Monday, April 26, 2010

US Citizen Renouncing

US citizens living abroad are increasingly renouncing their citizenship.
Compared to the overall numbers, those taking the renunciation route are small, but the numbers were under 300 two years ago and have risen to over 500 in 2009.
Their reasons are usually based on tax and banking issues more than straight politics.
The increase in difficulties for those living overseas for employment reasons will make doing business in other countries harder for American firms, further harming any recession recovery possibilities.
The biggest culprit blamed by the ex-patriots?
The Patriot Act, which seeks to prevent tax evasion and insure money does no flow to terrorists and, as a result, may lead to banks closing accounts for simple reasons like the inability to verify a US address for an American overseas.

Just another unintended consequence brought about by politicians voting in legislation without proper examination of the effects, then walking away while patting themselves on the back.

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