law outlawing public breastfeeding. He asked, why do we need a new law? If people are uncomfortable, cant they just respectfully ask her to cover up or offer a jacket or look away. In his native country the overall government is considered more socialist than ours, but individual day to day life is much more free. Not sure if the US is beyond repair, but it appears more so every day.. personally I am weighing all the options. I speak 5 languages, (well, 3 profiently, 2 enough to build on) so moving would not be a problem.

[doug from upland]

Yes, taxes are outrageous and we have loads of problems. But we truly won life’s lottery by being born in this greatest nation on earth. Those renouncing that priceless gift are total jackasses.

[Raycpa]

The United States is one of the only countries to tax its citizens on income earned while they're living abroad

False on two levels.

1. Most countries tax their citizens on world wide income.

2. The US allows an exclusion of up to 92,900 for income earned abroad.

The exodus has more to do with our rates on income earned here than overseas.

[COBOL2Java]

Who is John Galt?

[nikos1121]

Is this really a relevant posting? 1800 people out of millions and millions of us? What’s worse is I’m reponding to it in this post. This is nonsense.

[devolve]

.
.

STEP #1 :

A - Give a gift of $24,000 to each of your children

B - Now deduct $24,000 from your taxable for each of your children

STEP #2 :

A - Set up part of your home as a business office

B - Deduct part of your home utility expenses, phone bill, internet expenses, mortgage payments, and property taxes

STEP #3 :

A - Get serious about bartering for new and used items and services

STEP #4 :

A - THE BUFFET RULE: Alternate (deductible) business lunches (and other meals) with other friendly business peeps

B - Investigate the mucho El Cheapo vehicle full replacement insurance coverage for your garaged Classic Car (or PU or SUV) from Hagarty and the other Classic Car insurance company (I forget the company name - Try GOOGLE!) that advertises on the SPEED Channel

C - Deduct all or part the expenses, maintenance, insurance, and gasoline for for some or all your motor vehicles

D - Investigate leasing business use vehicles from your brother or another close relative

STEP #4 :

A - By now you should made great friends with a great CPA and bartered their services for some of your new or used items or services

STEP #5 :

A - By now the IRS and State Revenue Department will find you are a nearly or actually non-profit tax-exempt entity

STEP #6 :

A - Apply for any and all government bailouts and/or subsides and/or rebates

STEP #7 :

A - Improvise, etc.

B - Get a job with the GSA

.
.