Every now and then people here throw around the idea of giving up their US citizenship. Here's 20 short stories from some of those that have for various reasons... BBC News - 'Why I gave up my US passport'
20 people who gave up their US citizenship
- Thread starter Fatbat
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You definitely pay a lot of taxes in germany, but society as a whole does actually get something genuinely useful out of it.
I personally prefer countries with low corporate tax rates and high personal income tax rates like finland.
Here's a follow up piece on other nationalities giving up their citizenship...
BBC News - Twenty readers who switched nationalities
BBC News - Twenty readers who switched nationalities
Rome is crumbling!
Actually, Rome's fucking closed atm, isn't it? Maybe it'll start up again in a couple weeks.
I bet we see a major geopolitical shift over the next decade.
Actually, Rome's fucking closed atm, isn't it? Maybe it'll start up again in a couple weeks.
I bet we see a major geopolitical shift over the next decade.
I recently had a convo with a german dude about why he prefers living in USA instead of Germany.
Basically his opinion was that the German system is essentially hardcore population enslavement and improving your status was very dificult. I imagine part of this is the high tax rate.
The nice thing about USA is it is still pretty capitalistic. Though it feels like this is changing slowly.
Sigfried and Roy once said they could never have achieved the same level of success in Germany.
FATCA and the US tax slavery is behind a lot of these. A lot of banks won't open accounts for Americans. Also, every American is liable for taxes no matter where in the world they live. There is an exemption for $98k or so and some tax treaties, but it is ass-rape nonetheless!
The thing about Germany is that yes taxes are high there. But a German can leave Germany and not be taxed on their worldwide income while an American can't do the same thing. So who's really enslaved more?
Americans, of course! Even Canadians can leave and not be taxed! Anyone want to trade a US citizenship for Canadian?
Yea, and theyre playing with the idea of installing worldwide taxation for their citizens. Because it became feasible.
The $98k is a big number actually, and there are write offs and loop holes around that like every other tax system. You only report and get taxed on what you actually paid yourself personally, and not what your company or holding company made, since the money is never paid out.
These people complain, but they only do that because they didn't have the options for holding companies since they were employees of companies, and not self employed. They also fail to mention that some countries have no tax on the first 30% of their earnings, which also gives them more wiggle room.
None the less, only 3 countries in the world make you report income and file a return no matter where you live or earn, one of them being the US, another being Eritrea & I forgot the 3rd. This system will go away, as it's not sustainable anymore. The only issue there is it's becoming more difficult to work in certain parts of the world (western europe for example) unless you are exempt for some reason from visas, you are the owner of an international company, or you buy your citizenship and make a nice deposit into a domestic account that really can never be touched again.
The Netherlands right now is the hardest country in the world to get citizenship, followed by Germany. This is a result of bad decisions made in the 70's when they brought in cheap labor from North Africa to solve their underemployment issue, only to realize that everyone would stay, start families, and bring their extended families. Hence, the social systems are taken advantage of, prices rise, and the gov't gets less money. For me to get my citizenship here, I have to wait 7 years, pass a 4 part test (speak, listen, read, write) plus some other things. This is also taking a hit on small business in the NL since it's becoming less attractive to come from outside the walls to open here, as well as self employed visas for non-NL people are on the brink of becoming impossible.
These people complain, but they only do that because they didn't have the options for holding companies since they were employees of companies, and not self employed. They also fail to mention that some countries have no tax on the first 30% of their earnings, which also gives them more wiggle room.
None the less, only 3 countries in the world make you report income and file a return no matter where you live or earn, one of them being the US, another being Eritrea & I forgot the 3rd. This system will go away, as it's not sustainable anymore. The only issue there is it's becoming more difficult to work in certain parts of the world (western europe for example) unless you are exempt for some reason from visas, you are the owner of an international company, or you buy your citizenship and make a nice deposit into a domestic account that really can never be touched again.
The Netherlands right now is the hardest country in the world to get citizenship, followed by Germany. This is a result of bad decisions made in the 70's when they brought in cheap labor from North Africa to solve their underemployment issue, only to realize that everyone would stay, start families, and bring their extended families. Hence, the social systems are taken advantage of, prices rise, and the gov't gets less money. For me to get my citizenship here, I have to wait 7 years, pass a 4 part test (speak, listen, read, write) plus some other things. This is also taking a hit on small business in the NL since it's becoming less attractive to come from outside the walls to open here, as well as self employed visas for non-NL people are on the brink of becoming impossible.
You don't know what you are talking about.
1. If an American owns more than 10% of a foreign corporation, it turns into a "US controlled corporation" subject to US income tax according to the IRS.
2. That "holding company" needs to have a individual signer for the bank account. Unless you have an uncle living overseas who is a non Amerian, you as an American can't be a signer without disclosing it to the IRS due to FATCA. And with FATCA they will find out.
3. Number 2 is assuming that you can even open a corporate bank account with a US signer. With FATCA most offshore banks are turning away Americans.
So yeah, sorry. Try again.
I don't think it's harder than any other developed country. HK takes 7 years, America probably does as well.
Also why would anyone bother to get citizenship out there, when they can just as easily gain citizenship of another EU country that isn't as strict on rules and then move and work there.
Can't speak for NL but getting a German citizenship isn't hard at all, at least not when you're making money and when you own an american or canadian passport.
If you're from a muslim country or a muslim you have to answer about 15 out of 30 questions correctly to pass a special test.
You can memorize the questions by doing the test here and you can redo the test as often as you want if you fail.
Well all of this really depends on your perspective and your career.
You can get rich in any country via automation, scaling businesses, etc and generally following the entrepreneurial mindset.
I can see that definitely being true if you have an income set by an employer.
In terms of starting businesses and the bureaucracy behind it, your own personal familiarity with it likely makes a big difference. Or if you have a good lawyer you trust. Or if you have friends in government...
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f18NWnxRmjI]Bioshock: Andrew Ryan's Propaganda - YouTube[/ame]
You're making me post this again! Dat Speech.