Comment by brandonmenc
Comment by brandonmenc 2 days ago
> The "problem" you describe is your US citizenship requires you to pay tax on earnings from outside the US - that's a condition of US citizenship.
imo a feature, not a bug.
Comment by brandonmenc 2 days ago
> The "problem" you describe is your US citizenship requires you to pay tax on earnings from outside the US - that's a condition of US citizenship.
imo a feature, not a bug.
You enjoy benefits as a citizen, even if living abroad. You should pay for those.
US citizen and long-time expat calling bullshit on this. That's not the purpose of taxes and that's not how citizenship works in any other country except North Korea.
Looking at the list of "benefits" another person posted:
> The rights your passport gives you Are no different than the rights an EU passport gives you, except when entering the US-- but then again, an EU passport gives you better rights when entering the EU, so this is not an exclusive.
> + the legal and embassy protections given to American citizens. Like the American civilians held in Russia that Biden recently traded Russian spies for.
Note that the US doesn't have jurisdiction outside of US territory, so it cannot give legal protection and explicitly embassies do not give legal advice. Yes, there may sometimes be trades like above, but on the other hand, if the US prisoners were not US people, they probably would not have been jailed by the Russians in the first place.
> You still have access to vote absentee, Voting is a responsibility, not a benefit.
>as well as collect social security benefits.
Wrong-o! You only get social security benefits you have paid for. If you are living outside of the US, you are not contributing to soc. security.
> You can use US bank accounts and other institutions.
So can non-citizens. US bank accounts do not require citizenship. Nor does owning real estate. Nor forming companies.
You and your children have the right to return if you ever desire it.
The rights your passport gives you + the legal and embassy protections given to American citizens. Like the American civilians held in Russia that Biden recently traded Russian spies for.
You still have access to vote absentee, as well as collect social security benefits.
You can use US bank accounts and other institutions.
You and your children have the right to return if you ever desire it.
I think it's because the US has the clout to indirectly compel foreign institutions to cooperate in a way that other western countries can't.
For example, for a US expat living in the UAE the various branches of the US government can threaten the UAE government, banks etc. to make them cooperate and tell them how much the US citizen is earning to ensure they pay their US taxes - if you're a bank anywhere in the world, you do not want to be cut off from the US dollar system.
If the UK, France, Germany etc. tried to tax their citizens globally it might work in other western countries, but in places like the Middle East they might struggle to get foreign entities to comply making it impossible to enforce.
Honestly? Because they can't. If any other country had control of the world's reserve currency, they would do it, too.
It's the same reason why the US can place sanctions on Russian individuals in a way that, say, India cannot.
Perhaps because no other country goes to the same lengths to help its citizens abroad in times of trouble. When there's geopolitical trouble brewing, it not uncommon for other nationalities to take advantage of American evacuations. Few countries come close the US in leveraging intelligence and logistics to help citizens; France is probably #2.
How so?