"Even more hilariously hypocritical than the 1974 Jackson–Vanik Amendment — which slaps trade sanctions on countries imposing unreasonable barriers to emigration of their citizens — I bring you 26 USC § 891: 'Doubling of rates of tax on citizens and corporations of certain foreign countries', a law originally passed in 1934 and still in effect today." Continue reading →
"The U.S. is the world’s only industrialized nation that taxes citizens who live overseas, even if their income is generated in a foreign country and they never return to America. And while high-profile cases like that of Tina Turner or that of Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin catch public attention, the vast majority of expatriates affected by double taxation and increasingly draconian filing rules are middle-class or retired, or those who have never lived or worked in the United States at all, but were born to American parents overseas." Continue reading →
"You are stuck with Obamacare if you need health insurance. If you can pay for treatment, you can get treatment far cheaper with no waiting period. Here’s how. No rationing. No standing in line. I like the hospital ship idea. Get on board, sail 200 miles outside the USA, and you get cheap, efficient care. The envy-driven politicians will scream bloody murder. 'The rich are getting good care! They can afford it. It’s just not fair!' This raises some crucial questions. How are they getting good care? 'By not having to deal with America-licensed doctors.'" Continue reading →
“Italy’s financial police said Thursday they had busted close to 12,000 people last year for evading over 56 billion euros ($74 billion) worth of taxes. Investigators rooted out 8,617 people who had never paid taxes and owed the Italian tax man a total of 22.7 billion euros, the financial police said in a statement. The crack down on tax evaders in Italy intensified when Prime Minister Mario Monti came to power at the end of 2011, as the government attempted to reduce the country’s deficit and debt. The financial police also uncovered over 16,000 people working on the black market, the statement said.” Continue reading →
"The city’s hedge-fund executives are flying south — and it’s not for vacation. An increasing number of financial firms, especially private equity and hedge funds, are fed up with New York’s sky-high city and state tax rates and are relocating to the business-friendly climate in Florida’s Palm Beach County. And they’re being welcomed with open arms — officials in Palm Beach recently opened an entire office dedicated to luring finance hot shots down south. There are other perks, too — like the fact that it was 77 degrees and sunny there yesterday." Continue reading →
"When Andrew Winfield applied to become a U.S. citizen in 2011, he realized he owed taxes on accounts he had left behind in his native England. So he paid what he believed he owed — $2,800 in back taxes, plus the estimated interest and penalties - and entered the IRS's overseas disclosure program. But when the IRS assessed its penalty in November, Winfield was stunned to learn that it would be $28,000 — 10 times the amount of tax he owed from 2003 to 2010. Because the penalty is based on balances when the exchange rate favored the British pound, paying that amount would mean giving up virtually everything he now has in the accounts." Continue reading →
"'I’m very happy in Switzerland and I feel at home here. … I cannot imagine a better place to live,' Turner told German language daily Blick. The woman behind such hits as 'Private Dancer', 'Simply the Best' and 'What’s Love Got to Do With It?' will still need a green light from the canton of Zurich as well was federal authorities before she can receive red passport, the two papers reported. Turner spokeswoman Karin Rhomberg told the Zuerichsee-Zeitung that the singer wanted to 'clarify her situation'. 'Tina Turner will therefore also give back her US citizenship,' she said." Continue reading →
"For many years, California entrepreneurs and investors have taken advantage of the deduction. But now the state has apparently decided that it no longer needs to encourage entrepreneurs to start and keep their companies in California. So it is eliminating the tax deduction. Far more startling, the state is eliminating the deduction retroactively--going all the back to 2008. In other words, anyone who sold their California company in the past 5 years and took advantage of the tax deduction is now going to have to pay the tax. With interest!" Continue reading →
"Americans will be subject to a new 3.8 per cent tax on investment income that kicks in this year to help pay for the government's new healthcare program, known as Obamacare. Lawyer Kevyn Nightingale, a Toronto-based U.S. tax expert, estimated tens of thousands of Americans living in Canada could be affected by the new tax and find themselves owing money for the first time. The problem, the Globe said, is that unlike rules that allow expats to claim credits for taxes they've paid in the countries where they live, they can't offset this new tax." Continue reading →
"A number of Taiwan residents with dual nationalities have chosen to renounce their American citizenship to avoid taxes under FATCA, formally known as Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, according to local media reports. Ruling Kuomintang Legislator Lai Shyh-bao was quoted as saying that scores of owners of small- and medium-sized enterprises and management executives have begun proceedings to relinquish their U.S. citizenship." Continue reading →