International Living

Portuguese Residency For Non-EU Citizens

"On October 9 2012 the Portuguese government passed a new law that will enable investors from non-EU countries to gain residency if they either transfer one million or more euros in capital into Portugal, form a business that creates a minimum of 30 jobs, or purchase a property to the value of a minimum of €500,000. Dubbed the 'Golden Passport,' this new visa will allow non-EU citizens to receive a Portugal visa, permitting them to enter and stay in Portugal assuming at least one form of investment is undertaken for a minimum period of five years." Continue reading →

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Spain considers automatic residency to foreign home buyers

"Spain may offer automatic residency to foreigners such as Chinese and Russians who buy homes in the country, aiming to help the ruined housing market, a government official said Monday. 'We have proposed to the other ministries that for residents who acquire a home in Spain for more than 160,000 euros ($205,000), that will automatically entail a residency permit,' said junior trade minister Jaime Garcia-Legaz. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy later told a news conference that 'no decision' had yet been taken on formally launching the scheme, but said that Spain’s stock of unsold housing needed to be sold at 'reasonable prices'." Continue reading →

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Coerced Foreign Tax Compliance Is Killing American Jobs

"No doubt thanks in part to FATCA, foreign direct investment in the US for the first half of 2012 declined by 39.2% over the prior year, and China surpassed the US as the world’s largest recipient of global foreign direct investment for the first time since 2003. At a time when Washington should be pursuing policies designed to attract foreign investment capital to American shores, politicians seem intent on driving it away." Continue reading →

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Homelanders propose raising taxes on US Persons abroad to pay for “territorial taxation”

"In case you hadn’t already figured it out, this is the shape of things to come for U.S. Persons abroad: relentless bipartisan attacks on the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion. The latest effort in this direction contains provisions to phase out 20% of the FEIE every year until it is fully eliminated in 2017. It uses the taxes and penalties raised from U.S. Persons abroad to cut taxes on Homeland corporations, allowing them to repatriate their foreign profits with a waiver of 85% of the U.S. tax that would be due. The benefits of this tax cut will be denied to U.S. corporations which do not maintain their 'U.S. employment levels'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHomelanders propose raising taxes on US Persons abroad to pay for “territorial taxation”

Feds Expand Definition of “Cash” To Include Stored Value Cards

"Bitcoin and similar digital currencies make FinCEN’s currency reporting rules, and their expansion to encompass TPADs, obsolete before they’re even finalized. But don’t think for a minute that technological innovation will prevent these rules from coming into effect. Whether the initiative actually accomplishes anything is much less important than whether it appears to be accomplishing something. And it’s simply inconceivable to ask whether the wars are worth fighting at all, and if we should simply allow individuals to move their assets anywhere in the world, as they see fit, without government imposed restrictions." Continue reading →

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Swiss middle class real income continues to rise

"Switzerland’s middle class has never enjoyed as much income as it does today, but the richest and poorest groups of the population have seen theirs grow more substantially. Sixty to 80 per cent of the Swiss population are considered middle class. A couple without children with a revenue between SFr67,000 ($70,800) and SFr150,000 belongs to this category, as does a couple with children and income between SFr94,000 and SFr210,000. Over the past 20 years, real income for the Swiss middle class has increased six to eight per cent, better than in most other countries." Continue reading →

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Wealth and Prosperity Do Exist … if You Know Where to Look

"The pursuit of prosperity for ourselves and our children is the underpinning of the American dream – the idea that being all that you can be is possible. But it seems things are changing… The 2012 Legatum Prosperity Index has just been made public. It reveals that America is no longer among the Top 10 countries for the first time ever. We are now 12th. The essential question is: What pulled America out of the top 10? Was it our health care system? An antiquated educational system? Eroding personal freedoms? No. It was the rather significant decline in 'entrepreneurship and opportunity.' Many U.S. citizens no longer believe that hard work pays off." Continue reading →

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Not a US person? Prove it!

"Please forgive me if this whole affair reminds me of another attempt to round up people of a certain ethnicity. The vast majority of Canadians won’t be able to prove that their parents and grandparents are not Americans nor that they are not holders of Green Cards. Perhaps, the absence of 'the property of the USA' tush tattoo would convince the CBA. But then the banks will have to become like the TSA." Continue reading →

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If You Want Good Tax Policy, Choose Jersey (but not New Jersey!)

"I’m in the Bailiwick of Jersey, which is a UK dependent territory off the coast of France. Jersey is a so-called tax haven, which I applaud because it helps encourage better tax policy in less enlightened parts of the globe. Because I’m such a cultured and sophisticated guy, today I used some of my free time to visit the Jersey Museum. I now know lots of useless trivia about how a tiny island 15 miles from France wound up as an English territory. But I also found something very interesting in the section on the economic history of Jersey. The museum explicitly recognizes the role of low taxation in promoting a prosperous society." Continue reading →

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American Expat Taxpayers Would Rather Ditch Citizenship Than Face New IRS Rules

"The rule change followed legislation made in the wake of the financial crisis that was meant to help the U.S. government close the tax gap and combat tax evasion. But the FATCA rule change is shaping up to be an administrative and diplomatic nightmare for some foreign banks. For expats, it is complicating life overseas, curtailing opportunities in everything from jobs to getting bank accounts -- and, of course, potentially raising their tax burden. Now, with the promise of higher taxes coming next year, many expats are saying enough." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAmerican Expat Taxpayers Would Rather Ditch Citizenship Than Face New IRS Rules