Deciding to officially expatriate is a big step – let’s put that in capital letters – BIG STEP, and it behooves anyone interested in the process to make damn sure they are intimately familiar with all the ramifications before they go. Perhaps putting it in all caps isn’t called for. Let’s say expatriation is simply a Big Step but maybe not even as big as you think. Keep in mind that an official recanting of one’s United States citizenship means you surrender all rights and privileges associated.

A reason often cited by expatriates is to remove themselves from beneath the onerous beast of never-ending multi-leveled taxation. Our slide towards socialism has been accompanied by an incremental rise in taxes that simply becomes too much to bear for some folks.

The “real” annual number of expatriating citizens is not the tiny handful the United States government would have you believe. The list of a few hundred souls annually published in the Federal Register is supposed to announce which citizens have voluntarily given up their birth country. The dirty little secret is that these are only the people with a net worth in excess of $2 million and who might be subject to an exit tax.

Other random facts regarding expatriation:

1. You can only spend 30 days a year here. Wrong, You can stay for 120 days and sometimes up to 180 days without placing your worldwide income at the mercy of the American tax system.

2. You can’t come back. Wrong. The Reed Amendment, passed in

the mid-1990’s, tried to keep certain expatriates from returning but has never been enforced after coming under attack for violating the Constitution.

3. You’ll lose Social Security benefits. Wrong. Believe it or not, there are no restrictions placed on payments sent to non-citizens unless they live in a country with sanctions imposed like Cuba, Iran, or North Korea.

Given the current economic climate at home, the decline of the American dollar, and perpetual increase in tax burden, what intelligent citizen wouldn’t at least consider the possible advantages of expatriation? Hopefully, there isn’t anyone out there operating under the mistaken assumption that this nation will last forever. That’s exactly what the Romans thought and look where it got them – perpetrators of a dead language fit only for consumption by doctors and lawyers.

The Jetsetter Team

Flickr / Ed-Meister

Tags: expatriation